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Tony Blair's former advisor just explained how MPs embarrassed themselves before Twitter and it's fascinating

Picture:
Picture:
Dan Kitwood/Getty

Twitter has given people intimate and immediate access to their politicians, and sometimes that can cause problems for those who are less adept at social media than others.

Just last week Tory MP Richard Graham hastened to delete a tweet in which he compared Brexit to the Rwandan genocide.

In a tweet which has since been deleted, 60-year-old Graham wrote:

25 years ago in Rwanda the Hutu on the right killed all 4 children of the Tutsi on the left, throwing two of them into a river.

Last week they embraced and reconciled. If they can come together then so can every Remainer & Leaver, Deal & No Deal advocate.

#letskeepitinperspective​

People thought comparing a divisive political issue to a 1994 genocide that killed an estimated 500,000 – one million people, not to mention the horrific documented torture that occurred, was a bit excessive.

Theo Bertram, who once advised Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, both past Labour prime ministers, harkened back to simpler times and in a Twitter thread explained that before the social networking service, catching out an MP required stealth and 'Bond-esque' recording equipment.

And it required a healthy dose of nerve

Bertram went on to share a fascinating anecdote about the time he sneaked into a member's only club for a great scoop about one of the most prominent Tory MPs at the time - Oliver Letwin

And what became of the recording?

Bertram caught Oliver Letwin saying that he would like to cut public spending by so much that it would be "irrational" to reveal his true intentions to voters at a general election.

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