What a difference a day makes
Bit late with the blog today. As you may have discerned, things have been a little hectic here at Holyrood.
Parliament going on fire didn't help. (Small conflagration, no damage, no injuries.)
Fire aside, the fuss was caused by the verdict upon Wendy Alexander. Holyrood's standards committee reckons she should be suspended - for one day - as a rebuke for breaking the rules re the register of interests.
You'll find the substance elsewhere on this site. But, in essence, the committee decided she should have declared donations to her leadership campaign.
I suspect you'll have your own views on this. I suspect, further, that you won't be slow in declaring said views.
But herewith a few points. Counsel for the defence would say that Ms Alexander sought and obtained written guidance from parliamentary clerks to the effect that she didn't require to declare the donations as they weren't personal gifts.
Counsel for the prosecution would say that she should have over-complied. She should have declared the donations, regardless.
Wide open
Further - and importantly - by the time she sought advice, she was already in breach because she had exceeded the time limit.
Counsel for the defence says this is a politically motivated smear campaign. Counsel for the prosecution says Wendy Alexander left herself wide open to attack because of slipshod organisation and law-breaking (the Jersey donation.)
Counsel for the defence says the Parliamentary clerks took legal advice before guiding Ms Alexander.
Counsel for the prosecution says that is trumped by the ruling from the standards commissioner, Dr Jim Dyer. He said the donations should have been declared because they would be viewed as tantamount to gifts.
Keith Brown, the standards committee convener, professed himself torn between these competing views.
He said there was a definite breach. But there were "mitigating circumstances" in that Ms Alexander had sought advice from the clerks. In his view, the timing issue was key.
Committee balance
The committee divided on party lines. The SNP, the Tories and the LibDems backed the verdict. On the suggested sentence, the SNP and the LibDems backed suspension.
The Tories abstained, arguing that sanctions were in appropriate.
It now goes to the full parliament - in September, because Holyrood had risen for the summer recess by the time the committee ruled. They could overturn the recommendation.
But, if the chamber matches the committee balance, if the Tories abstain, then the suspension would go through.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~31~RS~)
CommentsSign in
You need to sign in to contribute to this page. If you're new to BBC Blogs, creating your membership is quick and easy.
If she doesn't even know how to run her own affairs, how could she even hope to convince Scotland that she could run Scotland in an entirely above board way.
I'm surprised it's only a day, though if it's a Thursday then it'll have a bigger impact.
Coonsidering all the other alleged dodgy dealings that she's managed to wriggle out of, I thought a month, or at least a week would have been more appropriate.
I also assume that her pay and all other priviliges will be cancalled for that "one" day.
What a mess. What chaos.
Complain about this comment
Regardless of whether Alexander's suspension goes ahead or not the public is left wondering what the point is of having parliamentary rules if when they are blatantly broken the "punishment" is going to be an extra day's paid holiday for the offender! Not to mention the ridiculous waste of public money to set up a committee to decide what the "punishment" should be. What a joke.
Complain about this comment
Brian, thanks for clearing up the 2 stages of voting on this matter. I have read the BBC website, listened to BBC Radio Scotland and read your blog and they all differ in their reports of what happened (I'm sure that your detailed explanation is the correct one). Radio Scotland was broadcasting not long after 4pm that the vote was incredibly close, 4 for, 3 against and that effectively the Tories opposed the verdict. As of 'now' the BBC website is reporting 4 for, 3 abstentions (different from earlier in the day). As you state it is slightly more complex. In the interests of democracy and correct reporting, can everyone try a little harder to get the facts correct. Please?
Complain about this comment
Is it just a coincidence that the committee made their decision after Parliament went into recess, meaning this will drag on for several more months?
Does every MSP now have to have a specialist law degree in this area, as written, unambiguous, guidance from the clerks doesn?t seem to be worth much?
To those MSPs who voted for the sanction ? the chickens will come home to roast.
Complain about this comment
This campaign of Wendy Alexander's was so disorganised, it does make me wonder about her ability to be First Minister to which post she presumeably aspires.
If she does not know the rules or more importantly, the time limits on declaring money, it does not inspire confidence. Into the bargain, if she was unsure, surely she should know to whom she should go to seek advice - or someone in her 'team' should know.
So a slap on the wrist of one day recommended? Certainly a week might be more appropriate as the way she wriggled and jiggled and tried to put every excuse was inappropriate behaviour from one aspiring to leadership.
However we have to wait and see as they are off on recess.( Before there are screams of hols, many MSPs have a great deal of constituency work to do and surely they are entitled to a break as are the rest of us) Can they MSPs modify the punishment as recommended? On that point I am unclear. Perhaps a good wait over the recess may give a lot of them time to think over this situation.
At the moment, it is slightly better than a whitewash.
Complain about this comment
One day suspension does not go far enough.
How can the public put confidence into a system that the consequences are a walk in the park?
If the consequences are not feared then how will this put off potential rule breakers?
Complain about this comment
An extra days holiday on full pay for being found...."GUILTY"
Who says Crime doesn't pay?
Another sorry day for democracy in this benighted country.
Complain about this comment
As a former civil servant I was not allowed to accept any payments other than my salary. All gifts had to be declared. MPs and MSPs are better paid than most civil servants and should be bound by the same rules. The political system in the UK still tries to pretend that being an elected representative is a part time job. As a voter I feel cheated when my representative take gifts etc from those seeking political influence. I firmly believe MPs and MSPs should NOT take any remuneration other than and that bthe only suitable punishment for doing so would be to loose their seat. The proposal that Wendy Alexander should be banned from the parliament for a day is simply a joke.
Complain about this comment
It's quite sad that so many of the SNP zealots want to be Shylock, and demand more severe sanctions. They seem to have forgotten that the point of sanctions against offenders is to prevent them reoffending and pour encourager les autres. Otherwise we end up with a US system of demanding vengeance rather than justice.
The ignominy of a party leader being suspended from Parliament is career destroying - no worse punishment for a politician, I would have thought.
As someone who supports independence, I quite like the leader of the Labour Party to be incompetent, as long as the party remains obdurately UK unionist. Lose Wendy, and we might get a competent UK unionist.
AMoffat's post defending her (I presume) was more than a little confused - does he think (like the Labour members of the committee) that she had done no wrong? or is he simply as confused as his final point -
"To those MSPs who voted for the sanction ? the chickens will come home to roast."
Is he making a brilliantly humorous comment (too clever for me)? or can he simply not spell? or does he not know the saying? (roost not roast).
