don`t throw stones if you live in a glass house

DON’T THROW STONES IF YOU LIVE IN A
GLASS HOUSE
During the period between the start of the 2014 European Election Campaign and throughout the 2015 General Election Campaign, UKIP has been vilified in the national and local press.
Throughout this time, the Tory, Lib Dem and Labour backed press
have mounted a concerted campaign against UKIP as a party and
against individuals involved with UKIP. Of course, we live in a
society where the freedom of the press is paramount and this is
enshrined in our democratic principles and I would not dispute
this. However, it is only fair and just that the misdemeanours of
the politicians and personalities of the establishment parties
should also be highlighted and not swept under the carpet and forgotten, as they would like. This page aims to do just that. All of
the information in this site is in the public domain and is freely
available on the internet and Wikipedia. Unfortunately, space on
the website restricts the number and descriptions of the miscreants
from the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour Parties. Far
more information is available on line.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY
THIEVES AND FRAUDSTERS
John Taylor. Baron Taylor of Warwick.
Prior to becoming a peer, Taylor had built up a successful legal career,
giving him an income of over £100,000 per year. However, after forgoing this career to sit up to five days a week in the House of Lords,
Taylor claimed that he had asked other peers for advice on expenses
and allowances and that he was told that the overnight subsistence
allowance, the office allowance, and the travel expenses were provided
in lieu of a salary, as well as the daily attendance allowance. However,
this view had proved to be incorrect. In early 2009, a major political
scandal was triggered by the leaking and subsequent publication of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament. On
16 July 2010, Taylor resigned the Tory Whip after being charged with
six offences of false accounting, connected with claims totalling approximately £11,000 he had made for overnight subsistence when in fact staying in his own home and for travelling expenses for
journeys he had not made. He was interviewed by the police, but refused to answer any questions. Although several hundred Parliamentarians were involved in the expenses scandal (some involving claims totaling over £100,000), only six members of the House of Commons and two, including Taylor, of the Lords, were charged and convicted.
Criminal convictions for false accounting
Taylor appeared before the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in August 2010. On 25 January 2011, at Southwark
Crown Court before Mr Justice Saunders, Taylor was found guilty by the jury on six counts of false accounting, relating to a
total of £11,277.80 in false parliamentary expenses claims; Taylor had listed his main residence as an address in Oxford,
which was owned by his nephew, while occupying a flat in London. Taylor had claimed payment of travel costs between the
premises, and also overnight subsistence expenses for staying in London. In his defence, Taylor stated that it was common
practice among peers to claim for such journeys and expenses, and that it was his belief that it was acceptable to do this provided there was a "family connection" with the property. In his summation, Mr Justice Saunders added that Taylor was a
man of good character who had devoted a lot of time to helping others. On 31 May 2011, Taylor was sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment. He was released in September 2011 after serving three months of this sentence, under the home detention curfew scheme, a program for "low-risk" persons. As a result of his criminal convictions, Taylor was disbarred in
May 2012. Additionally, following a report from the Privileges Committee, Taylor was suspended from the House of Lords
for 12 months from 31 May 2011 to 30 May 2012. The report from the Privileges Committee, and the suspension, followed
investigations and recommendations set out in two reports by the independent Lords Commissioner for Standards and the
Sub-Committee on Lords’ Conduct.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PAUL WHITE BARON HANNGFIELD OF
CHELMSFORD
THIEF
On 5 February 2010 it was announced that Hanningfield would be harged with offences under
section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 relating to false accounting for claims for overnight accommodation. He immediately resigned as the Opposition Spokesman for Communities, Local Government,
and Transport. Later on that day, he also resigned as leader of Essex County Council, and David
Cameron withdrew the party whip from him in parliament.
On 27 May 2010 Hanningfield, appeared at Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing. Hanningfield was charged
with six counts of false accounting and his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court began on 16 May 2011. Prosecuting counsel
Clare Montgomery QC accused Hanningfield of claiming for overnight stays in London when he had in fact returned to his
home in Essex. On one occasion, when he claimed reimbursement for an overnight stay in London, he was actually on a
plane to India. Hanningfield denied all charges. He told police he had been 'singled out'; in an interview in August 2009, he
had told police: "I have done the same as 500 or 600 other peers." On 26 May 2011, Hanningfield was found guilty on all six
counts.
On 1 July 2011, Hanningfield was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, after the court heard evidence from his psychiatrist, Professor Valerie Cowey, stating that "he expressed suicidal ideas" and "he told me he would be absolutely crushed by
a custodial sentence". The prosecution pointed out that he had been well enough to attend the House of Lords during the
previous week. The sentence handed down was the shortest imposed on anyone convicted of dishonesty in the expenses scandal. Hanningfield's appeal against his conviction was rejected by the Court of Appeal on 20 July 2011. On 12 September
2011, it was reported that Hanningfield had been released from prison on home detention curfew, after serving just a quarter of his nine-month sentence.
In October 2011, Hanningfield began a legal action against Essex Police for wrongful arrest on suspicion of fraudulent use
of a county council credit card, a few days after he had been released from prison. He sent a letter before the claim informing them that he was seeking £3,000 for unlawful arrest and detention, £1,500 for trespass, and £2,000 in costs. In February
2013 he was awarded £3,500 damages for unlawful arrest and the search of his home without a search warrant. In December 2011 the House Committee in the Lords recommended that Baroness Uddin and Lord Hanningfield should not be allowed back to the Lords until the outstanding expenses had been repaid. Hanningfield returned to the House of Lords in
April 2012 after repaying £30,000,but did not speak again in the chamber until October 2013.
