A conversation made me wince as I browsed Tim Farron’s Twitter feed this evening.
Let me say this first, though. If you want to help people affected by the flooding in Cumbria – and we’ve seen some utterly heartbreaking scenes of devastation and people losing everything – please donate to the Cumbria Community’s South Lakelond Flood Recovery appeal.
Back to Tim, who has been energetically working to help those affected. One constituent asked Tim if he might take rather drastic action to raise money.
@timfarron I know you like @russellhoward .. What do you think of a #TaserTim campaign to raise money for flood victims?…
— Rambling Mum (@MumThatRambles) December 11, 2015
Innocently, Tim asked for more information…
@MumThatRambles what's the campaign?
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) December 11, 2015
So she told him:
@timfarron isn't one yet! A mayor in America got tasered for charity. @russellhoward wanted to taser Boris in #taserboris
— Rambling Mum (@MumThatRambles) December 11, 2015
This is the story about the mayor.
Thankfully, Tim has more common sense than that Mayor:
@MumThatRambles @russellhoward I think I might pass on this one. I'm doing lots to raise money. This one is a little extreme for me.
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) December 11, 2015
And his constituent didn’t seem to mind his refusal, so all was well.
@timfarron @russellhoward fair play! I wouldn't either! Thanks for the reply 🙂 keep up the good work. (Look after Milnthorpe for me)
— Rambling Mum (@MumThatRambles) December 11, 2015
* Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.
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8 Comments
I don’t think that raising money via torture is a good precedent. What’s next? Waterboarding? The rack, the boot, the thumbscrews? Eating live tarantulas? A “good cause” doesn’t absolve a bad means. Tim is right to dodge this.
You’ll not get any argument from me on that point. My husband, a recently retired health and safety adviser, would have apoplexy at the very thought of something like this.
David-1 12th Dec ’15 – 10:16pm
I agree David-1; this sounds more like a job for a youngish ex-leader.
I doubt they would raise much money tasering Tim, most people like him so not much fun. Now if it was Nick Clegg you would have a few hundred thousand cheering students lining up for a go.
That would have been way too cruel, Malc.
I agree with Caron. The cruelty and risk of serious injury while queuing for what would be a very long time for some would not be appropriate.
Now if you offered an opportunity to taser Donald Trump for contribution to charity……
Actually, not even that, Ian.