Tessa Jowell and Recess Monkey

Guido reports Recess Monkey seems to have had "an unfortunate accident" and lost a post he made earlier today concerning Tessa Jowell ( perhaps Lord Levy is helping him on the keyboard ;-) ).

Man in a Shed saw the Recess Monkey post and has retrieved a copy from his cache. I was about to post it - but am now wondering about any libel implications of doing so. Guido has not posted the text himself, and he's no fool.

Would it be libel to repost the comments of someone else ? Is it libel to report some one else's comments ? At what point would they become your own ? A blogger would have real trouble proving certain things were said, as a third party to events. Okay it is hardly likely to be in Tessa Jowells interest to sue - even if she has been libelled. But that shouldn't be the standard by which we judge our actions. Perhaps its part of a campaign to discredit her in the competition to become a highly paid, and underworked, replacement for John Prescott.

So the post stays in draft form. Perhaps I'm a wimp, but remember Mrs Mills is still married to a lawyer. Peoples reputations do matter, and the comments earlier reported by Recess Monkey may turn out to be unfounded.