Tag Archives: derek osbourne

Derek Osbourne sentenced to two years in jail

Former Liberal Democrat Leader of Kingston Council, Derek Osbourne, was today given a two year prison sentence in Southwark Crown Court. He had earlier pleaded guilty to 17 counts of possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

 

 

Posted in News | Comments Off on Derek Osbourne sentenced to two years in jail

Former Council Leader pleads guilty to serious charges

The former Leader of Lib Dem held Kingston Council, Derek Osbourne, appeared today at Southwark Crown Court, charged with 17 counts of possessing and distributing indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to them all.

Cllr Liz Green, the current Council Leader, made this statement:

Colleagues and acquaintances have expressed shock and sadness to me about Derek, who was held in high esteem by many of us across the political divide. The news of his arrest for serious sex charges back in June came as a bolt out of the blue to all of us.

The police have said that his offences

Posted in News | Comments Off on Former Council Leader pleads guilty to serious charges

Kingston Lib Dems’ council leader Derek Osbourne arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children

Lib Dems in Kingston have been left shocked by the sudden resignation of council leader Derek Osbourne following his arrest on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

The news broke on Wednesday, with the local paper reporting a statement by Cllr Liz Green, acting leader of Kingston Council: “Derek Osbourne has resigned from the Liberal Democrat group. We are deeply shocked by these allegations but I am unable to comment further as we must now allow the police the time and space they need to investigate the allegations thoroughly and without prejudice.”

The paper reports today that he …

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment

The word ‘straight’ isn’t homophobic. Now can we get on to the stuff that matters, please?

Two significant events this week in the campaign for equal LGBT rights…

First, as we reported this week, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg asked that the ‘Pride flag’ be flown from Whitehall to symbolise Government support for Saturday’s rally in London. As The Sun’s political editor Tom Newton-Dunn tweeted:

(The picture show here was taken by Verity Harding: you can follow her on Twitter here.)

Secondly, Nick Clegg voiced his personal support for religious gay marriage for those which wish to recognise and celebrate a same-sex union:

… in an interview with the London Evening Standard to mark the World Pride event, Mr Clegg said: “This is a personal view at the moment, but I think that in exactly the same way that we shouldn’t force any church to conduct gay marriage, we shouldn’t stop any church that wants to conduct gay marriage. I don’t see why two individuals who love each other and want to show commitment to each other should not be able to do so in a way that is socially recognised as being marriage.”

A couple of weeks ago, Nick recorded this message — described by Attitude as “a really passionate, well-articulated support for equal marriage” — for Out for Marriage:

Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 51 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Paul R
    “That means guaranteeing fair wages, empowering communities to shape the policies that affect their lives, and fostering a culture of accountability” The...
  • Mary Fulton
    So increases in income tax and cuts to large part of the public sector? Sounds like a recipe to ensure Reform UK builds its support even further…...
  • Ellyott
    The strange aspect is that the UK functioned relatively better, in terms of getting houses built, labour intensive industries, much bigger numbers in the armed ...
  • Linda Chung
    Vince - a great article, wide ranging and thought provoking. Even more interesting are the comments - but I find the China-bashing a bit superficial. Linda Ch...
  • Suzanne Fletcher
    @BigTallTim I don't know whether "the party" agrees or disagrees as nobody has said anything. Given everyone is saying anything publicly I can only assume they...