³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

More power to your elbow or whatever the phrase is.

Too many people are only too happy to report what they are told, rather than what the story actually is, so as thegangofone has said, 'more power to your elbow'...

ADDITIONAL

As you are now all out of elbows: more elbows for your power.

As all others have said more power to your elbow I will merely say that you are doing just what a political journalist should!

You have to be nice and polite to a politician....Never mix business and pleasure...Together.

Michael

We rely on you to keep the politicians in line.

Too many commentators seem to be dinner party friends of the politicians and are afraid to reveal what is really going on at Westminster.

Keep it up.

You're the man, Crick!

Now, are you going to follow this up:

Michael- you're brilliant. Don't ever change!

better a molotov cocktail journalist than a supine sheep or a neocon mouthpiece: It is to the beeb's eternal credite that they were the main meejah challenge to blair over the war

Thank Heaven for Michael Crick. Carry on giving them a tough time.

Last night's Newsnight programme - Thursday the 26th of June - began with an item that seemed to suggest that Michael Crick had been justified all along in what had previously appeared to have been a less than fair attack on Caroline Spelman. For it seemed, according to Crick, that the Tory Party itself had now rumbled Spelman over the affair and were now out to get her.

And to substantiate this allegation there was a clip of a report about another secretary at Westminster, the wife of another Tory MP, who was seen happily typing away in her husband's office whilst, her grave concerns about the Spelman's impropriety ten years ago (sic) were intoned in gravelly tone by Crick. And not only that. It was alleged by Crick that Pauline Neville-Jones, the Tory spokesman on National Security, had also raised her personal doubts about Spelman on Question Time which, as he spoke, was being transmited on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳1.

So I moved forthwith to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ 1 to see for myself what Crick was on about. True, there was a question about MP's expenses. But for the most part it concerned the housing allowance paid to Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls, two Labour MPs married to each other. When Pauline Neville Jones was asked to comment about the Newsnight report going out on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳2 - yes, the same Newsnight programme in which Michael Crick was citing Question Time on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳1 as proof of his allegations - she said she didn't know anything about it:- the whole allowances system for all MP's needed reform, she said, and in the case of Caroline Spelman she expected her to do the right thing.

Is it true that some Tory MPs and their staff are less than happy with Caroline Spelman ? Probably:- but the possibility is that this will be more to do with the prospect of Newsnight continuing to give so much space to this story, rather than than to any belief in Spelman's guilt. Could this lead to Caroline Spelman being sacked or having to step down gracefully ? Possibly:- but again, it would be because she will sacrifice herself for the good of her Party.

Decency and fairness demands that this story should go unreported until such times as the Parliamentary standards officer has reported on the affair:- just as Michael Crick appears happy to accept in respect of the Yvette Cooper/Ed Balls story. To keep banging on about it, during this quasi sub judice period, adding bits of untested allegation along the way, is not simply entirely inappropriate:- it is shoddy journalism that owes more to McCarthyism than to the standards set down by Reith.

resent comments by Mrs Spellman and her lack true candour are of course indefencilble.But the true measure of the woman, over the past few weeks is the squirming and even more lies to cover her actions. This to my mind was a BIG mistake, leaving her no alternative but to resign. I too have had a run in with Mrs Spellman when she tried to gag me following a complaint by an M.P. from another political party about my "research" into the way the election for the seat of
Cheadle Stockport was conducted, and that the subseqyent By- Election cost party members circa £200,000 + the cost to the tax payer £91,480,53p for admin'by the local authority. With the total cost to return an M.P. to Cheadle wasn't far short of half a million pounds, and no one gives a damn.I e-mailed her office, but with out success. I was told by an area officer that the nature of the complaint by the M.P. was confidetial,and would not tell me. How's that for being open and honest. But I WILL press on with my invesigations. whatever Mrs Spellman thinks.

Did you know that there's no legal reqirment for a member of Parliamet to attend the House of Commons at all.
So long as you have sworn under oath to serve Queen Elizabeth ect and signed the "test roll, you are now an "active" member,and as such have one of the best expences packages in the country With £30,000 if you loose, or step down at the following election, or £250,000 if you die as a sitting member so long as you have signed on, as it were, not bad ah! So if you are too ill to attend Parliament no one can,or will say a word. If you are unwell, but can hang on till after the next election. so long as you can sing on the "dotted" line as it were, even if you are at deaths door
sitting in a wheelchair your home and dry,and people are looking at expences, and missing so much more. It stinks.

