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  1. Politics
23 February 2010

Is the Brown “bullying“ story a big story? Should it be?

An observation.

By Mehdi Hasan

On the one hand, Andrew Rawnsley and his supporters have claimed that “Bullygate” is a big story, a huge scoop, an exclusive — something that had to be investigated, exposed and reported.

On the other hand, Rawnsley and his supporters have said that “everyone knows it’s true”, and they’ve checked with their own sources (who all say it’s “true”). So, if everyone knows it already, why is it a big story then? (And why didn’t his supporters write the story themselves on the basis of their own “sources”?)

Isn’t this just a case of recycling and repackaging old, gossipy stories about Gordon Brown for an anti-Brown, 24-7 press pack that has a short memory and a partisan agenda? Or am I wrong? Is this the biggest scoop since Watergate?

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