I’ve studiously avoided getting involved in recent blog flame-wars. So this post is a bit of an aberration. Sorry…

Unsurprisingly, I’m not much of a fan of anti-EU right-wing blog EU Referendum.

Aside from their constant assumptions of “liberal media bias” (which led to them accusing the Associated Press – if I recall – of faking the Israeli bombing of Lebanon last year… Yes, really…), and the fact that they increasingly seem to be drifting towards conspiracy theory explanations for every slightest cock-up – largely playing up to the maniacs that flock in their droves to their comment sections – it’s also rather depressing, as the blog’s main man, erstwhile UKIP researcher Richard North, is actually relatively intelligent, and used to be able to come up with well-considered and insanely well-researched arguments to back up his anti-EU case.

These days, the blog seems more like a random collection of unjustified ravings, occasionally interspersed with picture after picture after picture after picture after picture after picture after picture after picture after picture of military hardware (those links all just from the current front page of the blog, going back just to Monday), which North then verbally masturbates over like a cross between a caged monkey and the most deranged characature of a right-wing militaristic maniac since Dr Strangelove’s General Ripper.

Rare now is the careful dissection of Brussels policy. Rare, indeed, is any mention of Brussels or the EU beyond wild accusations and lazy references to sovereignty, bureaucrats, and socialist conspiracies. Which is a shame, as North used to be one of the better anti-EU online commentators – before his soldier-boy fetish kicked off and his “scoop” about Lebanon actually being completely fine and the whole war last year simply an anti-semitic plot between Hezbollah and the liberal media to make Israel look bad attracted attention from the nuttier, Little Green Footballs-style US right-wing blogs, boosting his visitor count beyond his wildest dreams.

Now, however, even my previous respect for North’s ability to dissect complex EU legislation has been called into question, as the boy DK highlights numerous and hard to deny cases of plagiarism by North. I’d vaguely suspected as much before, but had put it down to an inconsistent writing style. Now, however, it would appear I can safely bother not reading the thing any more – even on the increasingly rare occasions when something about the EU does crop up there, I’ll likely already have read it in the Times.

Update: Of course, this could all be part of a co-ordinated anti-UKIP movement from anti-EU types who don’t have much time for the party. North would certainly be amongst that group, following his falling our with the party a few years back. Quite what good they thing splitting the anti-EU movement even further will do them I have no idea, but still…