Just a couple of gems from the elections, two stories of mass deception in separate wards from Tories.
Firstly, in Sprowston, the Conservative Party were canvassing with the message that the local Lib Dems had supported Norwich's bid for unitary status, which is a blatant lie. I have also been told their was a Tory leaflet stating the same untruth, but sadly, you cannot libel an organisation or a political party, so the Tories can get away with blatant lies. Oh Dave must be so proud.
The other story is a tale of two independents who, I am told, are actually Tory party members, but stand as independents, sit as independents and then get given vice-chairmanships of committees reserved for opposition councillors, in order to allow the ruling Tory group to have another Tory in place of an a Lib Dem.
If this is the sort "clean" political climate David Cameron urges us all to believe in then god help the country.
It is because of these sorts of things that I have lost a lot of faith in politics and why I have withdrawn from front line political activism.
Unfortunately in politics, like fluid, the scum usually rises to the top !
P.S. And yes, I am sure there are tales of all political parties telling porkies. I wouldn't justify the telling of lies in any circumstance. If you've had it happen to you, don't use it as a justification to do it back or justify what Broadland Tories do. Only by people taking a proper stand against lies and misleading campaigns will politics be genuinely cleaned up.
9 comments:
It's OK Nich, Labour went door-to-door in 2006 telling people I wanted to abolish Sure Start in Bowthorpe.
And as for the things that the LibDems said about me on the doorsteps during the 2005 General Election do not bare reproducing. My advice is just not to spread such fibs when talking to one of my colleagues!
This sort of thing happens all the time - it doesn't make it right, but all parties do it.
It just depresses me. I remember the Tories in North Norfolk in 2004 telling a blatant lie about Norman Lamb, so blatant is was laughable. I know Norman had to seek legal advice and eventually got an apology. Who was the source of the Tories information ? Bizarrely, they said it was from a Tory member, who had no evidence at all to back up his claims because he had clearly just amde it up !
I always remember at the time thinking that perhaps it is okay for an MP to take some flak, but when iot is a lie and a blatant one, what sort of message does that send to that person's wife or husband ? What do that persons children think ?
As a father Antony, you must want your children to judge you on what you do and say. As long as you can honestly tell them that you do the right thing because good will always come of good, then you can hold your head up high.
It is to those people who argue that the ends justify the means that I think we should all be directing our anger, if they are in my party or yours.
Thanks for your comments.
Yes, Anthony's right - all parties, sadly, do it BUT, in my experiences, the Lib Dems are the worst offenders - BY FAR!
Sadly Justin your argumebnt appears to be "yeah, but you do it too"
If we follow that line it gets us nowhere. In my experience it is the Tories who do it repeatedly, and the example of conning people in to beleiveing that Tories are independents so they can get committee places that would go to the opposition is a disgrace, or are your going to argue that the lib Dems do it too ?
Nich, I may be wrong on this, but are the Norwich City LibDems not in favour of unitary status?
"The thing that disappoints me most about this whole process has been the way that the Norwich City Council Liberal Democrat have got sucked in to supporting this crazy proposal. I know they want to be seen as supporting Norwich, but I'm not even sure that Norwich people support the proposal."
So yes, your fellow liberals did support the unitary bid? You said so yourself! Though I am also sensing a difference of opinion between district councillors and city councillors, so local conflicts do not help.
Every party does it, the Labour candidates round here were saying they shall improve our road networks - I'm certain that's a county, not district, matter!
Iain, it was one of your friends who peddled the lies most on doorsteps. You know that Broadland Lib Dems, where the Tories were peddling their lies, were and remain against Unitary Status for Norwich, irrespective of what Norwich lib Dems said.
Let me give you an example of how things can be twisted in the manner the Tories did here.
In Bowthorpe, Antony Little, a Tory city councillor, campaigned agains the incinerator, which was in itself a proposal from Norfolk County Council Conservatives. Would it have been fair or correct to describe Antony Little as supporting the incinerator when it was the Tories on the County Council who were supporting it ?
Twisting half truths does little to raise the level of debate and speaks volumes about the politicians we have elected to represent us.
Matt, you are are confusing council groups.
Norwich is not Broadland. And I will repeat what I said earlier, just because Labour does it, it does not mean that everyone else should. Sadly lots of people who have commented here make the point that I expressly asked people to think about, and that is not simply to say "Well they do it".
That does not make it right and is the sort of argument I have to put up with from school children, not grown adults.
Matt, you are are confusing council groups.
Norwich is not Broadland. And I will repeat what I said earlier, just because Labour does it, it does not mean that everyone else should. Sadly lots of people who have commented here make the point that I expressly asked people to think about, and that is not simply to say "Well they do it".
That does not make it right and is the sort of argument I have to put up with from school children, not grown adults.
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