These days one never can tell how much of what is published in a newspaper comprises the complete original thoughts of the columnist. In the last few weeks I have seen the original drafts of a renowned Telegraph columnist and a Daily Express columnist, and on both occasions the published piece has been edited down to remove some of the most salient elements of the respective pieces.
So when reading the Peter Hitchens column in the Mail online today I cannot be sure that everything ‘Hitch’ wrote was published. Nevertheless, what is attributed to him suggests he too has been taken in by the Europlastics. Consider this passage and in particular the sentence directly above the photograph, the footnote beneath it and the last sentence shown in the image:
How is it that someone like Peter Hitchens, who is supposed to be a genuine Eurosceptic, can sit at his keyboard and write something this misleading? How can the likes of Bill Cash be described as a man of principle when the European Scrutiny Committee, which he chairs, waved through the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy which will remove British control over our own waters?
How also can Hitchens allow people to take the impression that all the 79 Tory MPs who voted in favour of a Bill to hold a referendum are actually Eurosceptic? How could any Eurosceptic Tory vote in favour of establishing the European External Action Service (EU’s version of the Foreign Office)? Based on what Hitchens is saying then surely around 79 Tories will have voted against the EEAS measure. How many actually did? See for yourself.
Looking at the vote information above, where are all these ‘Eurosceptics’ that Hitchens refers to?
It seems even those who profess to stand outside the bubble still manage to sow the official misinformation that positions Tory MPs who wish to remain firmly inside the EU as sceptics. One cannot be Eurosceptic and vote for increased integration, something that someone like Hitchens should know all to well but fails to make clear to his readers.
Autonomous Mind 
Ah, AM: It is worth noting though that Hitchens, in common with MPs, has a career too!
Exactly.
However, he does add….
“But to have any impact, the 80 must quit the Tory Party, which last week finally and irrevocably turned its back on its voters”.
Which is something I think we all can agree on.
AM, I linked to this also in my last post but from his blog, where Cash and Pritchard do not appear. Hitchens also seems to have got his numbers wrong -81 ‘rebels’ are all about self-preservation and are worried about their seats next election.
The mail must be putting something in the water simon heffer today was full of praise offering sincere tributes etc.
On the ‘rebel’ numbers Pixi, I did not include the tellers, although they would have voted for the referendum making a total of 81.
Hitchens appears to be very anti Conservative in this clip :
I meant hitchens got it wrong who said 80, which doesnt add uo its either 79 with 2 tellers or simple 81.
Most Labour supporters are very anti Conservative too, but it doesn’t stop them being pro-EU or Europlastic.
Hitchens is very clear in his views that the Tory Party must be destroyed. His desire to see this happen is in the hope that a truly conservative party will be born only from the destruction of the Tory Party. He is thus goading the Tory rebels to break away. I don’t see any deceit in what he’s said here.
As I am not a conservative, I don’t share Hitchens’ hope of a true conservative phoenix, but I’m happy to see the Tory Party disintegrate nonetheless.
It’s 77 without tellers and without the two who voted aye and no. And it would be even fewer if you stripped out all those who have no chance of preferment and realise that this government has anyway only a couple more years to run, as well as those affected by boundary changes.