Dear Mr Molotov.
Lets see just how explosive you can be?

Over the next few weeks I will open your eyes as to just how the concept of noblese oblige is a totally alien to most Members of Parliament. I am not daft enough to write anything that I cannot back up either with press cuttings, e-mails, letters, government papers or indeed anything that is not already in the public domain. so here goes.

On the 29th of May 2005. Patsy Calton the Liberal Democrat Member for Cheadle, one of the three seats for the U.D.C. of Stockport
died of breast cancer only 5 days after taking the oath and signing the test roll or parchment book as it now is. To aid her jurney to Westminster Ms' Calton traveled by private amulance and needed a nurse and wheelchair to complete her jurney.
With only one goal in mind, to become an "active" Member once more.

more tomorrow

PART TWO
Before I go any further, I would like it known that my "beef" is with the Liberal Democrat party only. Not the Calton family, who I have never met, seen, or heard. I feel they were caught up in this fiasco and were guided by the Party to act as they did. I have given the Party many opportunities to explain there actions,more later, but I have just been ignored and indeed vilified. It is now my intention to expose this bunch of Schister for what they realy are.

My interest in the Cheadle election, and subsequent By-Election was aroused by a remark to a friend of mine at the count of the ballot, that Ms' Calton was too ill to attend as she was in end stage cancer of the spine. I thought, if she is so ill, should she have stood as a candidate at all.
End stage does sound serious to me.
After speaking to friends and colleagues, I soon realised that there were many questions unasked.
So against the better jugment of nearly everyone I spoke to, whilst they were 100%
in agreement that it stinks to high heaven, were too timid to back me, I set out to uncover how the circumstances
surrounding this tragic affair could happen.
The Stockport express printed only one picture of Ms' Calton as was in their files at the time [no others were offerd]
a picture of a very handsome and healthy woman, I was told by a reporter that only one picture was used thoughout the Paper's coverage of the campaign. There were no pictures of her out and about on the "hustings" and strangly, no visits by "top brass" as one would expect with a seat with a magority of only 33 votes. I wonder why?. Did they deliberately set out to keep a low profile? Smacks of colusion to me. I scoured the local and national newspapers for months. I saw a piece in the Stockport Express dated the 20th of April 2005 that Ms' Calton, or was it the party? had given a "full statement" regarding her currant state of health. I scoured the paper for this "statment" but could't find anything that looked like a stand alone statement as one would expect. After weeks of e-mails to and fro' I did eventually find it. It was burried in the middle of a political diatribe, in the copy of the 13th May, the week before. There are many anomilies that the Liberal Democrat Party just want to ignore. I think they hope I will go away. Wrong! Why did Charles Kennedy write a letter of support, to her, then only a few weeks later, in his eulogy to her, said she was fighting insuperable odds? Surely the party should have appointed a candidate more able to serve the constituency for four to five years.
During my research I have uncovered many
strange things.
Why did ".Martin Wainwright, of the Guarian say on the 30th of May. "Patsy Calton, the liberal democrat M.P. who fought the general election in the final stages of cancer"....
Why did Michael White, write in the Guardian on the 31st of May
"hopeful until 10 days ago,"[21of May] that she might live longer" then went on to say "Last year she seemed to be winning. But by Christmas it had spead" in the same
piece he said "when she arrived in a whellchair to take the oath. "By then she knew she was dying,".... That begs the question. If what Michael White is saying
is correct, and I have no reason to think otherwise, why did she swear on oath to do her duty. Why did Sandra Gidley say in her blog [Romseyredhead] 24 May 2005 "we were paged to be told that Patsy Calton was swearing in at 3.30pm" then said "I knew that she wouldproberbly, physically, be showing the effects of that illness", [what did she mean by "that illness".
Here's a few questions to think about for the time being.
1 How did messers White and wainwright know she was that ill.? Someone must have told them.
2 Why were all the Lib Dem's paged to come and see Patsy being sworn in? did they know it was her last appearance in the commons?

Thats all folks, more tomorrow.