In September 2012 Hanningfield was ordered to repay a further £37,000 covering a six-year period of expenses, under the
Proceeds of Crime Act. Hanningfield called this "unfair" and said that to pay it he would need to raise a mortgage and to
take up after-dinner speaking and attend the House of Lords more often, earning the £300 daily attendance fee, to repay the
mortgage. In May 2014 it was announced that Hanningfield would likely be suspended from Parliament over the incident.
Maria Miller MP
Expenses Scandal
The investigation into Maria Millers expenses by Katherine Hudson lasted more
than a year, and was handed in to the Commons Select Committee on Standards in
February 2014. In it, the standards commissioner had concluded Miller had been in
the wrong, and recommended she pay back £45,000. On 3 April 2014, however, the
MPs of the Standards Committee ( Geoffrey Cox MP for Torridge and West Devon was a member of the Committee)
decided their commissioner had been too strict,[ overruling her and ordering Miller to repay £5,800 of wrongly claimed expenses instead of £45,000 and make a statement in the House of Commons to apologise for her "legalistic" lack of cooperation with the committee. She made her Commons statement the same day; the apology lasted just 32 seconds. Miller
was believed to be the first serving minister to be forced to apologise for their misuse of expenses. David Cameron expressed
his "full, strong, very warm support" for her.
Unfortunately for Miller, the row did not die down, and her case was referred to the police by MP Thomas Docherty;
Cameron expressed his wish for the press to leave the matter alone. On 4 April it was reported that Miller had even attempted to intervene in the investigation into her, telling Kathryn Hudson "that she was acting outside the law and threatening to refer her to a Commons committee". Alistair Graham described Miller's intervention and threats as "fairly exceptional", "pretty shocking".
The continuing saga and the perfunctory nature of her apology led to Miller haemorrhaging support from her own party. [33]
On 6 April, Labour's John Mann said, "It is quite astonishing that Maria Miller remains in the Cabinet".Many within her
own party, including senior figures, also publicly criticised her. The Sunday Telegraph found no grassroots Tory support for
Miller either, something forcefully underlined by Ben Harris-Quinney, director of Conservative Grassroots. Some Conservative Party criticism was reputedly revenge by the less socially-liberal elements within it for her helping drive through the
legalisation of gay marriage. Some senior figures were less hostile, and Miller also found support among the more liberal
"One Nation" grouping of Tory MPs, of which she is a member.
On 8 April, in her weekly column for her local newspaper, Miller declared to her constituents that she was "devastated" to
have let them down. However, Betty Boothroyd, Commons Speaker between 1992 and 2000, accused Miller of "bringing
Parliament into disrepute" and said that in her view the Prime Minister should have sought Miller's resignation.
On 9 April 2014, Miller resigned from the cabinet, but did not apologise in her resignation letter.
Brooks Newmark MP Former Minister
Inappropriate Texting
The Tory MP Brooks Newmark has quit the government
after sending “inappropriate messages” on WhatsApp to
a journalist posing as a 20-year-old Tory activist.
Newmark initiated a private message
conversation online and, during flirtatious chats and photo exchanges, sent a graphic snap
exposing himself while wearing a pair of [dark blue and red] paisley pyjamas. Newmark is a
married father of four children.
Jeffrey Howard Archer Baron Archer of
Weston-Super-Mare.
Former MP
Former Minister
Former Deputy Chairman of Conservative Party
Former Conservative London Mayoral Candidate
Perjurer
Perverter of the Course of Justice
On 26 September 2000, Archer was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice during a
1987 libel trial. Simultaneously, Archer starred in a production of his own courtroom play The Accused,
staged at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play concerned the court trial of an alleged murderer and assigned the role of jury to the audience, which would vote on the guilt of Archer's character
at the end of each performance. The perjury trial began on 30 May 2001, a month after Monica Coghlan's death, the prostitute Archer was involeved with. Archer never spoke during the trial, though his
wife Mary again gave evidence as she had done during the 1987 trial. When Archer's mother died on 11
July, aged 87, he was released for the day to attend the funeral. On 19 July 2001, Archer was found
guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice at the 1987 trial. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by Mr Justice Potts.
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken
Former MP
Former Cabinet Minister
Perjurer and Perverter of the Course of
Justice
Aitken was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, and in 1999 was jailed for 18 months,[ of which he
served seven. During the preceding libel trial, his wife Lolicia, who later left him, was called as a witness to sign a supportive
affidavit to the effect that she had paid his Paris hotel bill, but did not appear. In the end, with the case already in court, investigative work by Guardian reporters into Swiss hotel and British Airways records showed that neither his daughter nor
his wife had been in Paris at the time in question. Aitken had lied during thev libel case.
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
PARTY
Chris Huhne. Former Liberal MP and Minister
The Great Perverter and Liar
On 3 February 2012, Huhne resigned from the Cabinet when he was charged
with perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case. Vicky Pryce,
at that time his wife, had claimed that she was driving the car at the time, and
thus accepted the licence penalty points on his behalf. Chris Huhne denied the
charge until the trial began on 4 February 2013, when he changed his plea to
guilty, resigned as a member of parliament and left the Privy Council. He was
sentenced to eight months in prison at Southwark Crown Court, along with
his former wife Vicky Pryce, both for perverting the course of justice.[ He
served 62 days of his sentence at HMP Leyhill before he was released. Huhne
had twice stood unsuccessfully for election as Leader of the Liberal Democrats; in 2006 he came second
to Sir Menzies Campbell and in 2007 he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg.
