Quick question for Guido (oh, and Recess Monkey) – since when is accusing someone of being a paedophile the same as breaking a story that a man has (presumably) had sex with a 23-year-old male prostitute? Since when has 23 been under age, and since when has homosexual sex been the same as raping children?

It looks rather like this sordid little scoop (which in any case would have taken the News of the World far longer to fully verify and get past their lawyers than the two and a half days they had after Guido/Recess Monkey’s podcast) was entirely thanks to the papers. British bloggers still only have the scalp of a trainee journalist to their name. And the blogger responsible for that was American in any case.

Although I don’t deny that Guido comes up with the goods sometimes, nor that he is quite likely to expose something genuinely dodgy at some point, I’m with Justin, Jarndyce and DoctorVee on this one…

Whoever’s actually responsible for this little business coming to light (perhaps related to the person responsible for this little breaking of the law?) – set your sights higher next time, ideally on Tony Blair, Charles Clarke or Charlie Falconer. Destroy someone who actually matters and fully deserves it – go for the sharks, not the minnows.

Christ, no wonder bloggers aren’t taken seriously if all we can do is brag about breaking minor stories that we actually had nothing to do with…