PART THREE
When I started to look at this so-called, as the Lib dem's like to say. Open, honest, and fair election, I didn't have a computer, so my research was very limited. All I could do was to look at the local press archives and ask around. But I was as real amature, I suppose I still am in many ways. My first port of call was the elections office at Stockport town hall some time after the 18th of August 2005 to find out what I could about the Cheadle Election. When I tell you this next part I can only ask you to take my word that this is exactly what happened. I asked the clerk to get me the file regarding the Cheadle Election as anyone can. As well as all the usual forms covering expences, Ms' Calton's death cirtificate was amongst the papers, I was quite unawre that it was not for me to see, but thought as it was there It was o.k. for me to look it. I'm not going to say what it said. However what it did tell me was that there were strong grounds for me to go further into what happened before, during and after the election for the seat of Cheadle. I cobbled together a dossier that with hindsight was rubbish,
a few black and white photographs and a couple of A4 sheets hand written, setting out my opinions on the matter.
I sent it to the three main political parties,
the Electoral commission, and the Greater Manchester Police. As I said the dossier was poorly put together, but nevetheless the message was clear to see if only they had given it just a little time. I had only one reply, that was from the electoral commission. They said it was not within their remit. As I said, not having a computer was limiting my research. So the obvious thing to do is get one,along with some lessons P.D.Q. After some time I got used to this new-fangled gadget. It was a real eye-opener.

The most important thing to
keep in mind is the fact that all this
information below is in the publc domian

If a member of Parliament wishes to resign
or retire on health grounds, they must apply for the [Chiltern hundreds]. Without going throu' all the rigmarole, it's a kind of
made up post, as a job for the Monarch,
and as such disqualifies them from sitting as a Member of the government. With no
resetlement grant, just out of pocket expences to pay staff ect.

If a member looses, or does not to contest their seat seat at a general election, then a resetlement grant equal to half a years salary circa £30,000. is paid.

If amember dies as a sitting or active member, then a gratuity equal to four time salary circa £250,000 is paid to there spouse.
The Parliamentry information office tell me that the pensions unit say the cause or circunstances of death is never an issue, and even though it's at their discretion they have never declined payment.

see you tomorrow

exuse teh typing eritts

NOTHING SEEMS TO CHANGE ON THIS WEBLOG PAGE

IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

KNOK ONCE FOR YES, TWICE FOR NO.

PART FOUR
My solisitor suggested , I ask my Member of Parliament Andrew Stunell, who happend to be Chief whip at the time of the election, a straight forward factual question.
I sent an e-mail on 8th September 14:51
as follows, [edited]. The Lib Dems gave a great seal of support to their candidate
during the election in Cheadle. On the 24th of may, she went down to Westminster by private ambulance to take the oath.
On the following day 25th she was admitted to Stepping Hill Hospital with pneumonia and kidney problems, on the
26th she was transferd to St' Annes hospice and sadly died on the 29th. Given the circumstances, was the election open honest and fair?
Mr Stunell answered in to following way. [edited] of cousre it was conducted fairly and properly and no rules were broken.
Do you think there wasn't an elector in Cheadle that did not know that Patsy had been putting up a valiant fight against cancer for many years. What a tasteless and inapproriate enquiry. I had a reply from the new Member for Cheadle Mark Hunter,
he said he had nothing to add to Stunell's reply.
I sent the same e-mail to eight Leb Dem
M.P.s and the standards committee.
I'm still waiting for replies. In fact, Vince Cable has put a stop on my e-mails, I only sent one.

more shortly

CONT' PART FOUR
On the polotics show broadcast every Sunday noon. In the piece by Mr Cotton, for the north west edition of the programme, Councillor Paul Carter appeared on screen for the Lib Dem's I e-mailed the producer
of the show, he said the Lib Dems sighted health grounds for the no-show of Ms' Calton. it was in the same newspaper article that mentioned the so-called
"Statement"
I don't want to speculate too much, but just how ill was this poor woman?
The programme used a narrow boat to get around the area, so there would be plenty of opportunity to have a word with the Lib Dem's candidate even a recorded message.
I'm not an Oncologist but I do have first hand experience with cancer sufferers, in the family and it makes one wonder how ill this poor woman was.
Even more intriguing, is how many Lib Dem
members at the time knew she was very ill indeed, I suspect all of them, she was the party's
spokesperson on heath matters with particular interest in all matters dealing with cancer. And the fact that she was not in Parliament for the whole of 2005 up to the election,bar once on the 24th of January.
Sandra Gidley M.P. for Romsey took over the roll of party spokesperson on health in mid February. 2005.
I cannot get my head round the fact that even though this was the smallest majority in the country just 33 votes, there were no
obvious signs of high profile visitors of someone like Charles Kennedy, remember, by his own admission C. Kennedy knew she was, as he put it,

