Dear All
In cricket when the ball hits the wickets, someone screams:
“You’re out”.
And that is exactly what has had to Ex-immigration minister Phil Woolas.
He is out of Westminster for lying.
As the old saying goes it never rains but it pours, he has lost his first bid to overturn a court ruling that banned him from politics.
The High Court has rejected his request for a judicial review of the election court ruling which recently found him guilty of breaching the Representation of the People Act 1983.
And Harriet Harman has said that there is no way back for Phil Woolas with the Labour Party.
During the Westminster election campaign, he and his team made false statements against his opponent during the election campaign.
The way is now clear for Commons Speaker John Bercow to initiate a by-election for Oldham East and Saddleworth.
I would expect Bercow to act and call the by-election based on the decision of the High Court rejection.
And it isn’t like Phil Woolas is innocent; the evidence is there in black and white in the form of election literature.
This means that Lib Dem candidate Elwyn Watkins or someone else from the Lib Dems gets another crack of the whip.
So Phil Woolas leaves with the distinction that this is first case of its kind in nearly a century.
Politics is a dirty business but the golden rule is never lie about your opponents.
So, the only lifeline for Phil Woolas is the Court of Appeal now.
To show how desperate Phil Woolas' and his legal team are they are renew their application for a judicial review and were seeking an oral hearing in front of a High Court judge in which to argue a review should take place.
Not a hope in hell will that fly.
As I said the Labour Party have been quick to abandon Woolas, he is also suspended by the Party after Friday's judgement.
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman said:
"Whatever happens in an appeal... it won't change the facts that were found by the election court, which was that he said things that were untrue knowing it. It is not part of Labour's politics for somebody to be telling lies to get themselves elected."
This ruling has a few people rattled; Labour MP Graham Stringer told BBC Radio Manchester that the decision to order a re-run of the constituency's election set a "dangerous precedent".
The "dangerous precedent” he speaks of is stop lying!
The case against Woolas was brought under Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act.
This makes it an offence to publish "any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate's personal character or conduct" to prevent them being elected - unless they believed it was true and had "reasonable grounds" to do so.
Phil Woolas is paying the price for his own actions, if he had played it straight, he might have won, he adopted the wrong election strategy and lost more than his seat.
He deserves it.
Persona non grata!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
In cricket when the ball hits the wickets, someone screams:
“You’re out”.
And that is exactly what has had to Ex-immigration minister Phil Woolas.
He is out of Westminster for lying.
As the old saying goes it never rains but it pours, he has lost his first bid to overturn a court ruling that banned him from politics.
The High Court has rejected his request for a judicial review of the election court ruling which recently found him guilty of breaching the Representation of the People Act 1983.
And Harriet Harman has said that there is no way back for Phil Woolas with the Labour Party.
During the Westminster election campaign, he and his team made false statements against his opponent during the election campaign.
The way is now clear for Commons Speaker John Bercow to initiate a by-election for Oldham East and Saddleworth.
I would expect Bercow to act and call the by-election based on the decision of the High Court rejection.
And it isn’t like Phil Woolas is innocent; the evidence is there in black and white in the form of election literature.
This means that Lib Dem candidate Elwyn Watkins or someone else from the Lib Dems gets another crack of the whip.
So Phil Woolas leaves with the distinction that this is first case of its kind in nearly a century.
Politics is a dirty business but the golden rule is never lie about your opponents.
So, the only lifeline for Phil Woolas is the Court of Appeal now.
To show how desperate Phil Woolas' and his legal team are they are renew their application for a judicial review and were seeking an oral hearing in front of a High Court judge in which to argue a review should take place.
Not a hope in hell will that fly.
As I said the Labour Party have been quick to abandon Woolas, he is also suspended by the Party after Friday's judgement.
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman said:
"Whatever happens in an appeal... it won't change the facts that were found by the election court, which was that he said things that were untrue knowing it. It is not part of Labour's politics for somebody to be telling lies to get themselves elected."
This ruling has a few people rattled; Labour MP Graham Stringer told BBC Radio Manchester that the decision to order a re-run of the constituency's election set a "dangerous precedent".
The "dangerous precedent” he speaks of is stop lying!
The case against Woolas was brought under Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act.
This makes it an offence to publish "any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate's personal character or conduct" to prevent them being elected - unless they believed it was true and had "reasonable grounds" to do so.
Phil Woolas is paying the price for his own actions, if he had played it straight, he might have won, he adopted the wrong election strategy and lost more than his seat.
He deserves it.
Persona non grata!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
2 comments:
A post to soon it seems
Oldham East and Saddleworth election on hold as incumbent Phil Woolas challenges his removal. More details soon ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Dear Mxyzptlk
Bercow might hold back but I think Woolas is well and truly done.
He is just playing safe but behind the scenes I suspect that the work is already underway by his staff.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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