I was taken aback to find this message sitting in my email inbox on Tuesday. An email purporting to be from the blogger Timothy Ireland of the anti-Tory blog "Bloggerheads". I say "purporting to be from Ireland" as the contents suggest it is Ireland's work but the email address is different to the various addresses I know for him. If it's another childish game from someone sock-puppeting, go and get lost.

Background: Ireland and I (Ireland aided by his assistant Richard Bartholomew of another blog called Bartholomew's Notes) have recently been conducting something of a public war of words.

In a statement in an article on Saturday I made clear that I had no interest in divulging more about Ireland or the Pooter of Notes that is Bartholomew, so was somewhat shocked to receive the following gentlemanly missive (transcript below) suggesting a truce:

Dom,

I have made clear on my blog that I do not wish to attack you. I am reiterating that intent now with this email even though you say you don't want any contact with me at all and will report me to the police if I "pester" you again. I admit I was wrong not to take you up on your offer of a drink a month ago when we had the chance to iron out the issues. Now I regret that chance has past.

I am sorry that you have been "linked with thugs" and I did not intend to set off a smear. It won't stick. I know and everyone else knows you have no links with violence and/or extremism etc. So, yup, sorry. If there's other stuff I've said which is out of line then sorry for that too.

Look, can't we just end this? You and I can blog about something else?

There seems no point in you going after me and we've both taken enough hits for now, don't you think?

Olive branch?

Tim

I won't reply to this email directly as my collaboration with Ireland is over. I sent him a cease and desist communication letter a month ago and I genuinely meant it.

I do appreciate that he, like me, is a family man and that of late his blogging has been negatively affecting his family life - and that's not good.

If he really means a truce, I accept Ireland's apologies and henceforth publicly agree to cease exposing him and Bartholomew to the real world - like vampires to daylight - as I have been doing on this site.

Obviously these people need to show they mean what they say. For the sake of longevity they also need to understand that there are real people behind IP and email addresses - some of them are crazed and will threaten them and some will be violent towards them, whatever the social norms and decencies of our times.

Without these bloggers realising that there are people out there who, sadly, for one reason or another, depend on violence, their futures are hardly rosy. They should both take some time out and realise their blogs often create genuine, real-world damage. Above all, they should think more and stir less. Don't change because of recent threats but change because it's time to.

I hope this peculiar pair find contentment and happiness in their jottings, as well as enjoying relative peace in the near future.

Not wanting to be seen to be collaborating with them (again) I have written a piece in this journal attacking some lefties who genuinely merit a broadside (quislings the bloggers have both already disassociated themselves from). Perhaps to remind them that if need be I can have merry hell prepared for them too (just writing; no threats or violence) if this email above turns out to be another fake and they are so foolish as to want to extend hostilities. (If they choose the latter they will have to wait a while, as I'm off for a couple of weeks and the only people keeping an eagle eye on goings-on will be my lawyers. While I am away I'll be thinking of a few uses for your "olive branch" just in case we are still at loggerheads).

Dominic Wightman is the Editor of the Westminster Journal.

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