Complain about this comment
Can Parliament function without her towering intellect even for one day?
ps Can we have this day declared a public holiday to celebrate : )
Complain about this comment
I wonder if I could get a day off work by lying to my employer?
Nah maybe not. More likely a P45 which is Labour had any sense (or talent) would give to Wendy.
Complain about this comment
If it's about symbolism, then it is a good thing that the Scottish Parliament will show more regard to the law than supposed watchdogs such as the Electoral Comission and at least impose some form of penalty.
Wendy Alexander was and is guilty.
Of a crime.
If there was any real justice, she would have been barred from holding elected office for a period of time. And would be spending the next six months cooling her heels in Cornton Vale.
-
Like so many of this generation of Labour politicians, Wendy Alexander is standing on the shoulders of giants (Keir Hardie et al), and she is metaphorically urinating down on them and their achievements.
Complain about this comment
Brian
Wendy Alexander's punishment is about right. She broke the rules, so she deserves to be punished - though as others have already said, suspension on full pay seems an anachronism.
However, the real issue should surely be this: if the rules governing members interests are so complicated that the clerks applying them gave out the wrong advice, then the rules are bad and need urgent simplification.
Any donation or gift received of over £100 in value should be declared - whether personal or party - simple as that.
Politicians (both at Holyrood and Westminster) cannot continue to treat financial contributions - whether from public or private sources - as a state secret.
Complain about this comment
Brian, thought that you might have went on the Mc connell by-election,will the tories may a break through in traditional labour land?will the snp increase their hold in the parliament?will westminster allow the scottish parliament the decision on the format of the election?
Complain about this comment
This is and always has been a storm in a provincial tea cup. I despair.
Complain about this comment
I don't believe a suspended MSP receives pay, or indeed expenses - so will have to find other resources to pay staff.
Complain about this comment
A day's suspension would be viewed by the public as a purely token sanction, which indeed it would be. It would therefore not seem as if there had been any real sanction at all. If at the end of the summer recess the legislature does not decide on a longer period of suspension, it will make itself look as foolish as Ms Alexander. That is not an acceptable outcome.
If breach of the rules does not attract credible punishment, the rules by which the legislature functions will be undermined. Although one may feel sympathy for Ms Alexander and indeed for anyone who finds herself or himself in a position of irregularity in respect of rules which must be upheld, the rules are more important than the person, because parliament and its proper functioning as an essential element of our democracy are more important than any individual, even if that individual should happen to be the leader of the principal opposition party, who, frankly, should have known better than to place herself in this embarrassing predicament.
Ms Alexander is the architect of her own misfortune. She should have been more careful. "Diligence is the Mother of Good-Luck." (Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1736)
Complain about this comment
maccord
If this issue had arisen in my local authority, I would not have considered it a "storm in a teacup". If it took place elsewhere, I would not comment.
If you live outwith Scotland, then your comment is irrelevant, patronising and frankly silly - why bother commenting?
If you live within the UK, , do you consider the Tory and Labour "sleaze" problems at Westminster simply "provincial" problems within Europe?
If you live in the World (and I do not make that assumption), do you consider the financial irregularities within EU Government as simply "provincial" within the Earth's priorities.
If you despair, try the Samaritans.
Complain about this comment
Excellent.
- Derek Conway pays his family £1.5m from public funds - 10 days suspension
- Wendy Alexander breaks the rules over donations. Plus most of the donations are suspiciously under the threshold for declaration - 1 day suspension.
- 4 MSPs disrupt parliament for 30 minutes to highlight the public's right to protest - 30 days suspension each.
It's good to see we have our priorities in order.
Complain about this comment
In what way is an incompetent leader of the opposition a really good argument for an Independent Scotland?
Whilst I accept in probability that Alex Salmond vision is probably of him having a god-given right to rule over such a nation for as long as he wanted etc etc (Mugabe once got Independence for his nation then stayed, and Salmond apparently admires him enough to write letters to him when every other leader in the western world won't correspond with the man), the reality is that the parliament which would be debating the important issues would no longer be the UK parliament, where we have intelligent people on all sides having reasoned debate, but the Scottish Parliament, where we have Alex Salmond, and a leader of the opposition who would be incapable of opposing him effectively on anything. Governments without an effective opposition are never a good thing for the people, and I'm surprised that Nats don't realise that making a mockery of anyone in the Scottish Parliament is making a mockery of our ability to self govern. Its NOT just about them as they seem to think, its about the whole parliament, unless the SNP seriously plans to be in power forevermore in their fantasyland independent state there needs to be a strong Scottish political base, on all sides.
As such I think the fact that their witchhunt against Wendy Alexander hasn't been the strongest move. I'm 100% not a labour supporter, I couldn't think less of Wendy Alexander if I tried, but i do think this has been blown out of all proportions, and that its been done because it was politically advantageous to the government. Frankly I think most people see this to be honest. In evidence of this I ask a simple question, if a random nobody backbench SNP MSP had taken a couple of very small donations for a campaign that never actually happened, checked they were ok and TOLD they were ok, not realised that they weren't actually ok, would the government be pursuing this issue with such vigour? If there's anyone here who seriously wants to answer yes to this point then g ahead, I'll just disagree with you. If you answer NO however then you're acknowledging that there is more to this than just the laughable claims of "principles" that is what the Nats are making such a fuss about.
I'd like to see the Government defend themselves on their actions, like dealing with the fact they've LIED to students, and broken manifesto promises to thousands of Scots, rather than getting away with it by throwing mud at the opposition over what was clearly a mistake.
Complain about this comment
Wendy Alexander, Mohammed Sanwar, Peter Hain, Lord Levy, Tony Blair, David Abrahams, Peter Mandelson, Ruth Turner, Christopher Evans, Jonathan Powell, John Mcternan, Patricia Hewitt, Aalan Milburn, John Prescott...........................................the list goes on and on, the Labour Party and financial scandals are no strangers to each other.
Complain about this comment
How disappointing that the Scottish Parliament is turning out to be as self interested and - in the widest sense - as corrupt as the London one it purported to be different from.
Wendy Alexander is no leader, she is not even a good follower, and is certainly not a good accountant or politician. What Labour were thinking of appointing her as leader in Scotland is beyond me, maybe they wanted to experience life in opposition for some time, who knows.
The tarrifs are now set at 1 day to be caught with your hand in the till but just don't try to make a political point or you will get a real ban.
Sleekit Salmond knows that to create a stink about this may displace Alexander with a real Labour leader so it would be self-defeating to make too much of it. She is doing a great job as far as he is concerned.
