MP blames hackers for Twitter row
Tuesday 16th February 2010, 2:15PM GMT.
Shropshire MP David Wright today apologised for a message on his Twitter site branding Conservatives “scum-sucking pigs” – which he claimed was the work of a hacker.
The Telford MP, who is also a Labour whip, said the hacker had tampered with his original words and he had contacted Twitter to investigate the matter.
The MP revealed his laptop computer, which contained his Twitter password and ID, was stolen from the House of Commons just before Christmas.
He said this could be one explanation for the incident.
Mr Wright was one of a number of Labour MPs who used Twitter to respond to a poster campaign launched yesterday by Tory leader David Cameron in which he tried to reach out to former Labour voters with the slogan “I’ve never voted Tory before but . . . ”
A message went out on Mr Wright’s Twitter feed yesterday afternoon saying: “ivenevervotedtory because you can put lipstick on a scum-sucking pig, but it’s still a scum-sucking pig. And cos they would ruin Britain.”
The site was then bombarded with a rash of furious Tweets from Conservative supporters, which prompted a further comment on Mr Wright’s feed saying: “Oh dear, upsetting Tories again. Must’ve hit a nerve.”
However, the MP later sent out an apology, along with the toned-down comment: “IvenevervotedTory because you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. With apologies.”
The initial Tweet was then deleted from his account.
Mr Wright said that he had initially sent a Twitter message quoting Barack Obama’s comment made during the US presidential election campaign in 2008 that “you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig”.
He denied using the phrase “scum-sucking”, adding: “I wouldn’t make derogatory remarks.”
Asked how he explained the wording of the Tweet, Mr Wright said he believed the message was changed into a more offensive form by someone altering his Twitter entries.
He added: “Sadly, it looks like someone has tinkered with my Tweets and made the content offensive.”
But in a letter to Mr Wright, Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said the hacking claim was “simply not credible” and suggested the whip may have breached the ministerial code.
By Simon Hardy
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At last our MP has got a mention in the national media – it’s a shame it’s nothing to do with his constituency – does he know where it is?
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I can’t believe anyone would hack into his account to post that, but I also can’t believe Mr Wright would ever say those words either.
On the other hand, he is right…..
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Setting aside the fact that this is exactly the sort of juvenile, purile, Tory hating nonsense he tweets daily, once a tweet is posted, you can’t change it unless you had access to the database. Surely he’s not suggesting someone at Twitter in the USA has hacked his account?
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What’s the big deal ? So what if he wrote it !!!
The world has gone mad whatevers happened to freedom of speech ?
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Truth is you cannot edit a tweet once posted, so what he claims to have had something added to his original words is not possible. You cannot do it on twitter and all the original tweets are a matter of record, skating on thin ice with this defence. Also its not the first time he’s used the word scum in twitter at the conservatives, as the papers today have found out, he’s been using it regularly.
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The issue with Tweets is that they can’t be edited once posted, they must be deleted.
Additionally the point of tweeting is that you are restricted in the amount of words you can use….hence our dear Labour MP’s suggestion that this was tinkered with is highly improbable.
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Calling someone a pig of whatever description is hardly high debate. Even so, the Tories must not gain Telford or they’ll have a Commons majority. People can safely vote Labour to stop them without Brown preserving his own majority, whereas further up the Tory target list in The Wrekin voting Labour is too risky. A win there probably maintains a Labour Commons majority, so in The Wrekin the Tories must be supported to stop them.
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Is this the same David Wright MP who trousered £150k in tax payers money in expenses last year? For him to be labelling anyone else a “pig”, (“scum-sucking” or otherwise) is hypocritical in the least.
Please stick to electioneering on the real issues, instead of resulting to puerile name calling.
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Hugh
To late matey, telford will go Tory so will the country. At long last we’ll be able to get rid of people like your present mp and instill some decency back. Come on everyone you know your duty
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Rob, it’s an interesting question about David Wright and his constituency. Does he know where it is?
But he does know where the neighbouring Wrewkin Constituency is. God knows, he spends a lot of time there, oprening things, meeting other ministers, etc. Someone told me they’d seen David Wright at some presentation at the AFC Telford ground, recently. Only problem is, that’s in the constituency of Conservative MP Mark Pritchard.
If Mark Pritchard took to doing the same kind of thing in Dawley High Street, what would David Wright say? Well, we know what he’d say, but then he’d deny it was him!
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Well said Hugh – the quicker the election the better for the country. Bye bye Mr Wright !!!!!
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Compare me to a politician will ya? As a pig, I find this offensive.
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Well steve, i fully intend to look after number 1, so will vote for the party who supports people who will not sit around claiming benefits, not have an open door immigration policy,stop this pc rubbish that dominates uk society,bring in regular MOT’S for Teachers,Gps,and all people who work in the public sector where poor performance ruins peoples lives.
A party who encourage people to earn 50k or more and not taxe you to death to pay for the idle.
Vote for a party that does not allow unions to dictate to the guv.Build bigger and better prisons.
Look at and update the British legal system and increase sentences.
Get rid of pcso and get back and retain proper fully trained police officers.
Put uk citizens first above all others , ie take a leaf out of the french,spanish,germans,Australians book.
But at the end of the day people should all look at which party benefits them as it now stands , the long term sick, the unemployed, poor and just above the water mark oap’s,low paid,greens,pc brigade,priority to non uk citizens suppoerters,under performing staff in the public sector,If i were you i would vote labour.
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@andrew: also the party that will fire the whole met office and get us some decent summers for a change.
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The comment “Scum sucking pigs” would be quite accurate had it been directed at the members of parliament (from all parties)who have had their snouts in the trough. If I had the time to be a twit I would have put it in even stronger words.
Alas I do not have the time on my hands like our local members of Parliament who I hope have more free time to relax come April.
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So, looking at the result of the last election in Telford, there are more than 11,000 ‘scum-sucking pigs’ in his constituency.
How many of them will now be voting for him?
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i am sure he could have said it in a more genteel way- the tories are a load of floating tide marks. with a straw, porcines. then there would hardly have been a titter let alone a tweet. any way come may 2010 these sucking pigs will reach the scum marks by losing to labour by 18 seats!
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