The post you are reporting:
article from one of our euro m.p's daniel hannan in the telegraph.
See how the Internet has levelled the ground between public figures and tabloid reporters. Here is an email exchange between an investigative journalist and Louise Mensch, the Conservative MP who has been pursuing claims of phone-hacking at the Mirror:
"Dear Mrs Mensch, We are informing you that we have come into possession of the following information, about yourself, and would like to ask you for any comments, before we publish this information. Whilst working at EMI, in the 1990s, you took drugs with Nigel Kennedy at Ronnie Scott's in Birmingham, including dancing on a dance floor, whilst drunk, with Mr Kennedy, in front of journalists. Photos of this exist..."
Louise replies as follows:
"Although I do not remember the specific incident, this sounds highly probable. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Nigel Kennedy, whom I remember with affection. Additionally, since I was in my twenties, I'm sure it was not the only incident of the kind; we all do idiotic things when young. I am not a very good dancer and must apologise to any and all journalists who were forced to watch me dance that night at Ronnie Scott's... Most importantly, I have not the slightest intention of being deterred from asking how far the culture of hacking and blagging extended in Fleet Street."
Before the proliferation of blogs and Twitter, an MP in this situation would have been left chewing her fingernails as she waited for the first editions at Charing Cross. Not anymore. Not only has Louise drawn the sting from any possible exposé; she has neatly turned the tables by pointing out that this sudden interest in what she did twenty years ago coincides with her investigation of illegal activities by tabloids.
As recently as five years ago, almost no politician could have hoped to get the better of a newspaper, whatever the rights and wrongs of the case. Now, all of a sudden, it's the politicians in pursuit and the tabloids looking seedy and defensive.