This disreputable man was a few votes away from being the leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and
thus the Deputy Prime Minister of our great country.
Finally admitting that he had lied
With the Nick Clegg
With the Prime Minister
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LORD RENNARD The Alleged Inappropriate Toucher
Christopher John Rennard, Baron Rennard (born 8 July 1960), is a British life peer in the House of Lords, appointed by
Lord (Paddy) Ashdown to join the Liberal Democrats benches in 1999. He was Director of Campaigns & Elections for the
Liberal Democrats from 1989 – 2003 and Chief Executive from 2003 to 2009. The seven month suspension of his party membership was lifted in August 2014 when there was a “No Further Action” decision in relation his criticisms of party processes
he was restored to full party membership.
After police dropped their probe into Lord Rennard’s behaviour towards female activists, Alistair Webster QC was
drafted in last year to produce an independent report. He concluded that although the evidence against the peer was
“broadly credible”, wrongdoing could not be shown beyond reasonable doubt. Mr Webster urged the peer to “reflect
upon the effect that his behaviour has had and the distress which it caused and that an apology would be appropriate”.
However, Lord Rennard refused to say sorry immediately – arguing that he had not even been allowed to see the full
version of the QC’s report. He was suspended pending disciplinary action for bringing the party into disrepute with his
response to the investigation. It was not until May that Lord Rennard paved the way for his reinstatement by conceding
he may have “inadvertently” encroached upon “personal space. A Former county councillor who has previously accused
Lord Rennard of inappropriate sexual behaviour has quit the Liberal Democrat party over the scandal. Susan Gaszczak,
who was a Bedfordshire councillor between 2005 and 2009, says she was harassed by the Lib Dems’ former chief executive
back in 2007 when she attended an event for future female MPs as a parliamentary candidate in Peterborough. Ms Gaszczak, who was a member of the federal conference committee, warned Lib Dem leader Nick
Clegg that Lord Rennard was 'destroying' the party, as she resigned. In an open letter to Mr Clegg, she
said: "I can no longer be a member of a party that feels it is acceptable for the then chief executive to invite me to his hotel room to advance my political career."Even though I have complained and raised this
for over seven years, the party still do not seem to see this complaint as an issue."Ms Gaszczak made the
decision after the peer's four accusers lost an appeal against the ruling of an independent review which
said Lord Rennard should apologise but did not recommend that he be thrown out of the party. Two of the other accusers,
Bridget Harris, a former adviser to Clegg, and Alison Smith, a politics lecturer, have already
left the party.
Read more: http://www.luton-dunstable.co.uk/ExBedfordshire-councillor-Susan-Gaszczak-quits-Liberal-Democrat-party-LordRennard-scandal/story-21703275-detail/story.html#ixzz3Nl5MOADN
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mike Hancock CBE MP
Conducted inappropriate sexual
relationship with constituent who
had mental health issues. Resigned
from Liberal Democrats .
Michael Thomas Hancock, CBE (born 9 April 1946) is a British politician. He is currently an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South. Hancock formally resigned from the Liberal Democrat whip in early June 2014 when a
civil court action brought against him by a female constituent alleging improper conduct was resolved. An out-of-court settlement with the woman, known only as 'Annie', was reached later in June 2014 in which Hancock admitted that he "crossed
the line" into inappropriate behaviour. The Liberal Democrats' party leader Nick Clegg was reported then as saying that
Hancock had "no future" in the party and would be expelled. It was confirmed on 18 September 2014 that Hancock had
resigned from the party. There has been speculation that Hancock will run as an Independent candidate in the 2015 General
Election. Under the terms of the Parliamentary Resettlement Grant, if he announces he will not be standing as a candidate
he will not receive any redundancy pay-out, whereas, as the incumbent, if he fights and loses his seat in the election he would
be eligible to receive six months’ MPs salary (the first £30,000 tax-free). The move came after the veteran Portsmouth South
MP, who had already been suspended by the party, was forced publicly to apologise to a vulnerable woman constituent for
making improper sexual advances. In June Mr Hancock gave an "unreserved" apology at London's High Court over an
"inappropriate and unprofessional friendship" with a single mother known as Annie, who had sought his assistance as her
MP and local councillor. Solicitors for the woman said the apology was part of a "confidential settlement" in which the
"vulnerable woman", who suffers from mental health problems, brought a claim for damages against him.
The apology reads: "In October 2009 you first came to seek my assistance as your MP and councillor. Subsequently over
several months I came to your home on several occasions, sometimes unannounced, and conducted a friendship with you
that was inappropriate and unprofessional."I understand that you felt degraded. I did not treat you with sufficient respect.
I made you feel deeply uncomfortable and discriminated against. As a political representative, there is a significant power
differential with any constituent seeking help and particularly with your vulnerability of which I was aware. You had a right
to trust me. Everyone should feel safe and should be able to have confidence in their political representatives and I am sorry
I made you feel otherwise," it continues. "I have learnt from my mistakes and pledge not to act in the same way again. There
are no words that can take back the way that I made you feel. I can only apologise unreservedly to you for any distress, anger and worsening of your psychiatric condition that I caused. I acknowledge also that your son has been affected by the distress caused to you."
A former Russian aide and researcher of Mr Hancock, ’Katerina Zatuliveter admitted to having had a four-year sexual affair with Hancock.
