Old News

The latest stuff on David Benson-Pope is not new, despite being featured in Investigate Magazine. The accounts of him forcing kids to stand outside in the cold were all in the Police reports and I recall them getting some minor media coverage at the time of the reports release.

Normally I’d say time to leave the issue alone, but considering how appalling Benson-Pope has behaved in trying to smear the kids who complained, he isn’t exactly a poster boy for clemency.

But nevertheless I believe it is of marginal news value. I think enough material has been published for people to form their own views on his character, and this as I said was known last year.

UPDATE: More details at The Briefing Room. An interesting twist is that DBP is trying to stop his submissions to Police from being released under the OIA and that the grounds cited are because he is a Minister. That should be more reason to release them.

UPDATE2: Peter M compares making kids stand outside in the cold for an hour with almost no clothes on to a CIA interrogation method which has been condemned as too cruel to use against terrorists!