I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wondered by the new video of Livingstone supporters denying they were actors only featured 3 of the original cast of 25. The ‘denial’ video was in fact a minute longer than the original, and featured “the old woman” denying she was an actor for 40 seconds, followed by “the mother” and the “shoe repairer” doing the same for roughly 2 minutes each.
Sure, they were not “actors” (even though they were obviously “acting”). We all accept that these sorts of videos are often choreographed. It wouldn’t’ve even been an issue if a weeping Ken hadn’t tried to pretend otherwise. But he did, and scorn naturally followed.
And so his team hastily put together a rebuttal/denial video to counter the allegations that actors were used and that Ken’s tears were not genuine. It was an attempt, to put it bluntly, to bluster their way through the scandal.
Local Mitcham journalist, Omar Oakes, has something of an exclusive.
Some of the people it seems were locals recruited near a community centre used by the local Labour Party, however…
Several actors were also filmed at various spots within Imperial Fields, such as a man sitting in the stadium itself, a builder having a cup of tea during the building of the club’s new all-weather pitch and a man speaking from the player’s tunnel, and a boxing trainer speaking from a newly built boxing club.
The most interesting case is the one involving “the mechanic”. It seems this man is not a mechanic. The real mechanic’s garage was hired by the ad agency who made the video. The real mechanic is not even a Labour supporter:
Neil McMullen, who has run the garage for 12 years, said he was approached by the agency on the Saturday before and they brought in an actor for the filming on Tuesday.
He said: “I was happy to help but I am not really interested in what politicians do – they are all the same aren’t they?
“He did fluff his lines a bit. He was reading from one of those cards that had his lines written on it.”
Needless to say, these stories were not featured in Livingstone’s denial video.
Ken lies, and when caught out, lies even more – he knows that throwing chaff works brilliantly. The story is now dead. The truth is out there. But people have moved on.
This is the Ken Livingstone strategy. It always has been.