Last week, I reported on dubious expenses scheming by two Liberal Democrat MPs – Paul Rowen in Rochdale and John Leech in Manchester Withington – and subsequently wrote a blog fdetailing Paul Rowen’s method of funding his political campaigning at public expense.
Inevitably, having failed to respond to my questions, Rowen stated that the pieces were part of a “Tory smear campaign” – but that’s just not the case. In fact, in the last week, I’ve received a wodge of correspondence from constituents disgusted not just by the candidates’ questionable fundraising methods but also about the campaigns themselves. I thought I might share a few of them.
Next up, examine the curious claims of Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman John Leech who states, in the leaflet below, that “he helped secure funding for a new NHS dentist”. Once again, this turns out not to be true.
The letter is signed by Laura Roberts, Chief Executive of NHS Manchester.
The point here is very straightforward. It is not a smear: incompetent or plain devious behaviour is lamentable in any politician – but, right now, it is unforgivable in the Liberal Democrats. Clegg and Cable have said that they seek to “hold politics to a higher standard”, but their party systematically fail to uphold that standard themselves. There’s a word for that: hypocrisy.