"fighting insuperable odds"

The Stockport Express said they "had had several calls from opposition groups, but non from any of the Cheadle candidates, saying she had not been out and about campaigning" It was in the same article that the so called "health statement" was
mentioned. I have a copy of a letter or message published by stockport council
Conservatives from Steven Day on the first anniversary of the passing of Ms' Calton. In it he wrote "I was regretfully ONE OF THE FEW people in Cheadle who knew we were witnessing the unfolding of a terrible personal tragedy........ Surely her party, who must have known her situation better than anyone outside her family could not have insisted she stand again".

P.S. I have all the e-mails and papers in front of me I write.

PART FIVE
On Friday the day after the election, the
Manchester Evening News reported
" party officials were keen to assure the electorate she will be fit enough to reprsent the constituency" It begs the question, why issue such a statement? All went quite in Cheadle for a few days. Then on May 11th The stockport Express published a picture of a very healthy Ms' Calton (we now know to be years out of date) The message
at the top of the page
MP REVEALS HER CANCER BATTLE, underneath "Thank you for having faith in me" Then goes on to say "However, what not all the voters knew was that for the past six months, Patsy has been fighting a second battle-with cancer. Not what Andrew
Stunell said. In the same paper was a photo' of Ms' Calton. with the strap line,
Support: Lib Dem Leader Charles Kennedy
with Patsy Calton M.P. during a tour of Cheadle where they met shopkeeper Qasim.
I Had a great deal of difficulty finding this illusive shop I e-mailed Cheadle office, but
could not help and past it on to Mark Hunter.
he e-mailed me and said he thought it was on Cheadle high street. After much searching I found it on Stockport Rd Cheadle Heath about a mile away from the busy part of town. When I spoke to Qasim he said "this bloke came in the shop, I think it was that Liberal bloke, he asked if they could take a couple of pictures with this woman, I now know to be Patsy Calton. It was click! click! click! and they were off.

PART SIX
I have been asking just how ill Ms' Calton was. So lets look at the facts as I have disovered in the press, the parliamentry wed sites, e-mails and letters.

Andrew Stunell, said in his e-mail to me ,
" do you think there wasn't an elector in Cheadle that did not know Patsy had been puting up a valiant fight against cancer for many years"
Charles Kennedy said,
"she was fighting insuperable odds"

Michael White, wrote in the Guardian on 31st of May, "Hopefull till ten days ago,
she might live longer"

Michael wainwraght wrote in the same paper.
"Patsy Calton, The Liberal Democrat M.P. who fought the general election in the final stages of cancer"
She was never seen out and about during the campaign. She was told by her doctor "not to go uot for fear of infection"

She had to have a stand in for a T.V appearance only two and a half weeks before the election.


Whoooops teas ready see you soon

PART SIX CONT'
There were no definitive comments regarding Ms' Caltons health, good, bad,
or otherwise. A piece in the Manchester evening news. 6th May 2005 reads Mr Carter added, "Patsy is making a recovery"
The health 'statement' was burried in the middle of a political diatribe.
She was diagnosed in February with crippling back pain.
another quote, "When it was confirmed by my onclogist that I had SOME FORM of cancer".
In the same paper,"Patsy had lost two and a half stones in weight, an atrition rate of two and a half pounds per week as the norm, suggests a noticable weight loss from the beginning of February.
She was absent from the commons
14 times from June to end 2001
19 times in 2002
31 times in 2003
54 times in 2004
and all of 2005 bar once 24/1/'05

There is no obligation to attend the commons, but alarm bells must have been ringing loud and clear, particulally in the Whip's office.

Why was it only after the election that Ms' Calton spoke out with any degree of honesty about her cancer?

There was no press coverage that I could see, and I live in the next constituecy.
As I have said, there were no visiting top brass, no celebs'
Was £10,324,27p was spent on a false premise, what about the royal mail? the police? the town hall staff, it all had to be paid for a second time, I'll tell you later.
Were her nominees in full possession of all the facts at the time they signed her forms?
as per Representaion of the peoples act 1985. section 63
Annette Brooke M.P. and John Barret came out to meet her and to escort her into the chamber. It's inconceivable that they couldn't tell this poor woman was at deaths door, as did all the Liberal Democrats pre' the May 5th election they all helped her to commit purgery when she said
I Patsy Calton swear by almighty God that I
will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God. She was in hospital twelve hours later
with pneumonia and kidney problems.
and died five day after promising too serve for four to five years.

On the the 27th of May two days before she died, the most insensitive act I can imagine took place.
Steve Webb e-mailed me in reply to my protestations on such an insensitive move.
He said
Charles Kennedy thought it would be a fitting tribute to reinstate her to the health team whilst she was at deaths door.

I'll have to go before I burst a blood vessel

PART SEVEN
Did anyone ask the leaflet deliverers how Ms' Calton was? If so what did they say, were they told by local Party officers what to say? It could be difficult to answer, if they were not privvy to Ms' Calton's state of health.
There was no excuse for Charles Kennedy not to visit Cheadle during the election, he has a majority of around 8'000 in a safe seat.

The Lib Dem's own rules state,
"We do ask applicants to inform us of any medical condition that may affect their candidasy; did they inform the Party, I suggest, they already knew. Remember Andrew Stunell was chief whip at the time.
and part of his remit, is to keep all the members of the party informed of all things Parliamentry through the medium of the whip. The "Whip" is a file outlining meeting, debates, policy, and three line whips, and more. The whip's office hand out this "Whip" every week to all their members
It's not rocket science to notice that Ms' Calton was absent for the whole of 2005, exept for one day.
It beggars belief that, as Mr Stunell said in his email to me, [ paraphrased] "do you think there wasn't a member of the Liberal Democrat Party that did not know that Patsy was very seriously ill", and most of them knew it was terminal, why else were they ALL paged to come to the chamber to see Patsy take the oath?

I'm going for a lie down for a few days.
When I come back to this page I will tell
you, amongst other things, how it cost
the volentary party workers, donors,
you and me, the tax payers


THE BEST PART OF HALF A MILLION POUNDS TO RETURN AN M.P. TO THE CHEADLE SEAT.

Dear Michael Crick?

Dear Michael Crick? Re the Haltemprice bye-election tomorrow. As CCTV is one of the key issues I wondered if we are ready for this. I´ve sent it to a few of the candidates I could find. "Re the CCTV issues to be debated at H. Is it not about time to air the issue of CCTV cameras being installed in most of the lavatories at most UK airports? Me? I just wave now." Regards Brian Martin

PART EIGHT
Hello it's me again,
The absentee figures in (part six con't) are taken from the website called the "Public Whip" and do not claim to be totally accurate. After the sad demise of Patsy Calton, non of the news media reporting the event seemed to be surprised, whilst others in her constituency were mortified,
and felt very let down.
I was only after her death that the true situation surrounding her campaign and why she disappeared off the radar completely. If anyone made the effort to sieve and collate all the newspaper articles before, during, and after her election campaign, a pattern begins to emmerge, one lacking true candour as would be expected from a Member of Parliament.

PART EIGHT CON'T

I'm going to sum up so far in an slightly unorthodox way as you will now read

Was it a coincidence, that Annette Brooke M.P. said she hadn't seen Patsy Calton since the " New Intake dinner" in December 2004

Was it a coincidence, that Patsy Calton's
[allegedly] only appearance in the Commons as a Member in 2005? was 24th January.

Was it a coincidence, that Patsy Calton was diagnosed as having "some form of cancer"
in February 2005?

Was it a coincidence, that Sandra Gidley was made health spokes person in February 2005

Was it a coincidence, that when the Election was called, the signatories may not have been in possession of all the facts prevailing at the time, contrary to the R.P.A.1985?

Was it a coincidence, that during the Election campaign, she was under doctors orders not go out for fear of infection?