The rest of us - the real people - get P45s and face criminal charges for false accounting and are told that ignorance of the law is no defence. MSPs are clearly above these trivialities.
Complain about this comment
I heartily agree with alanm_ok but can explain why this useless woman is where she is.
Her brother, Douglas, is very, very close to the worst PM in history, having been an advisor and confident for years. It is just another example of Labour's less known sleazy behaviour, a sort of nepotism.
Wendy/Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls/Yvette Cooper, Hariet Harmon/Jack Dromey etc etc.
Has this country ever suffered from a more useless bunch of people?
Complain about this comment
I find it appalling that Labourites on here contiunue to claim that Wendy Alexander was given the wrong advice and therefore innocent, let us all be clear about this issue, WENDY ALEXANDER WAS IN BREACH OF THE RULES PRIOR TO SEEKING ADVICE.
''Change is what we do'' is the Labour claim,
'' Short change is what we do'' would be much more accurate.
Wansanshoo.
Complain about this comment
#20 NCA999
Wendy Alexander is indeed incapable of opposing Alex Salmond on anything at all. But is this the fault of Alex Salmond and the SNP?
I would say that the Labour Party should be taking heed of the so called "witch hunt" and do the decent thing and get the woman removed from her position as leader. But they do not.
Could this be because the Labour Party are so ineffectual as to have no one who can (or wants to) replace her?
The fault as far as I can see lies with the opposition party and not the party of government. Labour had eight years in Holyrood to show the Scottish people what the could do. The Scottish people didn't like it and removed them. They have also removed them from most council control too.
With any luck the rest of the UK will remove them from power in Westminster at the next General election. Labour are their own biggest problem, but they can't see it.
Complain about this comment
Parliament set on fire, Brian?
Who let Mike Watson into the building??!!
And is it now 'curtains' for Wendy???
:-)
Complain about this comment
Brian,
In this I am with maccord @15. I despair over this 'storm in a teacup' too.
Complain about this comment
The day Wendy is off would be a good day to have the independance vote she has been so desperate to have recently. She'd obviously be gutted to miss it but I'm sure all her labour cronies would sitill be up for voting yes!
Complain about this comment
The Holyrood fire as reported is timely; at one time only manual workers had to 'clock in' but increasingly because of 'Health and Safety' issues attendance on site or in buildings has to be registered in case of fire or emergencies; our Holyrood representatives are no different; if a fire or terrorist attack was carried out how should our emergency services respond?
Should our emergency services put their lives at risk searching for greedy MSPs when they are long gone after claiming in their allowances?
Assessing all the political parties, Scottish politics does not have an abundance of talented charismatic individuals!
Wendy must go, but who could replace her?
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
NCA999
While I agree that weak opposition is not good for anybody, I do not believe that you can use this as an arguement to stay within the union.
Maggie may have been a far better leader had she had had effective opposition, IDS did Tony Blair no favours by his weakness. Ineffective opposition can hamper any parliament not just the Scottish one.
To say that the UK politicians are some how inherently more intelligent than the Scottish ones is your opinion and has no basis in fact. Some of the prime ministers questions slots which have been televised have shown anything but "intelligent people on all sides having reasoned debate"
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I think it's VERY important that Wendy Alexander is rebuked but the Standards Committee. She has brazened it out so far but no-one should be above being taken to task. She did wrong and I'm pleased that she has been called to answe; I would have preferred it being more that one day!
Complain about this comment
When faced with an issue such as this a parties spin machine have two commonplace strategies the first is to poo poo an issue, call it a storm in a teacup , pretend to be bored with it, time to move on etc etc but the second and perhaps the more cunning of the two is to deliberately exagerate the issue, blowing it out of proportion by calling for jail terms etc etc.Both have the same effect ie to cause the public to dismiss the issue out of hand. Both types of strategy appear to be at work here.
Lets not forget the real issue is Ms Alexanders integrity and competence to lead.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I know that this post refers to the pevious blog on Brian's German trip and the flurry of responses that it provoked and it does not refer to the current blog but if I post it with he right blog only the occasional enthusiast will look back and see it. I don't know if this breaks the rules but if so the monitor will not publish.
I contacted a German colleague on the subject of Scottish identity and the English. The folowing is the response I received this morning.
'It is very evident that Scots suffer from non-recognition through an
overwhelming halo by the southern neighbor. I hold my own grudge against
English media, one for reports on soccer, the other for the WWII movies.
We try very hard to get to grips with our past and it simply is not
suited for a good laugh. This has nothing to do with no sense for humor
(another of our national attributes through the English). My wife and I
will go to visit Auschwitz during our vacation, and it will not be and
adventure park visit for us.
I like to be with English colleagues and people that I meet. At times,
however, I find them killingly and overwhelmingly self-centered. No need
for a reply here, I know you agree.
Either today or Monday I will send a new >>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>. We'll exchange the >>>>when I'm next time in >>>>>,
okay?'
The deletes were details of business that we were conducting at the same time.
Wendy and contribution, not of great significance I've spent more on a business lunch.
Complain about this comment
The Scotsman summed up the significance of this business pretty well this morning when it opened its report by declaring that WA is the first party leader ever to be suspended. The length of the suspension isn?t significant and objectively the ?scale? of the offence doesn?t really justify anything harsher, it?s the symbolism that counts.
The fact remains that an offence was committed, its being caught at last which hurts, not the sentence.
To be absolutely fair to WA while she should have known what the rules were, especially given that her lot brought them in, she can?t be expected to remember everything which is why she has a staff. The real trouble of course is that Labour have been accustomed for far too long to getting all the advice and assistance they need from civil servants and are now struggling to cope on their own and while WA is still(!) touted as being the party?s best and brightest, all things are relative. Anyone who was any good in the party gravitated to the plum jobs in Westminster long ago, leaving the rest to man Tony Blair?s ?parish council?; which is why we?re seeing the equivalent of a pub football team going up against Wee Eck?s premier league side.
Complain about this comment
Brian,
I think you are showing some bias here. You had a number of choices on which approach to take on this, but you start with 'counsel for the defense...' Shame, shame.
Then on top of that I listened to Newsdrive yesterday afternoon and was not only astonished to hear one of the WAG's being interviewed, but annoyed and let down that the interviewer was very badly briefed on the matter and Whitton ran rings around the poor guy!
We should bear in mind that Whitton was an active player is soliciting the '£995 donations' from a variety of sources and he is as much implicated, if not more, in this matter than weebendybringiton. We should also recognise what actually happened here and that is that money was solicited for one purpose and then apparently used for another.
