Double Lib Dem Trouble
I am grateful to correspondents who have sent me information about two more Lib Dems falling short of the high standards they so often demand from others.
The first is Councillor Shirley Brown (left), a Bristol Councillor, who was suspended for one month by the authority’s standards committee last month for using an offensive remark about an Asian Conservative, Councillor Jethwa. Cllr Brown described Cllr Jethwa as a “coconut”. That is a new term to me but apparently it means a person who has sold out on their culture, being black/brown on the outside but white in the middle.
Cllr Brown apologised but is now seeking leave to appeal against the suspension. Bristol was the one bright spot for the Lib Dems in last month’s local elections, when they gained 4 seats to take control of the Council, whilst at the same time losing control of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset County Councils. Cllr Brown’s suspension reduces the Lib Dem’s slender majority on the Council to just 1 vote.
I think she should be grateful that she has gotten off so lightly. Had it been a Conservative making a similar remark you can be sure that the Lib Dems would have been screaming for their instant dismissal by the Group Leader, David Cameron and anyone else they could think of.
The second Lib Dem Councillor is rather more senior than Cllr Brown. He is Cllr Ayoub Khan (left) from Birmingham. As well as being a Councillor he is also the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Clare Short’s seat off Birmingham Ladywood. He was found by a QC in an electoral court to have fabricated a smear against a Labour opponent. Cllr Khan has appealed against the decision through successive courts but has lost every time, culminating in a ruling by two High Court judges against an application for a judicial review.
Cllr Khan is a member of the Cabinet in Birmingham which is run by a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition. Now that he has exhausted all levels of appeal and the original finding stands, I hope and expect that the Leader of Council will remove Khan from his Cabinet portfolio of Local Services and Community Safety.
The cut and thrust of politics can at times be unpalatable to some but someone who has been convicted of smearing a political opponent should not continue to hold senior office in any party or Council. It will be interesting to see what action, if any, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg takes against the disgraced Cllr Khan and whether he remains a Parliamentary Candidate for the Lib Dems.
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About Richard…
Richard is a Conservative Councillor on Reading Borough Council representing Peppard ward since 2007, having been re-elected in May 2011. He previously represented Thames ward from 2001 to 2004. He is currently the Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport on Reading Borough Council. 
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The first case is much ado about nothing , I agree the second is much more serious and I do expect some action will be taken after due process .
What action have the Conservatives taken against those in Taunton Conservative Association for the serious smears and libels in an election leaflet against both a LibDem councillor and the CE of the council . I know they did rush around delivering a last minute leaflet with a half hearted apology but I am sure you would agree that some action should be taken against them by the national party . There are a dozen other examples I could give from Cheadle to Gosport to Watford but apart from the Norwich North election stunt of signing up to a clean campaign and then feeding smears to others to publish – are the Conservatives serious about high standards in politics .
Mark – I would be interested in any evidence you may have about misconduct by the Conservative campaign in NN. You have repeated this line elsewhere but to date without producing evidence. Until you do produce some, you are guilty of the same offence!
The cases I highlight are those where some due process has been undergone and a verdict reached. All parties have some bad apples but it is how they are dealt with that is the test.
I agree that all parties have some bad apples and how they are dealt with is the test so how have the bad apples in Taunton been dealt with for example ?
Mark – I don’t know about the facts of Taunton and have therefore not commented. Do you have evidence or a link?
Again I ask about Norwich North..can you substantiate your assertions?
The Taunton link is extremely long to type but you can find it on Page 2 Post 3 of the Vote 2007 site in the Vote 2009 Somerset thread . The link also shows the Conservative semi apology leaflet .
Richard you know as well as I do that the Conservatives in Norwich North used bloggers such as Iain Dale and yourself to personally attack the LibDem candidate so as to appear that it was nothing to do with them guv .
Mark – so there is no evidence about NN – it is merely your assertion and assumption!
I can certainly say that no-one contacted me to attack the Lib Dem candidate or her moat. It was an amazing story when she had attacked “Tory toffs” etc that she lived in a big house with a moat!!! Anyone with a sense for a story would pick that up. So no, it is not true that “Conservatives in Norwich North used bloggers such as Iain Dale and yourself to personally attack the LibDem candidate so as to appear that it was nothing to do with them guv” and the suggestion is frankly paranoid. Next you will be saying that CCHQ used the national papers to print the story too. It also had the huge advantage of being true and therefore not a smear.
The cases I have been talking about are of people who have been tried and found guilty by a panel or court of some form of malpractice.
I know that you Conservatives find it hard to tell that there is a difference between buying a house with a moat out of your own hard earned business earnings and Conservative MP’s toffs or not maintaining such items through parliamentary expenses . It is the same mentality that gives us Cameron’s shadow cabinet full of expenses troughers as a potential government .
Of course all parties including CCHQ employ people to feed suitable stories to the national and local press . It is thew raison d’etre of their employment . It is surprisingly naive of you to think otherwise .
ummm…That hurt didn’t it??? Latest Polls don’t help either Mr Senior. Would suggest a lie down and good long deep breaths.
Calling someone of the same ethnic minority a coconut is not uncommon and usually implies that someone has ‘sold out’. It’s debatable whether it’s in good taste, but then judgement on what is or is not offensive is sometimes difficult. Perhaps she should have consulted her press secretary for advice?
What action have the Tories taken against the three Tories councillors in South Norfolk all who have received criminal convictions since being elected ?
And you still fail to see the difference between owning a moat and getting thr tax payer to clean a moat.
Nich – I have no idea but if they have been convicted of offences then the same rule applies as for Lib Dem or Labour Cllrs. They should be disciplined by the party in proportion to the offence.
However, this is not the same as Mark Senior’s suggestion that Conservatives were “smearing” poor old April Pond!
Oh, I see now you are the same Ricahrd who used to write to PB.Com claiming imminent victory in Sutton and Cheam.
You need to let it go Richard as this blog is a bit of a stuck record when it comes to attacking the Lib Dems.
Nich – I think you see what you want to see. Many Labour people no doubt think that I attack them as well.
Of course no Lib Dem thinks they deserve attack as your party is a model of innocence and virtue….not!
Nich, what sensible candidate doesnt maintain publicly that they can win?
I dont see this blog as a stuck record at all. Out of the ten most recent articles Richard has written, only one is about the LDs. You seem to me to be obsessed with the Conservatives….
The link for you about the Tories in South Norfolk.
http://norfolkblogger.blogspot.com/2008/11/yet-another-south-norfolk-tory.html
Hmmmm, so it is a link to your own blog Nich Starling. Forgive me if I dont give it as much credence as an independent third party account. Drink driving is a menace but unless the councillor caused injury or damage is hardly a cause for them resigning their seat. That judgement should be left to their electorate.