Iain Dale on the culture of politicians reporting their opponents
I could not agree more strongly with Iain Dale about how disastrous it is that politicians are constantly trumping up accusations of misconduct and sometimes criminal conduct against one another.
Now in the very rare circumstance where genuine evidence comes into the hands of a politician that another, whether of the same party or an opponent has done something criminal or corrupt, of course they should make sure it is handed over to the police for an impartial investigation.
But in the real world, how often is it going to happen that an MP or councillor sees such evidence, and when they do, is it more likely that it will incriminate an opponent or someone in the same party?
So if someone is constantly reporting their political opponents but never complains about an ally, is it more likely that they are presenting genuine evidence, or using trumped-up charges as a political campaigning tool?
A perfect way to make public contempt for the political process and everyone involved in it even worse than it already is - and we have already gone way past healthy scepticism and unhealthy contempt to the verge of corrosive despair.
This is what Iain Dale had to say on the subject in a "Conservative Home" article here
"I don’t know about you, but I find this new trend of MPs reporting each other to the Metropolitan Police absolutely despicable. Labour’s John Mann is the worst offender by far, but this week it was the Conservative MP Justin Tomlinson who reported Sadiq Khan for allegedly looking at his mobile phone while driving.
"Naturally, he didn’t witness the offence himself, oh no – but he was outraged. Outraged, I tell you!
"The level of sanctimony in his explanation has to be read to be believed. I do hope Tomlinson leads a wholly blameless life. Because if he doesn’t, he’s just made himself a number one target for John Mann."
Now in the very rare circumstance where genuine evidence comes into the hands of a politician that another, whether of the same party or an opponent has done something criminal or corrupt, of course they should make sure it is handed over to the police for an impartial investigation.
But in the real world, how often is it going to happen that an MP or councillor sees such evidence, and when they do, is it more likely that it will incriminate an opponent or someone in the same party?
So if someone is constantly reporting their political opponents but never complains about an ally, is it more likely that they are presenting genuine evidence, or using trumped-up charges as a political campaigning tool?
A perfect way to make public contempt for the political process and everyone involved in it even worse than it already is - and we have already gone way past healthy scepticism and unhealthy contempt to the verge of corrosive despair.
This is what Iain Dale had to say on the subject in a "Conservative Home" article here
"I don’t know about you, but I find this new trend of MPs reporting each other to the Metropolitan Police absolutely despicable. Labour’s John Mann is the worst offender by far, but this week it was the Conservative MP Justin Tomlinson who reported Sadiq Khan for allegedly looking at his mobile phone while driving.
"Naturally, he didn’t witness the offence himself, oh no – but he was outraged. Outraged, I tell you!
"The level of sanctimony in his explanation has to be read to be believed. I do hope Tomlinson leads a wholly blameless life. Because if he doesn’t, he’s just made himself a number one target for John Mann."
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