That, in my book is fraud.
If any of the WAGs got a single meal or a single night's accommodation on the Great WAG Tour of Scotland, then all should have the full power of Parliament unleashed upon then, without limit. And now we have Whitton and others moaning to all the media about an opposition stitch-up when every day their entire modus operandi in Holyrood is to get' Salmond, or Sturgeon and the entire SNP!!
However, there may be a kind of poetic justice at play here in that what has been suggested as a one-day suspension (subject to ratification) may well turn into a three-month summer of discontent for the weebendyone and the WAGs. If the decision had come one day earlier then she she would know her fate clearly. How can she now lead when no-one will know for three months whether or not the wound is fatal??
The Labour Party of Westminster in Scotland.
'Sic a parcel of roques in a nation'.
Complain about this comment
Nothing less than a guid hangin' was ever going to satisfy the bloodlust of the pack of jackals represented by the majority of contributors here.
I can say nothing positive about Wendy's politics, her patronising style, or her childish debating skills, but for any sake... the poor wee woman has been hounded by Press and Parliament and is now humiliated by a suspension that, while short, is unprecedented - a scar she will carry for ever.
It would serve her critics right if Labour found a strong, charismatic replacement, because the SNP are a very soft target. Their inexperience, and puppy dog pursuit of approval will, inevitably, end in tears. Hopefuly before any lasting harm is done.
Complain about this comment
Quite simply I am of the opinion that MPs and MSPs should not be able to accept any gifts, especially of cash!
How can any Member of Parliament not be beholding to the giver?
Why would anyone wish to give cash to a politician if not for favour?
Take this out of the political context, if I working in the real World for a company accepted money from a client I would be sacked on the spot, finito.
Why should our political betters be any better than us, the poor sods who pay their saleries and expect probity from them?
As a famous US stand up comedian said, I paraphase a little;
Politicans and nappies should be changed often and for the same reason! Nanou, nanou!
I think Bendy Wendy of the brown envelopes has reached her Nappy Day!
Hold nose, and flush!
Complain about this comment
This isn't an isolated incident, 'forgetfulness and fuzzyness' regarding 'donations' afflicts MP's MSP's, and MEP's of all parties, it appears to be something endemic in our political population. How do we stamp it out? by censoring/punishing those caught with no exceptions. We should expect and demand our politicians uphold the seven principles of public service.
Complain about this comment
#44, it would serve you right Brig if Wendy somehow became First Minister.........God and the Scottish electorate forbid.
Complain about this comment
#44 - While I agree with what you say, to be fair to the SNP, experience does not in itself make a party any better at governing.
Can you or anyone really and truthfully say that, for all their experience at being in power in Scotland, the Labour Party actually did a better job than the SNP have done in the past 12 years? When it comes to supposed broken election manifesto promises, the Labour Party are in no position to criticise the current administration, especially when there are still three years to see if the SNP can deliver what they said they would.
If, come the next Scottish election, the SNP have manifestly failed to come up with the goods then, I would hope, the Scottish electorate will hold them to account (although, sadly, if they do that, it'll probably mean that we're stuck with Labour again). In such a circumstance, the words, "rock" and "hard place" would, sadly, be all too appropriate.
Complain about this comment
#46
The 7 principles; these would be:
1. Don't lie;
2. Don't cheat;
3. Don't steal;
4. Don't do anything underhand;
5. Don't put your own interests above that of those you purport to represent;
6. Don't treat the electorate as fools;
And
7. Above all else DO NOT get caught doing any of the above!
Complain about this comment
I agree with brigadierjohn at #44.
Suspension of an MSP is unprecendented and whether it is a day or an hour people need to ask themselves if they really want the sort of person who is guilty of unprecedented breaches of parliamentary rules having the privilege of serving in our parliament.
Decent people of all political persuasions or none should ask themselves if this is the quality of behaviour we expect of MSPs - regardless if it is Alexander or anyone else or any other party.
If people look at this question they will see that the only sensible response is to expect people capable of such rule breaches to be expelled from parliament and replaced with people of a higher calibre who are capable of serving the public in an effective, professional and above all honest manner.
Complain about this comment
Ignorance of the law is no defence for breaking the law - I learned this as a child.
Wendy is a law maker - her ignorance is no defence at all and because of her position she knows that full well.
The Cousel for the defence are among her chief supporters and agents and have a vested interest, thus their opinion is suspect to say the least, particularly since they also make the laws that the rest of us must abide by.
Complain about this comment
InMyKip: #47 - Fair comment. This is the unionist dilemma: support a fragile SNP within the devolution terms, and risk being dragged screaming into independence, or vote them out and face corrupt and incompetent Labour rule again. When in doubt, I usually go for the candidate on personal qualities alone. In my area that might mean a Tory, which solves nothing.
So a very fair point, Kipper, and you're also right about experience in #48 (all this agreement is embarrassing me). I can't defend Labour on any grounds, never mind experience. But I have hinted here before that experience might, in due course lead to the same delusions of untouchability within the SNP. So it's a cleft stick for me.
As to your Principles of Government, only No.7 applies. That is the reality we all live with.
Complain about this comment
Thanks to Labour's current propensity for sleaze - oh, for the days when Tories' sleaze related mostly to their sex lives - there are no circumstances under which I would make a contribution to ANY political party.
One could almost believe that this was part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to hasten state funding of political parties - if not for the fact that it is impossible to believe the current crop of misfits capable of careful orchestration of anything.
Complain about this comment
I wonder of which far-flung former British colony Wendy Alexander aspires to be High Commissioner...
I'm sure there would be a quite a queue of donors willing to pay her air-fare.
Complain about this comment
In 1995, the Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) identified seven principles of conduct underpinning public life "for the benefit of those who serve the public in any way" and recommended that public bodies should draw up Codes of Conduct incorporating these principles.
The seven Nolan Principles are listed here for those interested.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/11153800/11
I'd add one suggestion, 3 strikes and you are out permenantly.
Complain about this comment
We have missed the forest by looking at the tree!
Why should politicians solicit and accept gifts of cash?
They represent us in our democratic expression. They are paid to do this and know what the tariff before they start their journey.
1. Why would anyone wish to solicit these individual ?gifts? without expecting to be beholding to the donor?
2. Why would anyone giving a cash ?gift? to an individual gift not expect preferential treatment from the recipient?
Let us take a hypothetical PLC called Scotland making widgets, employing thousands of employees with a turnover of billions of Pounds.
