Hague “given duff PR advice”
Already buffeted by continued lurid speculation about his private life, William Hague is now battling new accusations in the media about his poor judgement in handling the situation.
Speaker’s wife Sally Bercow took to the airwaves this morning on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to criticise Hague’s decision to publish a highly personal statement: “Why disclose this level of information about your wife’s miscarriages to prove that you’re not gay? I think he was given duff PR advice.
“You have to ignore it; it’s just malicious internet gossip and goes on all the time. All its done is elevate the story from something that was circulating on the internet into something in the national press and media.
“He could have ignored it altogether or at most he could have said ‘I’m not gay, I’m happily married’ and carried on.”
PR "guru" Max Clifford was also quoted saying that Mr Hague should never have responded to unfounded internet allegations: "There have been rumours about many famous people. Nobody takes any notice of them. The vast majority of the British public would have been unaware of this. Now everybody is aware of it and the big question is why would a multi-millionaire share a bedroom with another man? It is damaging and has turned a small problem into a huge problem for him."
Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls also weighed into the stushie stating that while there was no reason to doubt the Foreign Secretary’s integrity his statement: “…probably gives more credibility to some of these websites and allegations which aren’t true.”