This bird is dead – as dead as any reputation for honesty the Liberal Democrats may have once had.
This investigation by Koser Saeed of Spotlight Newspaper UK on Facebook speaks for itself.
But just in case you need the result of the evidence spelt out for you: The Liberal Democrats spent months promising to act on Female Genital Mutilation, then voted against a law to do just that.
You can be sure they’ll treat their resolutions at this year’s party conference with the same cavalier insincerity.
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Jane Dodds: The backcloth suggests we should “demand better” and it is absolutely right, for once.
The Liberal Democrats proceeded with their propaganda onslaught on the people of Brecon and Radnorshire last week, with a leaflet that – it seems to This Writer – should be investigated regarding the accuracy of its claims.
That in itself should speak volumes about what was printed on the front and back of a single sheet of paper.
The leaflet, on behalf of candidate Jane Dodds, brands her as “the strong, effective voice to fight for our community”, yet it makes policy claims that do not bear out this message.
“As our next MP, Jane will fight for more ambitious broadband targets from Westminster and force big broadband and mobile companies to deliver these decent services,” it claims.
But communications regulator Ofcom has already announced that everyone will have the right to demand a fast broadband service at a reasonable price from March next year.
This ‘universal broadband service’ safety net is set to help 620,000 homes and offices in the most remote parts of the UK – such as Brecon and Radnorshire.
So it seems all Ms Dodds would have to do, were she to be elected, is wait. She wouldn’t have to lift a finger because somebody else has already done all the hard work for her.
That is hardly the kind of conduct we should expect from an MP.
The leaflet states: “Jane will bring investment to our area to create good jobs, properly funded public services and affordable housing so people are not forced out of the communities they have grown up in.”
This seems very positive but, considering the claim about broadband, we should be cautious.
Work is about to begin on a new competition-standard BMX cycle track in Rhayader which, it is hoped, will encourage people to visit the town and make it the biking capital of Wales. The local county councillor has said this success is entirely due to the involvement of local people – but would Ms Dodds, as MP, try to take the credit?
Plans are well under way for a new “global centre of rail excellence” on the Neath Port Talbot/Brecon and Radnorshire border near Ystradgynlais, which would be a testing facility of international significance. This would be a huge economic boost to the constituency, so would Ms Dodds try to claim credit for it? If so, it would be a slap in the face for the real architect of the project, Labour Assembly Member and minister for the economy and transport.
Powys Teaching Health Board is about to receive a £1.5 million boost from the Welsh Assembly – a substantial investment in the public health service courtesy of Labour Assembly health minister Vaughan Gething. While health is a devolved issue, I wonder, would Ms Dodds try to say she had a hand in it, once the money comes through?
It may seem that my doubts about this Liberal Democrat’s honesty are a little too strong. If so, may I draw attention to the now-obligatory block graph on the leaflet? Here it is:
Does something seem… out of proportion to you?
If so, you’re absolutely right. The difference in votes between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 election – illustrated here – was 8,038, while the difference between the Liberal Democrats and Labour was just 4,708 – but look at how these differences are misrepresented on the graph! Readers are led to believe that Labour were twice as far behind the LDs as the LDs were behind the Conservatives – almost a total reversal of the truth.
With misrepresentations such as this, and policy claims that simply don’t stack up, no wonder Ms Dodds’s party is known locally as the Fib Dems.
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Entrenched: Like the soldiers of WWI, our political leaders’ thinking hasn’t moved forward in decades – that’s why they think it’s all right to impose policies that lead to thousands of deaths.
Jayne Linney’s latest blog post starts off by discussing her relationship with her ‘Pop’, victim of a rogue grenade in World War I who spent much of his later life in surgery having shrapnel removed; clearly the centenary of the war has stirred memories.
As such, this piece might have been lightweight fluff to read and pass without comment. However…
Jayne writes: “We had endless discussions about right and wrong. I like to think he really heard me when I argued for Equality, but maybe he indulged me as his only grandchild, either way he listened, and even when we disagreed he never shot me down; he taught me to debate and for this, and everything else he was to me, I adored him.”
She continues: “Despite the pain he lived with for the next 70 years, he always demanded Truth; whether this be because he lived with the fact he suffered as a result of the lies sold by the ruling classes I can’t say, but knowing him I can’t help but think this is so.”