Laws claimed between £700 and £950 a month rent between 2004 and 2007, plus typically £100 to £200 a month for maintenance, to rent a room in a flat owned and lived in by Lundie in Kennington, South London. After the flat was sold for a
profit of £193,000 in 2007, Lundie bought a nearby house for £510,000. Laws then began claiming rent for the "second bedroom" in this property, at a cost of £920 a month, until September 2009. Laws then began renting another flat. This flat was
not owned by Lundie, who remained at the Kennington house. Since 2006, parliamentary rules have banned MPs from
"leasing accommodation from... a partner." Laws also maintained his main home in Chard in his Yeovil constituency, as
well as a holiday home he owned in Provence, France. Laws resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 29 May 2010,[24]
stating that he could not carry on working on the Comprehensive Spending Review while dealing with the private and public
implications of the revelations.[25] He claimed that his reason for the way he had claimed expenses had been to keep private
details of his sexuality and that he had not benefited financially from this misdirection. In May 2011 the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards reported to the Standards and Privileges Committee on his investigation into the conduct of
Laws. The Committee concluded that Laws was guilty of breaking six rules with regard to MPs' expenses. The Commissioner reported that none of Laws's claims for the London properties was acceptable under the rules. but that he had not
intended to benefit himself or Lundie directly. In addition to finding against Laws with regard to the payment of rent to his
friend, the investigation had also found irregularities in payments for phone bills and building work.[26] The Standards and
Privileges Committee concluded that "... the rental agreements submitted [by Laws] between 2003 and 2008 were misleading
and designed to conceal the nature of the relationship. They prevented any examination of the arrangements that in fact pertained over the entire period". Further, his claims for rent were in excess of market levels for a lodging agreement, and a
market level agreement would not have included contributions from the lodger towards building repairs and maintenance,
which Laws also claimed.
After being found guilty, Laws was suspended from the House of Commons for 7 days by MPs in a House of Commons vote
on 16 May 2011.Laws claimed to the Inquiry that his claims could have been almost £30,000 higher over
The Right Honourable David Laws MP.
Liberal Democrat
Minister of State for the Cabinet Office
Suspended from the House of Commons for
breaking six rules with regards to his
Parliamentary expenses.
Following the 2010 general election, Laws was one of the main negotiators for the Liberal Democrats, part of the team of
four that negotiated a deal to go into a governing coalition with the Conservatives. [Laws was one of five Liberal Democrats
to obtain Cabinet positions when the coalition was formed, becoming Chief Secretary to the Treasury, tasked with cutting
spending in order to reduce the UK deficit.[ He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.Laws' predecessor
Liam Byrne, wrote a note to his successor as Chief Secretary to the Treasury which read "Dear Chief Secretary, I'm afraid
there is no money. Kind regards - and good luck! Liam". Byrne said the letter was meant as a private joke but Laws published it, slightly misquoting it (from memory) at a press briefing as "I’m afraid to tell you there's no money left". Looking
back in 2013 he said that he had thought the note was a joke but that he felt it was in poor taste given the poor state of the
economy. He had not expected the revelation of the contents of the note to be taken as significantly as they were outlining
spending cuts in May 2010, Laws said Child Trust Fund payments would be axed by January 2011. He said halting these
payments to newborns from the end of the year – and the top-up payments – would save £520m. Mr Laws said: "The years
of public sector plenty are over, but the more decisively we act the quicker and stronger we can come through these tough
times." He said that "We also promise to cut with care, we are going to be a progressive government even in these tough
times".[ Iain Martin of the Wall Street Journal published an article on Laws's early performance and described him as a
"potential future prime minister"On 28 May 2010, The Daily Telegraph disclosed that Laws had claimed more than £40,000
on his expenses in the form of second home costs, from 2004 to late 2009, during which time he had been renting rooms at
properties owned by what the newspaper claimed to be his "secret lover" and "long-term partner", James Lundie. They
were not in a civil partnership. The Daily Telegraph had not intended to reveal his sexuality, but Laws himself did so, in a
public statement shortly before the newspaper's publication of the story. Lundie is a former Liberal Democrat Press officer
and now works for the Political Affairs team of public relations and lobbying firm, Edelman.
2004–2010 if he had made claims in respect of his Somerset home. However, no rent was in fact payable on that dwelling,
because he owned it.[29] Laws claimed there to be no loss to the taxpayer from the various breaches of the rules. The commissioner stated "I have no evidence that Mr Laws made his claims with the intention of benefiting himself or his partner in
conscious breach of the rules."[30] Olly Grender, who was the Liberal Democrat's Communications Director in 1997, writing in the New Statesman asserted that "If he had allocated his constituency home as his second home he would have still
been in the cabinet, having claimed £30,000 more".[31] The view of the Standards and Privileges Committee differed, concluding that it was inappropriate to judge whether the claims on a particular property were appropriate by reference to potential payments on another property, which was not in fact claimed for.
The Committee mentioned the conduct of Laws after May 2010, stating: "We have also considered whether there needs to be
a stronger sanction than repayments. Not only has Mr Laws already resigned from the Cabinet, his behaviour since May
2010 has been exemplary. He quickly referred himself to the Commissioner, has already repaid allowances from July 2006 in
full, and has cooperated fully with the Commissioner's investigation". The Committee's conclusion was however that a
stronger sanction than repayment was indeed needed. This led to the vote temporarily excluding Laws from the House of
Commons.