I as an executive director, even as a lowly Purchasing Manager, solicit money from my clients, suppliers or potential of either category, to advance my position in Scotland PLC ?s hierarchy. Notwithstanding that I took the money, stuck it in my pocket and did not use it for the professed objective, this is bribery and corruption.
My erse would be spouting sparks as I was kicked down the hall and out of the front door, and quite rightly so. If this were the USA I would be facing a prosecution by a raft of authorities and after being charged would be shackled in public on the way to various hearings in front of the relevant beak!
What we get here is a hullaballo from cyber posters, various reports passed between different organisations all of which end up being adjudicated by members of the same political class who are quite possibly doing the same tapping up but, by luck or good judgement, keep within the ?rules?.
No one stops to look at the absurdity of the situation that out politicians, the ones we pay, are taking cash from individuals and organisations and we do not know what they are using this cash or why they ?need? it. As I said above it is a naivety to expect that people taking cash are not in the pay of these tally men, politicians or not. This is a favourite hook used by the Mafia and other criminals.
So ,why are the political commentators, cyber posters and the public at large, missing this simple point?
We have walked eyes wide shut into political toilet where anything goes, as long as you are not caught. However was the Labour Party funded and financed except by donations and sponsoring?
Now this laudable political funding is well past its sell-by date. Trade Unions speak and threaten one party with the withholding of funds and what happens?
Funding and favour are now incorporated into the political fabric and we did not notice it happening.
The spirit of the law is openly flouted for personal enrichment; just know when to stop and how to make it deniable!
Our political system is a cesspit of thinly veiled corruption.
If a property developer gives to a politician why else would he do except to repay a favour or have a card to play in the future? ?Ah but ye cannae prove it, they chorus. ?
The Hell we cannot!
1. We will make all donations to individual politicians or irregular groupings of them illegal; end of story!
2. Donations to political parties should be limited and all must be declared publically.
3. Any attempt to circumvent these laws, by using proxies and multiple donations below imposed limits, should be met with a presumption of guilt; a bit like the anti-corruption laws used in Hong Kong, some years ago, against corrupt Police officers.
Let us open a debate on the absurdity of the £995 brown envelope ?donations? and what it means to our democracy.
We are heading fast into a World where our politicians are the best that money can buy.
Our political system is rotten. It must stop by itself or be stopped by the People.
Brian, if you ever do read these posts, why don't you open a blog on this subject?
Why are YOU not pointing out the absolute absurdity of this whole financing pig trough?
Complain about this comment
She broke the Law and she is to be punished no matter how slight that punishment is to be. There can be no equivocation on this, she MUST resign. She is a disgrace to herself, her party, the Parliament and to the Scottish people.
Of course she won't quit, she'll put on her best petted lip and try to score points against the Government in that petulent, school-girl style of hers. Wee Eck will be delighted!
Complain about this comment
ok so i will try again. the labour party forget that they are no longer in total power here in scotland . what they got away with in the past , they will no longer get away with now.
i admit it will take some of them a long time to adjust from the one party state model
but in no way should we be following the line that the electoral commission took allowing our politicians years to break the rules.
if you don't know the rules resign and let people who are prepared to play by the rules take your place
our society is in a real state and our politicians are not helping with there behaviour
Complain about this comment
What now will be the political fallout?
Will Miss Alexander remain leader after this suspension? (I don't mean technically, I mean politically).
Complain about this comment
jacquesmac #56- what an excellent post the majority of people as you say are missing the point here.
this is one of these moments in history when a nation is given the oppurtunity to get there political house in order .
will we grab the chance or just ignore it???
sid
Complain about this comment
jacquesmac - your post makes the assumption that you are the only one who can see such corrupt practices.
The truth is everybody can all see them but the system is rigged in such way that people can do little to stop them.
None of your three suggested measures to stop corruption is actually within your power to implement, or the power of anyone outside the corrupt political system. (See prevous point).
Yes, I know, we can vote them out every four years, blah, blah, blah. As if that is an effective safeguard or deterrent!
The most important word in your post is "should". We all know what SHOULD be happening. But then there is actually what IS happening:
1. So-called "public servants" lining their own pockets from the public purse with no effective check or auditing.
2. Refusal to quit even when caught red-handed with fingers in the till safe in the knowledge there's nothing the "mugs" can do.
3. People who aren't even capable of telling a lie and getting away with it still clinging onto public office despite their obvious guilt.
So if you have any genuinely shrewd suggestions on how to stop this absurd corruption that passes for "politics" let's hear them.
Try to make them things that COULD actually happen. i.e. things that don't depend on a load of corrupt turkeys voting for Christmas or a load of battery hens voting to get rid of a few of the fattest turkeys!!
Complain about this comment
Thanks Sid
But on an another note I am sitting here in SW France with a wee boatle of Rose diddy in front of me, £2.00 a boatle and no Kenny McCastle is sight!
Repost my rant as you see fit; let us get a hullaballoo up against all this subliminal slime pit into which we have been inducted by the slime virii!
A horse-shoe Parliament means a consenus not a monkey'd up version of Westmonster.
Time to break the Mold!
Bugger the buggerers
Power to the People; what a great idea!
James McLaren
Complain about this comment
Some politicians who have been round the block a few times totally ignore the new rules regarding reporting matters they are required to lodge in the register of interests.
Not Just Wendy but also Local Councillors.
Go to your Council HQ and examine the register of interests, what you are looking for is not what is entered (these are the honest upfront people) its those with no or few entries.
You have the right to examine and question.
Make a list and log the entries, if a Councillor is frequently missing an entry where others have made an enrty then investigate. Councillors are required to make a "no" entry if they refused the hospitality or event.
Wendy could be the tip of a big iceberg.
Complain about this comment
61. At 4:24pm on 27 Jun 2008, bighullabaloo wrote:
jacquesmac - your post makes the assumption that you are the only one who can see such corrupt practices.
The truth is everybody can all see them but the system is rigged in such way that people can do little to stop them.
None of your three suggested measures to stop corruption is actually within your power to implement, or the power of anyone outside the corrupt political system. (See prevous point).
Yes, I know, we can vote them out every four years, blah, blah, blah. As if that is an effective safeguard or deterrent!
The most important word in your post is "should". We all know what SHOULD be happening. But then there is actually what IS happening:
1. So-called "public servants" lining their own pockets from the public purse with no effective check or auditing.
2. Refusal to quit even when caught red-handed with fingers in the till safe in the knowledge there's nothing the "mugs" can do.
3. People who aren't even capable of telling a lie and getting away with it still clinging onto public office despite their obvious guilt.
