Setting the Story Straight on Hain's "Surreal" Conspiracy Theory

Some readers have been asking about the Western Mail story about fake emails where Peter Hain dons the cloak of victimhood and complains of a dirty tricks vendetta against him involving Guido. The story has now hit the news wires. This is Guido's side of the story.

Hain claims

"Someone has persistently been sending material designed to discredit me to the right wing Guido Fawkes website. Some of the material has also been sent to the Western Mail. In the main it has been fabricated. My campaign failed and as a result of this scapegoating and these dirty tricks, I have lost my Cabinet job. The whole thing is a surreal nightmare and I don’t know what is behind it."

It is true that Guido got hold of and published Hain's campaign budget. That set in course a chain of events that led eventually to a few small shortfalls becoming public knowledge on the front pages. The small matter, for instance, of £103,000 in hidden campaign donations now under investigation by the police.

Hain knows, though the way he slants it a reader would not know, that Guido did not fall for the fake email scam. Which is what Guido told Peter Black.

Guido didn't publish any of the fake emails or use them. It became clear very early on that as much as Guido might have wanted to believe the tantalising tale they told (they contained nuggets of truth), what became obvious in a short time was somebody pursuing a disinformation agenda. There is clearly someone who has a keen interest in muddying the waters regarding emails. It is not Peter Hain and nor is it Guido. The faker desperately wanted to get the fake emails on this blog, probably to discredit a genuine email that is causing them acute legal difficulties.

Guido doesn't usually like to reveal his dealings with the dead-tree-press but, for the record and for the avoidance of any doubt in this case, Guido can confirm that it was he who gave the story and examples of the faked emails over to the Western Mail's Martin Shipton when the faker realised that Guido was on to him. As the Press Association wire story reports - the faked emails were sent after Peter Hain resigned.

So to be clear:

• the faked emails started circulating only after Hain resigned.
• have not so far been published by Guido or anyone else.
• their existence has come to light because Guido gave them over to the Western Mail's Martin Shipton to investigate.

So nobody should be fooled into thinking Hain was brought down by a dirty tricks campaign based on fake emails. They should ask themselves cui bono? Who has an interest right now in presenting that as the reality? Clue - it isn't Hain or Guido...