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Cyril Smith
Former Liberal MP and Paedophile
Sir Cyril Smith, MBE[ (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010)
was an English Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for
Rochdale. After his death, numerous allegations of child sexual abuse emerged, leading the police to believe that Smith
had been a serial sex offender. Smith was first active in local
politics as a Liberal in 1945 before switching to Labour in
1950; he served as a Labour councillor in Rochdale from
1950 and become mayor in 1966. He subsequently switched
parties again and entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1972
and won his Rochdale seat on five further occasions. Smith
was appointed the Liberal Chief Whip in June 1975 but later
resigned on health grounds. In his later years as an MP,
Smith opposed an alliance with the Social Democratic Party
and did not stand for re-election in 1992, but remained loyal
to the Liberal Democrats upon the parties' merger.
Throughout much of his career, he maintained a high profile
in the media, and became a popular public figure. In later
years, his popularity was considerably marred by the allegation that he had been involved in a cover-up of a health risk
at a local asbestos factory. In 2008, there were calls for
Smith to be stripped of his knighthood after it was revealed
that he had asked the asbestos company Turner & Newall to
prepare a speech for him in 1981, in which he declared:
"The public at large are not at risk". It was later revealed
that Smith owned 1,300 shares in the company. In 2008 he
said that 4,000 asbestos-related deaths a year in the UK was
"relatively low".[3]
In 2012, following allegations of child abuse, the Crown Prosecution Service formally admitted Smith should have been
charged with the sexual abuse of boys during his lifetime. Greater Manchester Police said the boys "were victims of physical
and sexual abuse" by Smith. In November 2012, GMP Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood said there was
"overwhelming evidence" that young boys were sexually and physically abused by Smith. In April 2014, it was reported that
there had been 144 complaints against Smith from victims as young as eight, but attempts to prosecute him had always been
blocked. Public authorities including Rochdale Council, the police and intelligence services have been implicated in covering
up Smith's crimes.
In May 1979, a local underground magazine, the Rochdale Alternative Press, alleged that in the 1960s Smith had spanked
and sexually abused teenage boys in a hostel he co-founded. The matter was investigated by the police but Smith was not
prosecuted. The story was repeated in the same month by the satirical magazine Private Eye.Smith never publicly denied the
accusations of abuse, nor did he ever take legal action, but after his death the allegations were denied by his family. [29][30][31]
The Press Office of the then leader of the Liberal Party, Sir David Steel, at the time (1979) in a 'Lib–Lab pact' with James
Callaghan, commented: "All he seems to have done is spanked a few bare bottoms."In November 2012, speaking in the
House of Commons, Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP for Rochdale, Smith's old seat, called for an inquiry into the alleged
abuse.Rossendale councillor Alan Neal said that at the age of 11 he was beaten by Smith at a hostel for boys. Neal said: "I'm
speaking now because someone has taken a right decision to raise this issue with the authorities." He added that he told
police about the incident in 1968 when he left the school but on raising it "everyone made the same comment that the person
in question was a very important, powerful man". Neal said that he lost two front teeth and needed stitches to a head wound
after Smith assaulted him for refusing to eat a potted meat sandwich.
Another alleged victim of abuse by Smith waived his right to anonymity in November 2012 to claim that Smith smacked him
and stroked his buttocks when he was a teenager at a Rochdale care home in the 1960s. Barry Fitton said he was spanked
"very, very hard" by Smith and that he was left in tears by the alleged incident.On 21 November 2012, Greater Manchester
Police announced it would investigate allegations that Smith had sexually abused boys at a hostel in Rochdale after 1974, and
Lancashire Police would investigate claims dating from before 1974. The police said it would look at whether investigations
had taken place into Smith during the 1980s and 1990s.On 27 November 2012, the Crown Prosecution Service said that
Smith should have been charged with crimes of abuse more than 40 years earlier. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police
said the boys "were victims of physical and sexual abuse" by the ex-Rochdale MP. Smith was never charged although investigations were undertaken in 1970, 1998, and 1999. The method of assessing the probability of a conviction has changed since
1970, and the decision not to charge Smith then necessitated the outcome of the 1998 investigation. Following the sexual
abuse allegations, Rochdale Council removed a blue plaque to Smith from the town hall.Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood said in a statement: "Although Smith cannot be charged or convicted posthumously,
from the overwhelming evidence we have it is right and proper we should publicly recognise that young boys were sexually and physically abused."On 28 November 2012, an alleged victim of sexual abuse by Smith waived his right to anonymity
in a television interview with Sky News to say that he was sexually abused by Smith at a council-run residential special
school. Chris Marshall broke down in tears during his interview when describing the sexual abuse he said took place at
Knowl View school in Rochdale in the early 1980s. He said that as a nine-year-old boy he was taken to a room and made to
perform oral sex on Smith and one other man. Smith was a governor at the school and allegedly had his own set of keys. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "I am deeply shocked and horrified by these terrible allegations and my thoughts are
with the victims who had the courage to speak out."In December 2012, Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk alleged that Smith
raped some of his victims. Danczuk said: "There is no doubt that Cyril Smith seriously sexually abused young boys: why the
CPS didn't prosecute more recently is puzzling."
