Deputy leader of the Labour Party and shadow culture secretary Tom Watson MP received a nasty bite today from the social media snake pit after an ill-advised tweet.

Watson, picking up on last night’s game of cabinet musical chairs, decided it was time for a spot of political point-scoring - only for lawyers to point out his own goal.

The format of these kind of posts is predictable.

1) Pick up on a hot topic;

2) Try and say something pithy and/or witty;

3) Watch the retweets role in.

On hearing about barrister Geoffrey Cox QC being appointed Attorney General Watson sensed his opportunity.

‘Last time I spoke to this guy was at the trial of the journalists who worked for Rupert Murdoch. He was defending them in court,’ Watson posted defiantly.

Cue the ensuing backlash.

‘Are you sure you want to attack a barrister for doing their job? Are you sure you want to suggest that some people shouldn’t be defended? This is not a good tweet…’ wrote housing solicitor @nearlylegal.

Criminal barrister @jamieehr354 went for the witty approach: ‘Tom Watson is going to totally lose it when he finds out what job Keir Starmer used to do. He defended people in court. Sometimes those people were not very nice.’

Anonymous commentator Secret Barrister also got involved. ‘What’s your point? That people accused of criminal offences shouldn’t be represented? Or that barristers should refuse to represent people whom you don’t like? Genuinely interested in your point here, Tom,’ he/she asked in their trade mark manner.

As yet, Watson has not removed the message or responded to any replies. He may want to lick his wounds before angering the legal Twitterati again.

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