In my day job I deal with stockmarket villains. The narrative does not change when you expose a big scandal. I publish a report. The company’s advisers, overpaid PR fluffies, put out a regulated announcement where they “refute” the allegations. And in due course I am vindicated and shares in that company collapse, sometimes to zero. It has happened so many times.
By refute the company does not mean “prove wrong” it means “deny”. Saying that does not require any evidence that what I said was wrong but it asks folks to believe that as officers of a listed company and honourable members of the PR profession those doing the refuting are all gents and thus the word of a pesky journalist who is a bit of an oik can be ignored. The PR firm will sometimes go the extra mile in suggesting, untruthfully, in background briefings that I have a short position in the shares I am supporting with my allegations or that I am not to be trusted for other reasons.
But this brings us to the wretched Mark Menzies, a Tory MP who appears to have used party funds for his own private purposes including payoff off blackmailers he encountered while trawling the gay dating app Grindr. He says that he “disputes” the allegations and will clear his name. Tosh.
Maybe he can pick holes in some of the details but he is not saying that the allegations are made up as they clearly are not. When 78 year old party stalwarts come forward to verify them he knows he is in trouble.
Back in 2014 Menzies was caught up in a scandal involving an illegal immigrant rent boy and drugs supplier. He then said that he was innocent: “A number of these allegations are not true and I look forward to setting the record straight in due course.” He never set the record straight but because he was an honourable member and because, back then, more of us trusted the Tories it all sort of blew over. Until now.
Menzies hopes by saying that he ”disputes” what is alleged folks will interpret that as him denying an allegation so they will trust him and he will get away with it, just as fraudulent PLCs reckon the “we refute” announcement deals with me. I sense Menzies is wrong. The allegations are far too serious and trust in MPs generally, but especially Tory MPs, is even lower than trust in colourful CEOs of piss poor companies on AIM, even if they used to be on the Telly. He can “dispute” all he wants but nobody will believe him.