Now we come to the point: “In this week as I especially remember Pop, I read that Lord Freud has been proven to have Lied AGAIN, joining Mark Hoban, Esther McVey and Mike Penning to become the Fourth DWP Minster to have Made the SAME LIE – Impact Assessment are Impossible.”
[This refers to the Conservative Party’s oft-repeated and utterly discredited claim that it is impossible to carry out an assessment of the cumulative impact caused by the Coalition’s many changes (we don’t dignify them with the label ‘reforms’) to the British system of social security. In fact, some organisations have already carried out unofficial assessments of their own, and one organisation that the government often uses for statistical work – I forget which one – has made it clear that it would like to carry out exactly such an assessment.]
“This default position of Lying when proven incorrect is unacceptable. The reality is the lies politicians spew out today are resulting in pain as did those told 100 years ago; and albeit in much lesser numbers, people are still dying as a result of the policies they lie about.”
Yes indeed. Look how far our Conservative and Liberal politicians have progressed since 1914. They’ve hardly moved forward at all – just like the trench warfare that spilled the blood of a generation 100 years ago.
Now they’re merrily spilling the blood of a new generation – and once again justifying it with lies.
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Unfit to wear the helmet: How deep does corruption run within our police? Do most officers still uphold the law without prejudice? Or do they use the uniform to pursue their own personal vendettas against innocent members of the public?
When did you lose faith in the British police?
Was it after Plebgate, the subject of a considerable controversy that has resurfaced this week? Was it after Hillsborough? Do you have a personal bad experience with officers whose interpretation of their duty could best be described as “twisted”, if not totally bent?
The Independent Police Complaints Commission says that the row involving whether former Conservative Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell used offensive language against a policeman who stopped him from riding a bicycle through the gates of Downing Street should have led to disciplinary action for the officer involved, along with others who supported his story.
Now, there is plenty of evidence that this police complaints commission is anything but independent, and that it provides verdicts as required by its superiors – either within the force or politically. But the weight of the evidence that we have seen so far suggests that, in this instance, the conclusion is correct.
The Plebgate affair began less than a month after serious failings were identified in the police handling of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. It was revealed – after a 23-year wait – that serious mistakes had been made in the policing of the infamous FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, during which events took place that killed 96 people and injured a further 766.
In addition, post-mortem reports on the deceased were falsified and the police tried to blame Liverpool fans for the disaster.
These were both events that received national news coverage – but what about the local incidents that take place all around the country?
Sir Hugh Orde, chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers said, “130,000 police officers are delivering a good service” – but are they really?
This blog has already mentioned the experiences of several people here in Mid Wales who have had unsatisfactory experiences with the police, including victims of serious physical, psychological and sexual abuse who were told to go back and suffer more of this personal hell by policemen and women who either couldn’t care less or were complicit in the crimes. Years later, attempts to get justice fell on the equally deaf ears of officers who didn’t want to know.
And this week the front paper of my local newspaper (the one I used to edit) carried the headline ‘Hello, hello, what’s going on here then?’ over a story about two local police officers who, while on duty, seemed more interested in having sex than upholding the law.
One was an inspector; the other a (married) constable. The inspector, prior to her promotion, had been instrumental in sending a friend of mine to prison on a particularly unsavoury child sex charge. There was no concrete evidence and the case hinged on the opinion of a doctor that was hotly disputed by other expert testimony. But my friend’s path had crossed this policewoman’s before and she had failed to gain a conviction on the previous occasion. It seems clear that she had not forgotten him.
I have always believed that the jury convicted my friend because its members were worried that he might be guilty – despite the lack of evidence – simply because he had been accused. “There’s no smoke without fire,” as the saying goes. It seems likely now that this conviction reflects the policewoman’s preoccupations with sex, rather than any criminal activity on the part of my friend.
It also seems to be proof of the fear raised by Andrew Neil on the BBC’s This Week – that police have been sending innocent people to jail and letting the guilty go free.
My friend is still inside, by the way. He has maintained his innocence throughout the affair but, having been released on parole and then dragged back to jail for a breach that was more the fault of the authorities for failing to give adequate warning against it, he is now determined to serve his full sentence rather than face the heartbreak of having his freedom stolen with another excuse.
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