Skip to main content

Woolas: Liar and New Labour Minister... and?

Phil Woolas loathes Liberal Democrats, and the feeling is completely mutual. He has always been extremely hostile and combative towards us. It is not therefore a surprise that he overstepped the line and became the first MP in over a century to be chucked out of the House of Commons for the disgraceful way he conducted his campaign.

Except that Mr. Speaker Bercow has decided that his ejection from the House must await the outcome of his appeal. I won't speculate on why the Speaker has made such a strange decision- it seems to second guess the appeal- it shows a slight contempt for the lower court, but then Mr Speaker Bercow is not too big on legal niceties.

In any event the decision of the lower court is pretty damning- it will be exceptionally difficult for the Court of Appeal, or even the House of Lords/Supreme Court- if it comes to it- to set aside the judgement.

But then the issue is removed for the legal and returns to the political: a by-election may need to be held. Given the change in Circumstances, many commentators- such as John Rentoul- dismiss the chances of the Liberal Democrats out of hand. They may well underestimate the determination of the Lib Dems to fight this to the last vote- it is not certain that Labour can or should recover from this disgrace, should the by-election actually take place.

On the other hand, Labour have something of a track record of dishonesty and hypocrisy, so why should Woolas be punished when Harman, Blair and the rest were not? I think the answer is "pour encourager les autres", to show that there are limits and that the personal hatred of Woolas led him beyond the acceptable limits by quite some way.

If the Appeal is dismissed, then the by election is profoundly interesting. It will be an acid test after the Liberal Democrat choice of entering the coalition and the equally controversial choice of Labour for Edward Miliband.

We will see the the result, but despite the polls, I see the Liberal Democrats are attracting a lot of new members, and the loathing of Woolas by the Liberal Democrats is equally visceral- if restrained by law in a way that Labour were not.

I am not afraid of the current position, and despite the contempt of Labour, I am increasingly sure that the country at large recognises the fact that Labour in office was more divided and drastically less competent that the Coalition- and that even the Conservatives now publicly recognise that the presence of the Liberal Democrats in office has improved the administration of government. We need to take our case to the country, and in particular to take the case for electoral reform to the country. The crux of this government will depend of the strength of the Lib Dems: now we must demonstrate this. The Oldham by election will be very difficult for the Lib Dems, but it will also be crucial: the future success of the party is riding on it.

I fear it may be that simple.
Labels:

Comments

Lord Blagger said…
Interesting that its illegal to lie about an opponent.

It's not illegal to lie to the public.

Shows the priority of MPs
8:35 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Concert and Blues

Tallinn is full tonight... Big concerts on at the Song field The Weeknd and Bonnie Tyler (!). The place is buzzing and some sixty thousand concert goers have booked every bed for thirty miles around Tallinn. It should be a busy high summer, but it isn´t. Tourism is down sharply overall. Only 70 cruise ships calling this season, versus over 300 before Ukraine. Since no one goes to St Pete, demand has fallen, and of course people think that Estonia is not safe. We are tired. The economy is still under big pressure, and the fall of tourism is a significant part of that. The credit rating for Estonia has been downgraded as the government struggles with spending. The summer has been a little gloomy, and soon the long and slow autumn will drift into the dark of the year. Yesterday I met with more refugees: the usual horrible stories, the usual tears. I try to make myself immune, but I can´t. These people are wounded in spirit, carrying their grief in a terrible cradling. I try to project hop...
Post a Comment
Read more

One Year On

  Head vabariigi iseseisvuspäeva! Happy Estonian Independence Day! It is one year since I stood outside the Estonian Parliament for the traditional raising of the national flag from Tall Hermann tower. Looking at the young fraternities gathered with their flags, I was very sure that Estonia too would soon be facing the aggression of the criminal Russian regime. A tragic and dark day. 5 eyes intelligence had been clear: an all out invasion was going to happen, and Putin´s goals included- and still include- "restoration" of Russian imperial power across Europe, even to the Atlantic. Yet there was one Western intelligence failure: we all underestimated the guts of the Ukrainian armed forces, the ZSU, and its President and people. One year on, Estonia, and indeed all the front line states against Russia, knows that Ukraine saved us. Estonia used that time to prepare itself, should that "delayed" onslaught ever be unleashed, but equally the determination of Kaja Kallas, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Media misdirection

In the small print of the UK budget we find that the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the British Finance Minister) has allocated a further 15 billion Pounds to the funding for the UK track and trace system. This means that the cost of the UK´s track and trace system is now 37 billion Pounds.  That is approximately €43 billion or US$51 billion, which is to say that it is amount of money greater than the national GDP of over 110 countries, or if you prefer, it is roughly the same number as the combined GDP of the 34 smallest economies of the planet.  As at December 2020, 70% of the contracts for the track and trace system were awarded by the Conservative government without a competitive tender being made . The program is overseen by Dido Harding , who is not only a Conservative Life Peer, but the wife of a Conservative MP, John Penrose, and a contemporary of David Cameron and Boris Johnson at Oxford. Many of these untendered contracts have been given to companies that seem to have ...
Post a Comment
Read more