14 Comments

• Andrew Suffield 13th Aug '10 - 10:07am

  inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague

  Wait… is that an actual crime?

• Niklas Smith 13th Aug '10 - 11:30am

  @Andrew Suffield: It is a crime if it’s harrassment. He’s also been questioned after a different colleague accused him of indecent assault. That said, it’s worth reading this article to get the full picture.

  What was ridiculous was forcing that Labour MSP to resign from his committee chairmanship simply because a microphone caught him commenting on the attractiveness of a woman in the room. Unlike the case of Mr Davidson there is no suggestion that he harrassed anyone so the reaction was frankly hysterical.

• Markp 13th Aug '10 - 11:56am

  Its funny how this website avoids damaging stories on Lib Dem MPs, such as the MP for Wells Tessa Munt who, after only 3 months, is already under intense scrutiny for avoiding paying her council tax and the subject of national and local media coverage.

• Terry Keeley 13th Aug '10 - 12:07pm

  @markp

  It depends whether you view the purpose of this site as reporting relevant news – or repeating smears about opponents.

  I am sure there is an article about Tessa Munt impending to avoid accusations of the latter,

• KL 13th Aug '10 - 12:22pm

  @markp &@Terry Keeley – you point me to the Labour equivalent of this site which is reporting these two stories then?

• Andrew Suffield 13th Aug '10 - 12:31pm

  It is a crime if it’s harrassment.

  Only if the accused:

  uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour

  Otherwise it’s just a civil offence. That doesn’t seem to fit, from anything I’ve found – inappropriate and probably illegal certainly, but it looks like a straightforward civil case. I’m not sure why the police are involved.

• toryboysnevergrowup 13th Aug '10 - 1:23pm

  KL – so that makes it ok does it?? The fact that Political parties (or other bodies for that matter) contain flawed human beings is hardly news I’m afraid unless you believe in the doctrine of LibDem infallibility.

• Mark Pack 13th Aug '10 - 1:33pm

  Markp: Er, except we have covered the Tessa Munt story on this site? (See https://www.libdemvoice.org/tessa-munt-denies-council-tax-claims-from-mail-on-sunday-20365.html)

  Andrew: consider my choice of words a polite euphemism, especially as I’m sure you too appreciate just how appalling harassment can be in many cases – though of course in this one we’ve yet to see what the full evidence shows.

• Kevin 13th Aug '10 - 1:34pm

  MarkP/Terry Keely – There was an article about allegations regarding Tessa Munts council tax, and her repudiation of the allegations, on 19 July 2010. Keep up will you.

• Andrew Suffield 13th Aug '10 - 3:07pm

  consider my choice of words a polite euphemism, especially as I’m sure you too appreciate just how appalling harassment can be in many cases

  Yeah, but nobody seems to be reporting what happened that has got the police involved here. I get the feeling there’s something we aren’t being told, and I’m wondering why.

• Terry Keeley 13th Aug '10 - 4:02pm

  @kevin
  “Keep up will you.”
  Well you could have posted the same link without the condescending attitude. But hey … whatever helps you feel good about yourself.

  “@markp &@Terry Keeley – you point me to the Labour equivalent of this site which is reporting these two stories then?”

  Ooh no thank you. I suspect they would have pictures of Gordon Brown on every page with “our glorious ex-leader” plastered all over the site.

  @mark pack
  I’m actually suggesting that these sort of stories are little more than gossip. “Charged” and “accused” mean very little. Wait until something is proven.

  Is “polite euphemism” now a euphemism for vague smears ?

• George Kendall 14th Aug '10 - 10:07am

  It’s fair enough to report these stories, and I don’t think this discussion has been judgemental. People have questioned whether the police are overreacting.

  But @markp &@Terry Keeley are right that we should try to avoid being too tribalist. In my opinion, one of the benefits of the coalition is we’re being forced to rethink our prejudices against the Tories. But the downside is we’ve become too tribalist against Labour. Some of the criticisms of Labour will be valid, and we need to be open to taking them on.

  It’s not in the interest of the party to be too antagonistic to either of the other parties. In the long-term, we need to keep equidistant.

• Kehaar 14th Aug '10 - 10:41am

  @markp &@Terry Keeley – you point me to the Labour equivalent of this site which is reporting these two stories then?

  As others have said, so what? LibDems hold themselves to a higher level of probity, so this lowering of standards strikes as quite odd. Almost opportunistic. Plus, the above two stories only have just broken.

  Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?

  Conversely, responding to this report by referring to Munt (who has been covered) is equally shoddy.

  Then again, has Shirley Brown been covered?

• Andrew Suffield 14th Aug '10 - 4:56pm

  People have questioned whether the police are overreacting.

  Police tend to underreact to harassment claims, as they tend to regard them as matters which should be pursued in the civil courts, not the criminal ones. (There’s a lot of justification for that attitude; it’s not really a good use of their time to tackle non-violent harassment when lawyers and bailiffs can do the job)

  Personally, I’m questioning the reporting. I think we’re not getting the whole story here.