Described on Twitter as “the most incestuous media love-in in history” and “an activists who’s who“, Paul Mason’s party to celebrate the launch of his new book “Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: the New Global Revolutions” ended in chaos last night.
SPLITTERS
Mason abandoned his own party and recommended that other factions do the same. An anarchic hardcore remained. Lefties, eh?
Here’s a flavour of the evening from the Guardian’s James Ball:
DB, prompted by your posting (well done again) I read Mason’s bio on wiki…my goodness! He is a parody of a parody. I loved the line that “together with Jeremy Paxman, he became the first person on UK television to broadcast from within the online virtual world Second Life, where he has an avatar also named Paul Mason.” Is his world populated by avatars of activists? Shouldn’t there be an “Occupy Second Life” movement?
The unattributed claim that Mason “addressed meetings of the Trotskyist organisation Workers Power, of which he was previously a member” is easily dismissed as fabricated – but he obviously keeps his toe in activist waters: “Mason is father of the chapel of the NUJ on ‘Newsnight’”
This kind of fellow should be an embarrassment to the BBC but is sadly more like a typical Beeboid. I’m so glad his party went well!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mason_(journalist)
Have the BBC lost interet in the St Paul’s occupy movement?
BBC London on line has no trace of this twist in the story…
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24033196-scouts-werent-prepared-for-this-squatters-from-st-pauls.do
‘Squatters from the St Paul’s protest camp have taken over central London’s Scouting headquarters – and police claim they are powerless to evict them.
The occupation has locked children and teenagers out of their community hall where they study for badges and had planned to sleep over to highlight homelessness.’
Perhaps the Beeb who used to be so keen on occupy stories believe we licence payers have become bored with the St Paul’s lot? Best not mention it then.
One has to wonder if there was a cake, and which flame-tressed young lovely could have been persuaded to erupt from it, bellowing ‘irony is not in the feminsist lexicon’!
Or something.
I used to watch Newsnight. There are now better places not far away.
But I still have to pay for Newsnight though.
There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.
Wonder if he gave everybody one of his party bags?
Laura Penney, Stephanie Flanders, Harriet Harman, the relics of Rosa Luxembourg or Stalins granny…
Well, well, well. Mason attracting extremist activists like flies to the business end of Martin’s avatar. Who could have imagined? And the BBC will continue to claim he never lets his personal politics interfere with his “journalism”.
Defenders of the indefensible will remain silent.
I am distraught for Father Paul. I hope he managed to salvage his evening, somehow. 🙂
See, this is why the defence cuts have gone too far: a third of London’s activists in a single room, and not an air strike to be had.
No doubt Comrade Mason will do a re-launch of his propaganda, as usual, on ‘Newsnight’.