Cyril Smith confessed 30 years ago to spanking boys and conducting intimate “medical examinations” on them but was
allowed to remain as a Liberal MP. Lord Steel, the former Liberal leader who has defended the party’s refusal to hold an
inquiry into sex abuse allegations, said that he had confronted Smith about his “unusual” behaviour with
teenage boys at a hostel in Rochdale. Lord Steel said: “I asked Cyril Smith about it. I
was half expecting him to say it was all wrong, and I would have been urging him to sue
to save his reputation. To my surprise he said the report was correct. “He had some
kind of supervisory role, I don’t know what it was, in these institutions in Rochdale
which he reckoned entitled him to be involved in corporal punishment.”Lord Steel said
the 1960s were a “different era” when corporal punishment was permitted. Lord Steel
added that he was perfectly happy to recommend Cyril Smith for a Knighthood
Cyril Smith and then Liberal Party Leader, Lord Steel
Worcester Park LIB DEM Councillor Stephen Fenwick convicted for
racially aggravated assault in train station pub
A Sutton councillor has pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault. Worcester Park Liberal Democrat Councillor Stephen Fenwick admitted a single count in front of Westminster magistrates
yesterday and was handed a year-long conditional discharge and a fine. He has voluntarily resigned the Liberal Democrat whip meaning he is no longer a member of the Liberal Democrat
group on Sutton Council and is now an independent councillor. Council leader Councillor Ruth
Dombey has condemned Coun Fenwick’s actions. The charge relates to an incident at the Bonapartes pub in Charing Cross station in central London on January 4. He was involved in an altercation with a barman and called him a migrant and told him to go back to his own country. Coun
Fenwick had been out watching football and to a friend's house and had been drinking heavily
when he arrived at the bar. The sentence means Coun Fenwick will not face punishment unless he
commits a further crime in the next 12 months. He was also ordered to pay costs and fines totalling
£200.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Despite their reputation as a party of cardigan-wearing, pipe-smoking hippies who want to ban the bomb, legalise cannabis
and depose the Queen, the Lib Dems have a long history of eyebrow-raising sexual shenanigans. The cases of election strategist Lord Rennard, accused of groping party staff whose careers depended on him, and Portsmouth MP Mike Hancock who
allegedly harassed a disabled constituent for sex, are far from unusual for Lib Dems. It all began in the 19th century when
William Gladstone, the Liberals’ most successful leader and prime minister four times, began “rescuing” prostitutes on the
streets of London. He undertook nightly rambles of the red-light districts and is thought to have whipped himself after his
chats. A married and highly religious man, he privately admitted to a fascination with vice and was close friends with society
courtesans such as Lillie Langtry.
He wrote in his diary about committing “adultery of the heart”. Then there was David Lloyd George, a man said to be as
well-endowed as the party supporters to whom he openly sold honours. Nicknamed The Goat he kept a mistress for 30 years
– his own daughter’s governess – behind the back of his loyal wife Margaret. But that wasn’t the only affair – he got a party
activist pregnant a few months after his marriage, had flings with his friends’ wives and had numerous love children.One
aide said of him: “He is mental on matters of sex. In his view, a man and a woman cannot possibly be friends without sexual
intercourse. He judges everyone by his own standards.”
In the 1960s then-leader Jeremy Thorpe was said to have had a torrid affair with stable boy and male model Norman Scott
when homosexuality was illegal. It led to a party inquiry in 1971 which exonerated Thorpe but Scott continued to make his
claims. Four years later Scott was threatened with a gun and his dog Rinka was shot in a row with a friend. When the case
came to court Scott repeated his claims of an affair and said Thorpe had threatened to kill him if he spoke about it.The scandal was named Rinkagate and Scott sold the pair’s love letters to the papers, which showed Thorpe had nicknamed him
Bunnies and promised him a job.In 1978 the gunman claimed he had been hired to shoot Scott by Thorpe and his cronies
and the former leader went on trial for conspiracy to commit murder. He admitted wanting to “frighten” Scott, denied they
were lovers and was called by the judge “a crook, an accomplished liar… a fraud”. He was found not guilty after the main
witness admitted selling his story to the Sunday Telegraph.
As Thorpe fell from grace MP Cyril Smith was abusing young boys in Rochdale care homes and special schools. Claims first
surfaced in 1979 and then leader David Steele dismissed them, saying: “All he seems to have done is spanked a few bare bottoms.”It was not until 2012 that the police admitted he should have been charged with sexual and physical abuse and revealed complaints had been made by victims for three decades.Last year Channel 4’s Dispatches claimed Smith’s prosecution was blocked by the Labour government which needed Liberal support.In 1983 Simon Hughes, now deputy leader of the
party, fought gay campaigner Peter Tatchell for the Bermondsey seat billing himself as “the straight choice”.Hughes has
since admitted that his election campaign was homophobic, that “I have never been comfortable about the whole of that
campaign” and that he is bisexual.
Former leader Paddy Ashdown was forced into confessing a five-month affair with his secretary Tricia Howard in 1992 after
it was mentioned in a divorce case.He was nicknamed and will forever be known as Paddy Pantsdown. In 2008 another highprofile party member, reality show contestant and serial C-list celebrity dater Lembit Opik, was described by former fiancée
and weather-girl Sian Lloyd as a boozy love rat.He became engaged to Gabriela Irimia, one half of Romanian pop duo The
Cheeky Girls, who in turn later revealed that she had had a secret abortion.
But the most bizarre of Liberal sex scandals came in 2006, when in the space of a month Winchester MP Mark Oaten announced his bid for the leadership of the party, withdrew it and was then exposed for hiring a male prostitute. Even more
hair-raising was married Oaten’s excuse, which was that he was having a “mid-life crisis” due to going bald. Nick Clegg,
who has steered his party into Downing Street, has been dragged into the latest sex scandals by allegations that he personally
THE LABOUR PARTY
Thieves and Fraudsters
The Gallery of Shame
David Michael Chaytor
Former Labour MP and Thief
David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949 [) is a former British Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North from 1997
to 2010. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009.On 5 February 2010, it
was announced that he would be charged with offences under section 17 of the
Theft Act 1968 relating to false accounting in relation to claims for Parliamentary expenses[ and on 27 May he and other politicians appeared at Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.Following the
failure of the attempt by the group to claim parliamentary privilege in the Court of Appeal, on 3 December 2010 he immediately
pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting involving approximately £18,000 and was released on bail until a sentencing hearing in January 2011. Among the charges was that he had claimed rent on a flat in Westminster which he in fact owned, using a fake
tenancy agreement.
