Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

“‘Hhey, i’ve been having better sex and longer with this here””
- a tweet from Ed Miliband, after he fell victim to the latest phishing scam on Twitter (that’s what they all say – Ed). Several journalists in the parliamentary lobby were also contacted by friends asking why they had claimed to be ”24, female and horny” [...]

 Dear Kenny MacAskill,
It looks to me as though you, as Scottish Justice Secretary, have spotted a rather unusual loophole in laws designed to protect people from stalking and harrassment.  Ministers in Scotland are currently considering a new law which would help stop people stalking and harassing their victims by text or online.  Currently those who behave in [...]

“I think some third-party has inserted this into my Twitter account. We are trying to find out how that happened from Twitter.”
- Labour MP David Wright, who is now trying to distance himself from his tweet that “ivenevervotedtory because you can put lipstick on a scum-sucking pig, but it’s still a scum-sucking pig. And cos [...]

“VodafoneUK is fed up of dirty homo’s and is going after beaver”
- a message on Vodafone’s official Twitter account, which prompted hundreds of followers to contact the mobile phone company.  The message appeared on their Twitter feed, which is used by the company to deal with customer complaints. Instead of the usual helpful hints on how [...]

“Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
- a ‘tweet’ from Paul Chambers, 26, when heavy snowfall recently threatened to scupper his travel plans.  Unfortunately for Mr Chambers, the police didn’t see the funny side. A week after posting the [...]

Dear Ricky Gervais,
Although it’s normally your film and TV exploits that get you in the newspapers, yesterday you struck a rather different tone by announcing that you had quit Twitter after using it for less than a month, branding the site “pointless” and the adults who use it “undignified”.  It seems as though we share similar opinions [...]

“The recurring theme among all of the milestones on our list is the Internet’s capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people.”
- David-Michel Davies, executive director of the ‘Webby Awards’ that were awarded last night by the New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences to recognise [...]

“Another wholly feeble and biased Today programme rounded off with a fawning interview with a Tory pundit!!”
- a tweet from Ben Bradshaw, Culture Secretary, who used Twitter to criticise Radio 4 and also alleged in an earlier post that an interview with Michael Gove on Monday’s Today programme was “feeble”.  This morning, Evan Davis conducted an interview [...]

“We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organisation.”
- Jeffrey Michael, from Horizon Group Management, who have filed a lawsuit accusing Amanda Bonnen – one of their former tenants -  of defaming the company by using Twitter to complain about mould in her Chicago apartment. She sent out a tweet that said: “Who said [...]

“I guess you could say I feel a right Twit.”
- James Coleman, a jogger, who has become the first man in Britain to suffer a ‘twinjury’ – an injury sustained while using Twitter. He was ‘tweeting’ to his followers on his Blackberry while jogging to work when he cracked his head on a heavy low-hanging branch. [...]

“I am not saying Susan Boyle caused swine flu. I am just saying that nobody had swine flu, she sang on TV, people got swine flu”
- what Labour MP Sion Simon, a Further Education minister, wrote on his Twitter page. He later apologised.

Dear Mary Helen Immordino-Yang,
My initial reaction when I saw the headline suggesting that digital media such as Twitter and Facebook might damage our sense of morality was that it was another bunch of scientists desperate for their 15 seconds of fame who had come up with some crackpot evidence to support their ideas.  While this [...]

“Catching up with Bience Gawanas, my co-chair on the Maternal Mortality Leadership Group. She’s in Addis Ababa, we’ve never met, but works well”
- a tweet by Sarah Brown, Gordon’s wife, after she became the latest member of the ‘twitterati’.  She has opened a Twitter account under the user name “SarahBrown10”. She has almost 800 followers, and [...]

Dear Guido Fawkes,
It was fascinating to read your attack on Twitter yesterday, following Rachel Sylvester’s article in the Times.  You stated that “the idea that it is some kind of revolutionary form of social media interaction is laughable” and proceeded to make the case against what you described as “political Twittery”.  While I largely agree [...]