Don't Panic

There has been a whiff of bitterness from some MPs that the group Don’t Panic – who duped Alan Duncan – covertly made their film after being invited into Parliament.

It is though they didn’t play fair or in a gentlemanly way, the voices say, and abused the trust of Mr Duncan.

Schmaltz. Lobbydog has grown rather fond of the team at Don’t Panic.

I was chatting with the group’s director Joe Wade who said neither he nor editor Heydon Prowse had any regrets about making the Duncan film - which can be seen on their website – or its consequences for the Melton MP.

“We make the films and what happens after that is really out of our hands. If it happened that he ended up getting sacked then so be it,” he said.

The group is a marketing agency which runs campaigns for charities and private companies, but also campaigns itself through a magazine and website.

“If you are in a position like Mr Duncan’s then you deserve to be scrutinised – in this case the film’s editor Heydon Prowse was showing the audience how different an MP’s views and life are from their own,” said Wade.

“We didn’t put words in his mouth. Everything he said, he said for himself in his own words.”