On 7 January 2011, Chaytor was sentenced by Mr Justice Saunders sitting in the Crown Court at Southwark to 18 months'
imprisonment. On 23 February 2011 it was announced that following legal advice, Chaytor was seeking leave to appeal against the
length of his sentence. The application was heard by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) on 22 March 2011 and refused on 23
March 2011, when the Lord Chief Justice described the behaviour referred to in the charges as "calculating", with the element of
dishonesty being "not simply inflated claims for expenses, but rather the careful preparation of bogus claims".The primary grounds
of appeal (and the main mitigation in the original hearing) - that according to the UK Parliament's 'Green Book' expenses guidelines,
Chaytor's situation would have entitled him to claim more than he had done but on a different property - was dismissed as not
relevant.
Denis MacShane
Former Labour MP and Thief
On 2 November 2012, he was suspended from the Labour Party after the House of Commons
Standards and Privileges Committee found that he had submitted 19 false invoices "plainly
intended to deceive" the parliamentary expenses authority. Later that day he announced his
intention to resign as MP for Rotherham. On 9 October 2013, MacShane was removed from
the Privy Council (and so lost the right to use the honorific 'The Right Honourable'). On 18
November 2013 he pleaded guilty to false accounting at the Old Bailey, by submitting false
receipts for £12 900, and on 23 December 2013, he was sentenced to six months
imprisonment. He served his sentence in HM Prison Belmarsh and HM Prison Brixton.
MacShane was MP for Rotherham during the period of large-scale sexual abuse of children in
the constituency. After the publication of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham he commented on a BBC radio broadcast that as a “Guardian reader, and
liberal leftie” he had backed off from confronting the Muslim community over what was going on, and added “I think that I should
have burrowed into it".
The Standards and Privileges Committee stated that the Commons had placed strict conditions and limits on funding MPs' travel to
Europe, MacShane was clearly aware of these rules, and concluded "Mr MacShane claimed in the way he did to ensure that his use
of public funds for his European travel was not challenged" by sending misleading invoices to himself in order to claim the costs of
travelling and to entertain European contacts.”
James Jim Devine
Former Labour MP and Thief
James "Jim" Devine (born 21 May 1953)[2] is a former British Member of Parliament, having been the Labour Party member for Livingston
from 2005 until 2010 and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994–95.Prior to his election, Devine worked as a full time trade
union official for the Confederation of Health Service Employees and
then as Head of Health in the Scottish Region of the public sector union
UNISON. Before becoming a trade union official Devine was a mental
health nurse. On 16 June 2009, following the 2009 expenses scandal, he was barred by the Labour Party from being their candidate
for the 2010 General Election, after reports he claimed expenses for work on his home from a non-existent firm. In October 2010
Devine's former office manager Marion Kinley won a complaint of unfair dismissal and breach of contract against him. An employment tribunal ruled that Devine had subjected Kinley to "a course of bullying and harassment". During the hearing Devine was accused of perpetrating a hoax suggesting that newspapers were investigating the two of them. He was said to have used a friend,
Fiona Fox, to pose as an investigative journalst. Compensation of £35,000 was ordered to be paid.On Devine's failure to pay the
compensation of £35,000, bankruptcy proceedings were instituted against him and he was adjudicated bankrupt on 23 February
2011. Devine's trial began on 2 February 2011. The indictment he faced ultimately included three counts of false accounting under
the Theft Act 1968.[ On 10 February 2011 he was found guilty on two counts of false accounting (relating to false claims for a total
of £8,385) and acquitted of one such count (relating to £360). Sentencing was adjourned for four weeks. [ On 31 March 2011 Devine
was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. He was released from prison on 1 August 2011 after serving a quarter of his sentence.
[
He was freed under the home detention curfew scheme, under which prisoners who are deemed to pose a low risk are tagged and
released early after serving at least a quarter of their sentence. [ His release was met with anger from groups including the TaxPayers'
Alliance.As a result of his conviction and sentence, Devine was automatically expelled from the Labour Party.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eric Evlyn Illsley
Former Labour MP and Thief
Eric Evlyn Illsley (born 9 April 1955) is a former British politician who
was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley Central from 1987 until
2011. He was a Labour Party representative until suspended from the party
after being charged with false accounting as part of the United Kingdom
Parliamentary expenses scandal, and then sat as an Independent. When he
pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting on 11 January 2011, he
became the first sitting Member of Parliament to be convicted of a criminal
offence in the scandal. Illsley resigned from the House of Commons on 8
February 2011. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 12 months
imprisonment.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elliot Anthony Morley
Former Labour MP and Thief
Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a former Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glanford
and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by The Daily Telegraph of
continuing to claim parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been repaid. [1] Morley was duly prosecuted and on 7
April 2011 pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Southwark to two counts of false
accounting, involving over £30,000. On 20 May 2011, he was sentenced to 16
months' imprisonment. He was released from prison on 20 September 2011 having served one-quarter of his sentence. On 19 December 2006 he was appointed to
the Privy Council. This was revoked on 14 June 2011. He was Chairman of the
Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, leaving this post when his expenses claims came under investigation. In 2007 Morley voted to support the
Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which would have given Parliament a
blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and thereby prevent the
release of any information on expenses claims by Members of Parliament.However the Bill was defeated.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LABOUR PARTY POLITICIANS
FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson
First elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election,[Mandelson made several speeches outlining his strong support
for the European Union. Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith led the party, Mandelson was by now close to
two shadow cabinet members – Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – each regarded as potential future leaders of the party. Following
Smith's sudden death on 12 May 1994, Mandelson chose to back Blair for the leadership, believing him to be a superior communicator to Brown and played a leading role in the leadership campaign. This created antagonism between Mandelson and Brown, though
they were considered allies in the Labour Party. In 1994 Kate Garvey suggested that Mandelson (who was at the time being derided
by the trade unions and other Labour factions), should adopt a "nom de guerre" throughout Blair's leadership bid, so that he might
conceal his considerable role within the campaign team. Mandelson agreed to be called "Bobby" for the duration and was thanked
by Blair using this name in his victory speech.