So if you have any genuinely shrewd suggestions on how to stop this absurd corruption that passes for "politics" let's hear them.
Try to make them things that COULD actually happen. i.e. things that don't depend on a load of corrupt turkeys voting for Christmas or a load of battery hens voting to get rid of a few of the fattest turkeys!!
I absolutely agree with what you say but the point of my post is that we are missing the illness and just shouyting at the symptoms.
Agree or not?
Wee Wenydspeak, YES or NO?
Rais the debate, there is a fantastic "free" medium out there called the WWW.
Get it into their RIBS!
I have no panacea but, once the disease is identified, the treatment should be there, somewhere. Why do you not think it through, please, and brainstorm, sorry shower idown ideas (PC speak)
.
The intellect exists, not necessarily in one or two people, but in their shared effort; probaly because of my Adam Smith heritage?
Get yer erse in gear and contribute; push the envelope!
They don't like it, uppem!
Complain about this comment
Wendy is guilty by her own admission of breeches of the PPER Act 2000 that are identified as a criminal offence under the act in that she or others acting on her behalf hid donations, illegal donations and covered up or tried to cover their acceptance from both the Electoral Commission and the Holyrood Parliamentary Standards Officer.
If I extracted £16,000 from other folk, plus accepted laundered drug money, on the basis I was using the money to campaign for a charity, was thought to have trousered the lot I do not think the same media or apologists (often one and the same) would be happy if the Procurators Fiscal said it was not in the public interest to prosecute me.
The Charity Commission would expect me to account for every penny of income and expenditure (as does the PPER 2000 Act) and have a publicly available audited set of accounts. Failure to provide said accounts is a criminal offence under the Charities Act as it is under PPER. Lack of knowledge of the Charity Act would not have prevented me from going to jail so lack of knowledge of PPER is no excuse for Wendy.
The point is fraud is fraud whether carried out by me with a false charity or Wendy with a false 'Leadership Campaign'.
At least some one has had the courage to hold her to account and for that the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner deserves praise. Maybe it is time for the Procurators Fiscal to review their original position on the basis of actual 'public interest'.
The Labour party fifth with a lost deposit and only just pipping the Monster Raving Looney Party says it all.
Complain about this comment
61. At 4:24pm on 27 Jun 2008, bighullabaloo wrote:
see above No 62
Please engage!
I siggested banning all political donations top individuals plus other presumptions of guilt!
Give me some of your ideas, please.
Open the debate do not close it down with reverse shadenfreude.
This is too much like the way we see ourselves as Scots, useless turds dependent on our Colonial master?
Social imprinting anyone?
Complain about this comment
Sory Big Hubb
My rose biddy is cutting in and I am not fully respecting your post
jacquesmac - your post makes the assumption that you are the only one who can see such corrupt practices.
The truth is everybody can all see them but the system is rigged in such way that people can do little to stop them.
My point is precisely what you seem yto say. We know subliminally that it is all going on; snookered bu the bad boys.
However we are looking at the symptoms, not the disease!
Posters all change perspective, change gear and see thorugh the whole charade, not the hopelessness of it all!
Complain about this comment
Do I hold out much hope that Brian the Blessed, The Herald or The Hootsmon will actually look at this perspective?
Naw,
They need to greave up the derrieres of their Lards and Masters; or just maybe they are so into the system that they cannot see the forest for the trees?????
Complain about this comment
I am a simple man and am known as such.If I had to account for every penny when an employee I don't see why everyone else shouldn't do the same.Especially civil servants paid with public money.My money!Similarly when I got gifts they were shared with the rest of the team,as were theirs with me.I cannot see why politicians shouldn't be treated under the same civil servant rules.
If Mrs Alexander wants to be her party leader at Holyrood then she,or her party(locally or at Holyrood),pays for her campaign.No donations should be allowed.I also remember reading that she sought business funding to pay for the Christmas calendars she sent out.Which I find appalling.Same rules as above should apply.
To all politicians local,scottish and uk.
I am curious as to the mindset of those people seeking patronage and those buying it as to what they think each other is getting out of it.There's a story in there somewhere for an enterprising newsman to get their teeth into.
Complain about this comment
Reclaim the Night?
Complain about this comment
Jacquesmac ?
Your first error was in suggesting you are the only one who can see blatant political corruption when, in fact, it is obvious to all of us.
Now you?re making a second error: thinking every other Scot sees themselves in the same way you do (athough your colourful description does reveal rather more about you than I think you realise).
As for using the world wide web to fight ?the disease? what do you think hundreds of people are trying to do on these blogs day after day?
And lastly, you ask for my ideas. Since you simply deflected my request for YOUR ideas, I don?t feel too bad in saying I don?t have any. Not any that stand a real chance of having a meaningful impact on our diseased political system anyway. But then, unlike you, I didn?t claim I did.
To be charitable, we all feel as, erm, ?cheerfully optimistic? as you do now - when we?re enjoying a nice glass of wine on a summer?s evening outside a roadside café in the south of France.
The problem is that eventually we get back on the aeroplane and return to the grim reality (see my original post).
Complain about this comment
Scottish Parliament already on Summer recess as of today. And when do they come back - 30th August!
That's NINE WEEKS.
Complain about this comment
Big Hubba
You miss the point and I wonder if why?
I am not the only one who sees the blatant curruption but the one who is pointing out the focus on the symtoms and not the disease.
I am completely free of reverse Schadenfreude though I hae ma doubt about you?
I did not claim to have any definitive answers as to how we could put into reverse my perception of the political corruption in SAcottish (and UK) politics. I suggested some answers and hoped, in vain with you, to spark some positive debate as to how it could be reversed.
All you seem to suggest is doom and gloom.
It is my job to suggest and yours to rubbish?
As to your suggestion , that I am in some roadside caff in France, presumably on holiday; sorry I work and live here.
I got out of the downtrodden Scot mindset a longtime ago. I have my ain wee business here and, like many othjer Scots, seem to blossom outside the "We are doomed and there is nothing we can do" mentality.
You seem to enjoy it, or at least your posts imply it. If you are representative of Scottish forward thinking, then we are all doomed?
Keep downthinking and good luck to you.
I do not carry or wish to carry that baggage.
A Dieu!
Complain about this comment
Oh and by he way you have not even started to address my post regarding whether any donations should be permitted to individual MPs.
Complain about this comment
badgercourage - not only that, I defy anyone to come on here and give believablel examples of exactly what it is they do for the other 43 weeks!
