Tim Montgomerie: I blame Obama for the shooting of Representative Giffords...

Actually I don't. Not for a second. Not in any way. The person responsible is one very disturbed individual, Jared Loughner, who, thankfully, is now in police custody.

The reason for my provocative headline is to expose the partisan nonsense, from the likes of Alastair Campbell, who are blaming the Tea Party Movement and Sarah Palin for Saturday's tragic events. This blame game has been heavily reported - largely uncritically - by the BBC and other news organisations. Some people will seek to exploit any event for political purposes.

The Tea Party movement is blamed for extreme rhetoric. Something the Left would never be guilty of?

Sarah Palin is blamed for placing a target sign over the location of Representative Gifford's Arizona district. That seems mild compared to the Lib Dems' 2005 talk of "decapitating" the Tory leadership.

It's all nonsense, of course, but if we're playing this stupid game look at this rhetoric from Barack Obama in June 2008:

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Because from what I understand folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”

Does this mean Obama is more or less guilty than Sarah Palin? The question is clearly stupid. Jared Loughner is the only person responsible for this terrible crime and he will rightly now face the full force of the law. Our thoughts should not be political at a time of tragedy but for the injured and bereaved.

> Read David Cameron's response to the shooting.