After becoming a close ally and trusted adviser to Tony Blair, Mandelson was Labour's election campaign director for the 1997 general election, which Labour won decisively.
Government minister
He was appointed as a Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, where his job was to co-ordinate within government. A few
months later, he also acquired responsibility for the Millennium Dome, after Blair decided to go ahead with the project despite the
opposition of most of the cabinet (including the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who had been running it). Jennie
Page, the Dome's chief executive, was abruptly sacked after a farcical opening night. She gave evidence to a House of Commons
Select Committee for Culture and Heritage in June 2000. In what was seen as a reference to the close interest in the Dome from
Mandelson, known at the time as so-called "Dome Secretary", and his successor Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Ms Page told the committee: "I made several attempts to persuade ministers that standing back from the Dome would be good for them as well as good
for the Dome".In July 1998 he joined the cabinet as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He launched the Millennium Bug And
Electronic Commerce Bill and a Competitiveness White Paper, which he described, as 'bold, far reaching and absolutely necessary'.
He also appointed a 'net czar' to lead the UK in what he termed the "new industrial revolution". In 1998 he was appointed a privy
councillor.
First resignation
Mandelson bought a home in Notting Hill in 1996 with the assistance of an interest-free loan of £373,000
from Geoffrey Robinson, a millionaire Labour MP who was also in the government and subject to an
inquiry into his business dealings by Mandelson's department. Mandelson contended that he had deliberately not taken part in any decisions relating to Robinson. However he had not declared the loan in
the Register of Members' Interests, and resigned on 23 December 1998. Mandelson had also not declared the loan to his building society (the Britannia) although they decided not to take any action, with
the CEO stating "I am satisfied that the information given to us at the time of the mortgage application
was accurate." Mandelson initially thought he could weather the press storm, but had to resign when it
became clear that the Prime Minister thought nothing else would clear the air. On 16 October 2000 it
was reported that Robinson had "accused Peter Mandelson of lying to the Commons about the home
loan affair that cost both of them their government jobs."
On 24 January 2001 Mandelson resigned from the government for a second time, following accusations of using his position to influence a passport application. He had contacted Home Office minister Mike O'Brien on behalf of Srichand Hinduja, an Indian businessman who was seeking British citizenship, and whose family firm was to become the main sponsor
of the "Faith Zone" in the Millennium Dome. At the time Hinduja and his brothers were under investigation by the Indian
government for alleged involvement in the Bofors scandal. Mandelson insisted he had done nothing wrong and was exonerated by an independent inquiry by Sir Anthony Hammond, which concluded that neither Mandelson nor anyone else
had acted improperly. The front page headline in The Independent read in part "Passport to Oblivion".
At the 2001 general election Mandelson was challenged by Arthur Scargill of the Socialist Labour Party and by John
Booth, a former Labour Party press officer standing as "Genuine Labour",but Mandelson was re-elected with a large majority. This prompted him to make an exuberant acceptance speech, which was televised live, in which he declared that
"I'm a fighter, not a quitter" and referred to his "inner steel".
Despite Labour success in the June 2001 general election, a third appointment to the cabinet did not happen and he indicated his interest in becoming the United Kingdom's European Commissioner when the new Commission was established
in 2004. Both of Britain's Commissioners, Neil Kinnock and Chris Patten, were due to stand down. Appointment as a commissioner would require his resignation from parliament and therefore a by-election in his Hartlepool constituency. His
appointment was announced in the summer and on 8 September 2004 Mandelson resigned his seat through appointment
as Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Labour won the subsequent Hartlepool by-election with a much-reduced majority
of 2,033 votes (equating to 40.7% of the vote). He was succeeded as MP for Hartlepool by Iain Wright.
Harrow Labour Councillor Brian Gate
Child Pornography Arrest
Brian Gate,the councillor in charge of the Harrow’s Children Services has
resigned after being arrested on suspicion of having indecent images of children. Labour
Councillor Brian Gate, cabinet member for children, schools and families, was arrested at his
Harrow home by detectives from the Metropolitan Police and has been bailed pending further
enquiries, the Harrow Times has revealed. Harrow Council will formally announce his resignation at tomorrow night’s cabinet meeting, but councillors and senior headteachers from
across the borough have already been informed of his arrest.Cllr Gate, who is married to Harrow on the Hill councillor Ann Gate, has been in his post as portfolio holder for children since
May, but has been responsible for schools and families since Labour took control of the council
after the 2010 General Election.In a statement, the Met said: “We can confirm that a 57-yearold man was arrested at a residential address in the Harrow area on suspicion of the possession of indecent images of children.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Read about Labour Party Paedophiles on
website ‘Labour 25’.Also read allegations
about Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Harriett Harman and former Labour
candidate Peter Tatchell on ‘Labour 25’.