5 Comments

• Clegg's Candid Friend 22nd Sep '08 - 11:53pm

  It could have been worse:
  http://www.heady.co.uk/rm/wm750.jpg

• Chris Paul 23rd Sep '08 - 6:31pm

  Very odd, a decision of their web meister acting alone?

  Meanwhile Sir Cyril Smith has recommended that Rochdale Lib Dem franchise get rid of parliamentary employee David Hennigan – on squillions of pounds of tax payers money for being politically toxic – as soon as humanly possible.

  Now that is news!

  Also that Dennis Skinner MP called Cyril “the dirty bastard” today when learning of his hand in glove relationship with asbestos. Hazel Blears shed a tear in the same meeting.

• Anonymous 24th Sep '08 - 10:02am

  I think I can reveal another world exclusive!

  The Lib Dem broadcast that was aired last week was billed as a Party Conference Boradcast. This week the BBC’s Ceefax site lists Party Political Broadcasts on BB1 and BBC2 tonight for the Labour Party.

  However, ITV describe it as a ‘Party Election Broadcast’. I don’t think this is as constitutionally correct as announcing it to Parliament or even asking the monarch, but it is one up on Blair’s sick-making use of a school as a back drop to the announcement in 2005. In some ways, it’s a very democratic way of doing it.

  It is however yet another example of Labour saying different things to different channela. No doubt they will blame the media for this ‘mistake’ and, following Ruth Kelly’s resignation to spend more time with her religion, Brown will this afternoon bottle yet another election announcement.

  Maybe Rochdale Labour Party’s website will be proved right by this time next week!

• Dave Hennigan 24th Sep '08 - 11:42am

  Chris Paul has gone stone mad! I knew he was crackers but this confirms it! Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council apologised to me for his behaviour. The official line from Labour in Manchester is “Nowt to do with us guv.uk!”

  Now Chris Paul, the unelectable idiot fires his guns at me personally and insists on just making up stories. It’s no wonder he has lost seat after seat against the Lib Dems. Clue about his motivation? Probably!

• Chris Paul 24th Sep '08 - 5:33pm

  Richard Leese, who sends his regards Dave though he’s a bit fed up with having words put into his mouth by chuffing Lib Dems even his “close mates” like yourself, is clearly stating the obvious when he points out as I do on the blog that it is unofficial, private, opinionated and investigative.

  Unlike you I am not trousering a big whack of taxpayers money to carry on my campaigning. My blog is a Labour of Love that is not official and not bound by party constraints. You shouldn’t forget mate that it is the poor tax payers that foots the bill for you. You need to behave accordingly. Which you do not.

  Perhaps you’d like to justify your remark about “just making up stories”? About Sir Cyril’s activities with asbestos and so on, on the fact that you love a drink and are very often out in public very much the worst for wear, or is it something else that’s getting your goat?

  Unlike you I do not attack ‘non-combatant’ relatives, I do not send nonsensical and highly defamatory press releases to local papers, I do not deliberately seek to undermine volunteers likelihoods, and I do not pretend to be a human rights activist while simultaneously sticking up for corrupt international regimes.

  And I certainly would not dream of defending the indefensible Cyril Smith for his horrendous behaviour. Never mind organising him an 80th he did not want as it drew attention to his toxic legacy.

  As you know full well Dave there are many of us in all political parties who stand in seats either where events make them unwinnable or which are intrinsically unwinnable or at least difficult.

  In fact assuming four parties stand in any contest three quarters of all candidates will lose. Speaking for myself and I think many in the Labour movement I think we have a good deal more respect for losing candidates of your party than you do yourself.

  One great example of course was Charles Sinclair. Now sadly dead.

  A political opponent. A neighbour. A respected contributor to community life e.g. on planning. Someone who like me and unlike you or Rowen or Leech actually took a substantial part in the anti-war effort in 2002, 2003, 2004 and onwards. Not lip service. And a man who enjoyed cut and thrust banter in the letters pages and so on without getting into your kind of nonsense. Calling my wife names. How very dare you?

  Charles stood time after time after time in seats where he lost to Labour but he understood as I do the need for there to be winners as well as losers if you’re going to actually have a functioning democracy. No one on our side jeered at the man who was a far better Liberal than many careerist pushy so and sos that were elected.

  Politics is a team sport. In Manchester, despite my own results, we’ve been winning more than we’ve been losing these past few years. That is a credit to all of us who work for that result. And when Lib Dems win seats that is a credit to those in the team who stand and lose as well as those who win.

  You never answer the legitimate questions put about your franchise Dave. It is invariably bile and silliness that we get back when there are tough questions. I am willing to go part way there to meet you in this toxic approach of yours. Without however crossing the lines that you live on.

  Obviously you’d prefer a one party state with no consistent politics to speak of, but all under your franchise.

  PS Richard says he’s got the message that you are personally willing to throw yourself under a bus for him to get the Transport Innovation Fund through. That will not be necessary. Thanks though for all your emails.

  PPS This website story is crap. If that’s the best you can muster to counter the problem of 4,000 asbestos deaths a year partly thanks to Cyril then you really don’t have much sense of proportion.