Let's hear what it is they do that justifies the big salary and the cushy expenses deal. I can accept that maybe the SNP lot are busy looking busy i.e. "running the country" - but what about the so-called opposition MSPs? What do they actually do for the money? Has anyone ever had an MSP solve a specific problem for them? Let's have a big list of them right here so we can see what a great job our MSPs are doing for ordinary people. I'm not holidng my breath!
Complain about this comment
badgercourage:
Relax they have their constinuency work to do.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
One of the biggest problems facing the Scottish Parliament is that it is not the pinnacle of aspiration for members of most of the political parties.
Whilst the SNP's greatest talents no longer feel the need to try to get to Westminster, all of the other parties' Holyrood contingents are peopled by those unable to get themselves (s)elected for Westminster.
It's just like the old days when District Councils were filled with those who couldn't get on the Regional Council.
We need MSPs who WANT to be MSPs, not those who will settle for it because it's all they can get.
Complain about this comment
The most damning aspect of the Wendy Alexander verdict/sentence is that the members of the Standards Committee split on party lines.
Don't they realise they are there to represent their constituents and the Scottish people at large, NOT the parties of which they are members?
If, even on a point of law, there are members of that committee willing to be swayed by party affiliations, those members are not fit to be MSPs never mind on a 'Standards' committee.
Although it raises questions about public accountability, I would prefer to have secret voting - I know that there would be members saying one thing on a subject, then voting the other way, but at least MSPs would have an opportunity to vote their conscience and do what is right.
If anyone's wondering what to give an MSP for Christmas, how about a dictionary - so that they can look up the meanings of "principle," "integrity," "dignity" and "service."
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
After watching Britains Lost World about St Kilda tonight, I can now see where the BBC, and in particular, their presenters/reporters find confusion.
The BBC never once mentioned that St. Kilda is a Scottish island.
The BBC think that the UK is England, and England is the UK.
The BBC think that Britain is England, and England is Britain.
This was confirmed when Kate Humble said she was amazed that such a wild place is in the same country that she was born in.
Lets get things clear - the UK is a union of 4 countries, and is not in itself one country (just as the European Union is not a country), and Kate Humble was born in England, and was not born in Scotland as she seemed to imply.
Another thing, the St. Kildans never signed up for the act of union, and probably never even heard of it until years after the "event", so it is not part of the UK, but is part of Scotland.
In fact, the only part of Scotland which signed up for the act of union was Edinburgh, so it is Edinburgh which is part of the UK, and the rest of Scotland is not.
And just to get this rant back on topic, there is always space for Wendy on St Kilda, if she could stand a seagull supper every day (without any chips that is).
Complain about this comment
No doubt Brian you'll be in the know as well, and I've no idea whether to believe it or not but I've just been heard via a reliable source that Ms. Alexander is handing in her resignation tomorrow morning?!?
If so, as an SNP supporter I will be devastated! There goes our ticket to re-election.
Fingers crossed they appoint Malcolm Chisolm now!
Complain about this comment
"just been heard"... pardon my awful typing, I meant just heard.
Complain about this comment
What a difference a day makes eh, Brian?
Congratulations to all the people on here who stood up for the truth in the face of censorship, moderation, and all the rest of it. The beginning of the end for Labour in Scotland. A good day.
Complain about this comment
Wendy falls on her sword; the result of mismanagement of her campaign fund; if she cannot run her own finances why should she have been considered as fit to run Scotland's finances.
Another member of the West Coast Mafia bites the dust; when will Labour in Scotland and Westminster learn the most obvious of lessons which only they seemingly cannot see.
Complain about this comment
Wendy Alexander's resignation as leader of the Labour group at Holyrood is a misfortune for the SNP in so far as it has clearly benefited enormously from her failure to measure up to the job.
The graceless manner in which she has vacated this position discredits her and her party further. In seeking to represent the parliamentary standards committee determination concerning her improper conduct as flawed by virtue of being allegedly partisan demonstrates her inability to accept responsibility for her own misdemeanours. Her cavalier disregard for the rules governing members of the Scottish Parliament could hardly be ignored. The committee in question is in any case not controlled by any one party, as we know.
The Labour Party's attempt to smear the SNP at the very moment of its own disgrace shows graphically just how unfit that party is to represent the people of Scotland. It is to be hoped that in the expected Glasgow East UK parliamentary by-election the people of even that traditionally safe Labour seat will send that message to the Labour Party loudly and clearly.
Complain about this comment
Today's phrase that pays is 'ex post facto'.
Complain about this comment
Well, that's the standard set for the rest of this term then.....any other politician who steps out of line can expect the same treatment - where will the spotlight fall next??
And #80 cousteau 669, spot on. How disappointing that these things are voted along party lines. These people represent US (and paid for by us), not their parties!
Complain about this comment
Brian,
So then, the wound was fatal!!
No one should crow about this latest development of the weebendy resignation. It was always on the cards. It was only a matter of time.
I have watched the BBC broadcasts on the internet this morning and the thing that concerns me is the 'head in the sand' approach from certain Labour MPs such as Griffiths and other political commentators that all of this was totally due to a stitch up by the SNP!!
The Labour Party of Westminster in Scotland still seems to be driven by the belief that they are the party of the people; the rightful party of government; and they still seem to have no clue that the political landscape has changed - and maybe forever!!
I have posted before, and repeat again, that democracy in Scotland has been ill-served by the leadership of weebendy. That will not change if a new leader is elected who continues to spout the nonsense that 'Labour knows best'.
It's more than a wee bit ironic that over the last year, and especially over these past few day, the Labour Party of Westminster in Scotland are crying foul over every move by the SNP (in Government, that is!).
Oh how the political landscape in Scotland has changed. Who would have thought, even 15 months ago, that the Labour Party
on Scotland, would be blaming the SNP for all their ills??!!
Complain about this comment
PROFESSOR JOHN CURTICE, STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY: "Her performances in First Minister's Questions against the First Minister Alex Salmond were widely criticised for being rather weak."
Clearly Professor Curtice hasn't been reading this blog, where every week we have been treated to the unedifying spectacle of posts trying to convince us of precisely the opposite.
Complain about this comment
Wendy has resigned as leader, and another episode bites the dust, but with Westminster keeping control of our elections, they will do it again.
Why do I say that ?.
Because the Labour Party are arrogant and incapable of learning lessons.
I am sorry to lose Wendy as the leader, because she was doing such a wonderful job for the SNP.
I do believe she has another charge to answer to, but that's for the next session.
I am looking forward to a by - election in Glasgow East.
