Gurcharan Singh and the amazing disappearing blog
Gurcharan Singh, David Cameron’s latest recruit has a website with a blog on it. Well, used to that is, sort of. You could find it at:
Sadly though it appears the Tories top techie monkeys have been on to the case and all you get now is a redirect to the Tories homepage. Strangely enough the URL is now entitled ‘The Conservative Party’ and meta tagged ‘The official website of the UK Conservative Party’. Strange that isn’t it?
One might deduce from this that following his switching this morning the Tory spin-meisters have descended to cut off access to anything dear old Gurcharan might have said that could be embarrassing to his new master.
Sadly though, not being particularly competent techies it would seem, his entire blog is still available at:
What could there possibly be to hide? Not that it matters, (entire website safely copied). Well, how about Gurcharan’s views less than a fortnight ago regarding Gordon Brown taking over as Premier?
“I am full of hope for the future as this to me signals the beginning of an era where the Labour party can consolidate its leanings over the last few years and move forward with a new outlook based upon positive change. We progress.
On behalf of myself and those who are kind enough to consider me their representative, I would like to wish PM Gordon Brown all the best.”
Or how about his praise for outgoing Premier Tony Blair:
“I would like to believe that the majority of people will like me, have a genuine appreciation for the fact that up until the last moment, he remained dignified, astute, forever able to deliver a suitable response to a unique situation and of course, a pleasure to observe.
I have met Mr Blair in person on numerous occasions over the last few years. From those interactions the impression I took away was that he was a man committed to doing what he believed to be right at the time. Unwaveringly.
Despite all the spin, internal innuendos within the party and of course Iraq, he remained staunchly dedicated to the people of Great Britain and for this he has my firm admiration.
I do not want to use this space to write Tony Blair’s political obituary or provide comment and analysis on each of his many political milestones nonetheless, I would be hard pushed not to draw attention to his following achievements:
* Peace in Northern Ireland;
* Minimum Wage; and
* Work time regulations.
The very fact that he was given a standing ovation from most quarters within the House of Commons, friend and foe, was testament to the impact he made during his tenure as Prime Minister. If I were to call upon my limited vocabulary to sum up his feats in one word it would be remarkable.”
What I find most interesting though is that despite him expressing such praise for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown less than a fortnight ago and now suddenly deciding his true beliefs lie with David Cameron, is the timing of this blog’s launch.
15th of June to be precise. Strangely only five days before the death of Piara Khabra. Now only a cynic might suggest that this rather convenient timing might be a bit of getting in quick to launch a bid for the Labour ticket in the by-election. Something of course Gurcharan Singh did but was ultimately unsuccessful.
That such a change of position in a short time is possible makes one wonder about his motivations. Not of course that this is anything new. Reminds me of a certain former Labour Councillor in Walsall who on not getting selected for a Parliamentary seat a week later ran off to join the Tories. Personally if that’s the kind of people who are attracted to “David Cameron’s Conservatives” then good luck, he’s welcome to them.
By the way, what is it with this David Cameron’s Conservatives? They must not like Davey boy so much up north, their candidate in Sedgefiled is just down as ‘Conservative’.
[Update] Gurcharan’s site has now turned a distinctly blue colour and grown one of those daft little trees. What’s very interesting is the post praising Gordon Brown has been completely removed. I think I’ll ask why.
9th July 2007 in Tory Bashing
Webmaster @ G Singh Online responded on 09 Jul 2007 at 10:03 pm #
Its funny that you think there’s a major conspiracy to be unfolded here!
The site is under continuous development and yes, it has been changed in light of recent events to reflect G Singh’s move into the Conservative Party…
I should have an official statement from the councilor later tonight/early tomorrow. You can expect the blog to reappear shortly thereafter.
Well done for spotting the blog in the background and the site creation date – no special prizes though I’m afraid!
In answer to your question, the Brown article has been made private but hey, what do you care? You have a copy!
Political Penguin responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 10:47 am #
Hmm, conspiracy, not sure that I said there was a conspiracy going on but feel free to interpret my words how you wish. If you take a little run through my back catalogue you’ll probably arrive at the decision that I’m not too keen on conspiracy theories.
It is nice to know that Gurcharan Singh’s website is under ongoing development and of course in light of his change of allegiance that it’s gone a distinct shade of blue is wholly reasonable. I think that what you may have missed, being very new to blogging is that there are distinct practices of which some follow, others don’t but ultimately in a medium where one is scrutinised by ones peers there are a few practices that mark out the genuine open and honest from the disingenuous.
Sadly you have made the mistake of in trying to spin your own message, or to be precise that of Gurcharan Singh by deleting things that he has said on his blog only the other week to a new message that fits in with his current circumstances. They are contradictory and show him as nothing more than someone capable of saying completely the opposite of what he said in such a short space of time. Your attempt to remove this from the public domain shows him in a very poor light.
It’s interesting to note that since I attempted to post a comment inquiring as to why the particular post regarding Gordon Brown had been removed, instead of answering that question you have sought to delete all contents of the site and replace it with a newly spun Tory message.
I’m very sorry but this shows you and Gurcharan Singh as being nothing more than disingenuous by attempting to hide such information from the public. Of course I’m sure this can not possibly be the case so I take it you would have no problem whatsoever in me reproducing the exact text of his previous posts and putting them into the public domain so that people can draw their own conclusions about a man who can say one thing less than a fortnight ago and another now.
Particularly of interest is the impression given on the latest post that tries to spin the issue as Gurcharan having been increasingly ‘disillusioned’ with Labour since 2004. This rather contrasts against his warm words towards the Party the other week and sadly for him makes him look like nothing more that a spoilt child who on not getting their own way, has taken their ball home.
Webmaster @ G Singh Online responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 12:20 pm #
Some interesting points raised PP. Taken on board. Truth is, the defection has really ruffled your Labour penguins feathers hasn’t it?! All of a sudden, your at battle stations, ready to discredit G Singh. Which is expected I suppose. What’s interesting is that it took 30 years!!! To me, it demonstrates why he became disillusioned… I live in Southall so I suppose I have a better understanding of the actual events therefore not too concerned with how things ‘look’. You should maybe dive a little deeper and you may become a little more understanding of the decision to move to the blues. In fact, from what I understand, quite a few LP members, councillors and MPs are pretty saddenned by this whole affair. It is a loss for the LP.
Your right though, I am new to blogging so ever willing to learn a bit more. One of the things that I’m hoping to do is create media section which documents the achievements within Labour. Feel free to provide tips!
David Hartley responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 1:55 pm #
Webmaster – no one as far as I can see has attempted or even ucceeded to “discredit” G Singh & Co. They did that quite capably in about 30 minutes, let alone 30 years, by their own endeavours!
Webmaster @ G Singh Online responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 2:41 pm #
On the contrary, I believe it is the Labour Party who have been discredited!
Political Penguin responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 3:05 pm #
Feather’s ruffled, nah not really. We will of course disagree on our interpretations of the situation but from those who I’ve spoken too who are local, they’re relieved to get shot of Gurcharan and his mob and is absolutely no loss to the Labour PArty whatsoever.
Tips…
Well, first rule to learn about blogging would not to be disingenuous as you have by deliberately deleted post that say one thing to replace them with ones that say the opposite. Along with that goes retro-editing timestamps to make things appear as if they were posted at a different time from that which they were.
On a media section. Well, ditch B2Evolution, it’s crap.
Webmaster @ G Singh Online responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 3:32 pm #
Appreciate the tips PP, though retrofitting is common (as you stated above) especially during the release of a blog. In fact, there will probably be allot more of that to come as eventually I want to post up past newspaper clippings, etc.
As far as G Singh is concerned, well I think this back and forthing has the potential to go on forever! We probably won’t agree as you correctly stated. I don’t see what the problem is with the older posts. In my opinion G Singh is no more a hypocrit than anybody (and I mean anybody) else in the political sphere including yourself I am sure. What it shows is that he was a staunch supporter of the party in general up until the last moment. The man has been with them for 30 years, so I don’t imagine this was a snap decision. It was a long time coming. The NEC selection outcome was just the last straw. You ever heard of a ‘paradigm shift’ PP?!
Anyway, I don’t think I’ll follow up on this any further though the tips were useful.
Rgds.
GSO Webmaster
PS – I’d be interested to know exactly which ‘locals’ you’ve allegedly spoke to… I get the feeling you’ve told a fib PP!!!
Political Penguin responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 4:14 pm #
I think you miss the ‘netiquette’ when it comes to blogging on retro-posting, it is not common as you say. That is to say, blogging is a different medium from say a press releases section in which it would be wholly reasonable to do an archive section that when setting up a site would include a back catalogue.
On your point that it was not a snap decision by Gurcharan Singh and is the result of long running disquiet then that would pose two questions:
If someone is so dissatisfied with the Labour Party then why would they seek to become a Parliamentary candidate for it and state on video that they are ‘New Labour’?
If someone is so dissatisfied with the Labour Party then why do they go on record on their blog saying how wonderful Tony Blair was and how he welcomes and supports Gordon Brown?
If your assertion that he was so dissatisfied is true then making such statements marks him out as simply a hypocrite. If he’s changed sides, attempted to remove such statements from the public domain and present a different contradictory interpretation then he’s nothing more than disingenuous. You can’t have it both ways I’m afraid.
I personally choose to believe it’s nothing more than a baby throwing their toys from the pram situation because they didn’t get what they want but I’m entitled to that interpretation.
On you’re last assertion that I’m lying, tsk tsk, that’s not very nice. I’ll just add that I’ve been in politics for a very long time. In that time I’ve acquired contacts and friends throughout the land and I wouldn’t make such comments without a factual basis on which to draw from.
However, in the light of the situation and of course in the public interest. I’m happy to post the full content of Gurcharan’s blog, before deletions so people can judge him for themselves. I think that’s fair.
David Hartley responded on 10 Jul 2007 at 4:35 pm #
Can’t wait for the “past newspaper clippings”. I wonder if they’ll too show Cllr Singh as the loyal Tory hating Labour Councillor he claimed to be and the prospective Labour MP he hoped to be until last week!
Tyger responded on 11 Jul 2007 at 12:39 pm #
Such sensitivity!
I can understand that Mr. Singh feels upset at the party, but if he feels that 30-years support gives him a free-pass to join the Tories, scot-free, he is very much mistaken.
If you switch sides, you’re a traitor. Party politics – rightly or wrongly – is tribal and vicious. Let’s be honest. Singh joined the Tories to hurt the Labour Party. He knew when he stood for photos with Mr. C, that he was going to hurt the party. That’s cool. Free country, yadda yadda. But don’t then scream “30-years” when the party – hurt and rejected – lashes out.
I’m not terribly tribal myself. I have left and returned to the party. And I mean Gurcharan no harm. But he, and Mr. Webmaster above, really need to grow up a bit.
I’m sure Gurcharan is a decent chap. But this is politics. You make your bed and you lie in it.
Maybe Mr. Singh would be more comfortable with basket weaving?