The culture of smear goes much deeper than the Damian McBride affair. Critics of the National Programme for IT [NPfIT] in the NHS have been the subject of smears in debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Ross Anderson, Professor of Security Engineering at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, had some of his personal emails read out in the House of Lords after they were given to a former NPfIT minister Lord Warner. Anderson is still trying to find out through the Freedom of Information Act how the government obtained his emails.
Anderson says: "Nobody in parliament minded so long as it was just civilians like you and me getting smeared. But when the tactics were used on senior MPs it suddenly became unacceptable."
Full story on the main Computer Weekly website.
Link:
Damian McBride scandal reinforces culture of smear - Computer Weekly