Suddenly life is rosy again.
When are we going to charge the Electoral Commision with failing to do their job properly and obey the laws passed by Parliament ?.
Five years for new laws to bed in.
I don't think so.
.
.
Complain about this comment
Resignation of leader of Scottish Labour Party: Now that Wendy Alexander MSP is the former leader of her party can all those in the Holyrood Glasshouse who contributed to her downfall now turn their attention to the MSPs who by their ongoing failure to register as Data Controllers under the Data Protection Act are in breach of the criminal law. It is interesting to note in this regard that the convenor of the Standards Committee has only been registered as a Data Controller since 29/01/2008 (registration no Z1196773) and even more interesting to note that the First Minister has only been registered since 07/02/2008 (registration no Z1209797). Will there now be a call for an investigation/debate as to which rules/laws MSP's can happily ignore and those where any breach will lead to "trial" by a politically motivated "kangaroo court". The Information Commissioners Public Register can be found at [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
Well now, see #44.
The Law of the Jungle has prevailed. I compared Wendy's SNP critics to a pack of jackals, gnawing at a still-breathing but wounded animal.
Now, like jackals, they are saying: "It wisnae us that killed her."
No SNP member or supporter detests Labour more than I do. But I don't use arguments that I know to be lies. I'm often wrong, but never knowingly untruthful.
It is therefore contemptible that people here are now attempting to deny the partisan nature of the vote to suspend Wendy Alexander. What else, in all honesty, do the voting numbers show?
Unfortunately for Labour (and possibly for Scotland) there appears to be no adequate replacement, far less an obvious leadership candidate.
Was Brown privy to this? He must have been. His choice to "win back Scotland" will be interesting. It will be his choice. And it will be fun.
Complain about this comment
#82: It's inconsequential rubbish like this that sets most Scots against the SNP. And sets their teeth on edge.
Little Scotlander, Little Englander. Compare and explain.
Complain about this comment
She came. She saw. She fell flat on her face.
Requiescat in pace, Wendy Alexander.
Next!
Complain about this comment
The principal opposition party's angry rejection of the legislature's inchoate censure concerning its lost leader's flouting of the rules of that democratic institution does not augur well for the future of that party's conduct under its next leader.
One can but hope that the next leader will deserve to last longer than she who has now so gracelessly retired in disgrace. He or she would do well to acknowledge and then learn from the mistakes that have been made. He or she should turn from the path of anger and learn to respect both political opponents and the institution of parliament, which is dearer to the people than party loyalty, as the result of the UK parliamentary by-election in Glasgow East may demonstrate.
Angry contempt for both institutions and the advocates of radical constitutional change is a sign of political and personal immaturity. It is in itself disgraceful and leads to further disgrace. "Whate'er's begun in anger ends in shame." (Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1734)
Complain about this comment
Good. We need someone who can tear into the megalomaniac that is the FM and highlight the inconsistencies in his policies.
For example, he protests about the Bank's supposed attempt to end Scottish banknotes but then advocates joining the Euro....which will, of course, mean the end of Scottish banknotes.
Those weeks when he was bizarrely obsessed with the Lewis Chessmen and his promised campaign to return them to the Lewis Museum (a campaign which never materialised)....whereas the museum itself was quite happy to see them stay in the British Museum.
He extolled the virtues of returning exhibits to their home country, somehow missing the point that the Chessmen are Norwegian, not Scottish. Also clearly not realising that there are many exhibits in Scottish museums that are from overseas too.
His claims that there was a £837m surplus in the budget....but only if he totally ignores nearly £4 BILLION in spending!
But, most of all, we need to publicise the insanity of his campaign of independence which gambles the nation's entire economy and future on the price of oil - the source of a quarter of public spending, which is highly unstable, where prices have crashed by 40% or more on three occasions in the past 25 years and over which he has absolutely no control.
Complain about this comment
References for Moderator in considering #93
Data Protection Act 1998: http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/data_protection/legislation_in_full.aspx
Legal Obligations: http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/data_protection/your_legal_obligations.aspx
Code of Conduct MSPs
1) Rule 7.3.2 requires that:
?Members shall at all times conduct themselves in an orderlymanner and, in particular, shall not conduct themselves in a manner which would constitute a criminal offence or contempt of
court.?
2) 7.2.12 Members are likely to become employers and to run offices etc. in their
capacity as Members. While Parliamentary staff may be able to assist Members with guidance in regard to these responsibilities, it is the Member?s responsibility to ensure compliance with the law relating to these
responsibilities.
Complain about this comment
"No matter how much the SNP might deny that, the committee's three Nationalist MSPs and one Liberal Democrat voted for the sanction.
Others abstained. "
Another disgraceful example of political bias from the BCC website.
This extract makes the poltical affiliation of those who voted to suspend Alexander clear but makes the deliberately and cynically omits to mention which party the three abstainers belogned to.
This sort of thing simply is not acceptable from a supposedly "impartial" media organisation and the people of this country deserve better.
Complain about this comment
The bleating about WA being stitched up by a politically motivated committee cuts two ways.
The facts are simple enough. WA obtained a number of donations for a non-existent leadership campaign and more than 30 days afterwards it suddenly occurred to her to ask if she should have declared them.
The fact she may or may not have been given dodgy advice is neither here nor there; she was already out of time before she asked.
Guilty as charged
Then the committee looked at her breach of the rules. No doubt about the facts, but the two Labour members perversely voted that although their less than glorious leader had broken the rules she wasn't guilty.
Now who's voting on political lines?
Complain about this comment
The only party who set Wendy up to fail were the Scottish Labour Party, they never wanted her as leader, but London forced her upon them........so they gave her enough rope to hang herself..........and she duly obliged.
When I heard on Friday on the radio Cathie Jamieson say she fully expected Wendy still to be leader of the party when they returned after their break I knew the knives were already in Wendy's back.
So all the rubbish put forward by the Labour Party that she was hounded out by the SNP is a lie, she was well and truely stiched up by her own kind.
Complain about this comment
From memory, at the last Scottish Labour Party Conference, WA and GB sat smuggly next to each other before she was asked how she would rate herself, out of ten, for her performance as leader of the Scottish Labour Party.
"10 out of 10" came the reply!
God help us all! No wonder Labour is in terminal decline in both the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments.
Complain about this comment
At least Wendy did not use the pathetic excuse that she wanted to spend more time with her family?
Complain about this comment
Brian:
The punishment for Wendy is only one day, why did she just accepted it and not resigned...
~Dennis Junior~
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS