Labour Party and dirty tricks
From Carole Oosthuysen
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
It is increasingly difficult to support a Labour Party that did not recognise nasty smears against Janet for what they were: just that. She is a hard working councillor and an excellent human being. Labour has lost a very good ppc who, being a committed socialist and environmentalist, would have attracted many votes for Labour.
I am outraged that a few right-wing members of the LP in Calder Valley have ruined your chances of having a decent Labour MP to carry on the baton… more than that, bring us all back to the values we’ve always espoused in Labour. Shame you’ve thrown it all away. Ms Booth does not deserve to win.
In contrast, where I live in Stroud, we have an excellent Labour and Co-op Party ppc who has been our MP since 1997. David Drew is a man of integrity who deserves to be re-elected. We all make mistakes but Janet’s were minsicule compared to the huge wrongs done to her. I am dismayed to say that the people who have wronged her have been members of my own party: Labour. Shame on them all.
From Christopher Reason
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
I emailed Steph Booth, inviting her to deny the allegation that she leaned on a junior work colleague to leak details of Janet’s “offence” in regard to the car-keying.
No response so far.
I’m mystified.
From Paul D
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
I think Janet made a mistake and payed dearly, but if her “revenge” is her party’s loss of the seat, then maybe Steph deserved a crack at it after all? It’s no good complaining who snitched to the teacher, the trick is not to break the school rules.
From John Chapman
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Paul, why doesn’t this cut both ways then?
Steph Booth was asked to explain herself to the NEC regarding bullying/coercing a junior employee to do her dirty work. She told them she’d had no involvement in the sordid affair. The tribunal found otherwise, effectively this exposed her as a liar to her employers, yet she is still in our midst having the audacity to parade around wearing the Labour ribbons.
You got it in one; Janet made a mistake and was exposed by underhanded tactics, quite different to lying to the NEC.
What’s sauce for the goose etc. (Apologies vegetarians)
From Paul D
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
I guess the distinction is that in one case a criminal offence has taken place and in the other you have allegations of behaviour, that even if true, would be dealt with by the employer’s internal disciplinary system, not by the police.
From John Rhodes
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
The essential difference is that Janet refused to lie about the car incident which places her in a different league to Steph Booth.
From Sutti N
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
The next natural question is, who reported Janet to the police? Or did she hand herself in? I don’t know what has gone on.
There has been wrong doing on both sides. Honesty isn’t a stong point once they walk through those doors of Westminster, so they both might fit in.
What I do know is I don’t want a Tory government, do you?
From Mick Piggott
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Come clean Paul; you’re playing devil’s advocate, aren’t you?
Besides, your defence of Steph Booth is quite half-hearted; isn’t there any New Labour supporter in the Valley who wants to present a vigorous advocacy of Booth? Apparently not…
Also, Paul D., you’ll notice that most correspondents give their full names. You don’t have anything to fear, you know: nobody’s going to send the heavies round!
From Margaret Boyle
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Sharing a letter I wrote to Gordon Brown on Monday and will share any response I get too!!
Dear Mr Brown,
I watched your campaign discussion with Eddie Izzard on Saturday and was struck by your unequivocal statement that the Labour Party would be requiring high standards of all its candidates in this election to put the damage and corruption of the expenses’ business behind you. You need to be aware, however, that this message is being ignored in our constituency, Calder Valley.
Ms Stephanie Booth was selected as PPC on 21st April 2009 after a bruising and deeply unpleasant campaign which led to many activists, including myself leaving the Party. In January this year she took an Employment Tribunal claim against her former employer, Cool UK, in which she succeeded in her unfair dismissal claim. The Tribunal findings are a matter of public record, ref 2406047/09, and I would urge you to read them as they reveal conduct which makes Ms Booth unfit to stand for the Labour Party in my view. I enclose a copy of pages 16-18 which show that Ms Booth coerced a junior member of her staff to undermine the then PPC for the Calder Valley, Ms Janet Oosthuysen, specifically “We, therefore conclude that he did post the blog at the request of the Claimant using words which she dictated to him.” Ms Booth lied to the Tribunal about this; “The Claimant alleges that Mr Binding concocted a story, subsequently printed in the Yorkshire Post and on websites, that the Claimant had bullied and coerced a colleague into printing derogatory remarks on a blog site about a political opponent and that this was untrue.” Ms Booth also lied to the local press and local people in a statement to the Hebden Bridge Times on 12th March 2009 which said that she had “not at any time had any involvement in such a campaign” (to deselect the previous PPC). She then repeated this lie to the Labour Party NEC on 21st April 2009 when her selection was endorsed, informing them that she had “personally commenced legal action against Cool UK and Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd who printed the allegations against her without taking any steps to verify the truth of the story they were given.”
Now that a court of law has found that Ms Booth did coerce a junior employee to damage her rival’s reputation and lied about this to the Tribunal, local voters and the Labour Party, she surely cannot be judged to be a fit and proper person to represent the Labour Party. The local and regional Party seem to believe that she is and I find it deeply shocking that such behaviour could be endorsed. I am appealing to you as Party Leader to make clear that the personal integrity of candidates is non negotiable and to insist that a new candidate be chosen who can be trusted by the Party and the electorate.