Was it a coincidence, that pictures used during patsy Calton's election campaign were in the order of two to three years
out of date?

Was it a coincidence, That a so-called statement in the Stockport Express regarding Ms' Calton's health, 13th April was buried on page 7 in the middle of a political diatribe, and was difficult to find.

Was it a coincidence, that this same statement said nothing definitive regarding her state of health. She said that she has lived and worked with cancer in the past and nothing changes.

Was it a coincidence, that her councillor colleague, Paul Carter, had to appear on screen for Patsy Calton on the Sunday politics show on April 17th.? The producer Gareth Butler, said she sighted health reasons.

Was it a coincidence, that Patsy Calton made no public appearances during the election?

Was it a coincidence, there was little or no press coverage of the most marginal seat in the country?

Was it a coincidence, that Charles Kennedy sent a letter of encouragement, knowing full well that Ms' Calton was, as he put it, "fighting insuperable odds"

Was it a coincidence, that there were,, allegedly, no visiting front bench M.P.s, or celebrities of any kind?

Was it a coincidence, that Patsy Calton was too ill to attend the count?

Was it a coincidence, That local officers thought it was necessary to issue a statement on the 6th of May, the day after the poll, saying the Patsy was "making a recovery" and would soon be taking her seat in Parliament.

Was it a coincidence, that only after the election was over, that Patsy Calton, in a piece in the Express, said "thank you for having faith in me for another four or five years. But what not all the voters know, is that for the past six months I have been fighting a second battle with cancer.

Was a coincidence, That the picture used in the afore mentioned piece was at least two years old.

Was it a coincidence, that a picture seen in the Express on the 12th may, was described as Patsy on a tour of Cheadle high street. The truth is, it was taken with a great deal of
haste on Stockport road Cheadle Heath about a mile away from the busy part of Cheadle.

Was it coincidence, That she said she would be taking the oath on Monday 16th May, but didn't make it.

Was it a coincidence, that, if Ms' Calton was "making a recovery" as stated on 6th of May. Why was she was in such a hurry to get to Westminster?

Was it a coincidence, If there is no time limit to take the oath. Why did the Calton's pay around £1,000' to hire an ambulance
and £200 for the services of a specialist cancer nurse, to take her to Westminster?

Was it a coincidence, that special arrangements were made to accommodate Ms' Calton's swearing in at 3 30 pm.

Was it a coincidence , that Micheal Martin, the speaker of the "House of Commons" broke with a several hundred year old tradition, by stepping down from his chair of office to "welcome her home" to Parliament and kiss her on the check.

Was it a coincidence, That Sandra Gidley M.P. said all the Liberal democrats were paged to come to "The house" to see Patsy taking the oath.

Was it a coincidence, That Clive Calton, on there return from the swearing, said in the Express. "It took a lot out of her but she wanted to see her Friends and colleagues for one last time".

Was it a coincidence, that she was reinstated onto the health team as a spokes person on health, as she lay on her death bed, only two days before she died, on May 27th and said it would be a fitting tribute to her.

Was it a coincidence, that the health team nearly 200 miles away, knew that she was near the end.

Was it a coincidence, that Martin Wainwright in the Guardian, wrote," she fought the election whilst in the final stages of cancer."

Was it a coincidence, that Micheal White also in the guardian, wrote on the 31st of may "up until 10 days ago, [21st May] she hoped she might live longer"

Was it a coincidence, that Micheal White also wrote in his column on the same day,
"By this time (as she was wheeled into the chamber to take the oath) she knew she was dying"

Was it a coincidence, that none of the pieces in the press were ever challenged by the Caltons or the Liberal democrat party at any time.

Was it a coincidence, that Charles Kennedy, as part of his eulogy to Patsy Calton, said that "she had been fighting insuperable odds".

Is it a coincidence, that Andrew Stunell M.P. has complained about me to Caroline Spellman, who in turn has asked me to stop doing what ever it is that I am doing.

Is it a coincidence, that the Lib' Dems will not answer any of my emails

and so it goes on and on.

I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out.

YOU COULD HAVE FOOLED ME !!!

WHY NOT CONTACT ME.

On July 14th 2005 the by-election was
voted upon, resulting in a lower turnout than the the General Election as one would expect. nevertheless Mark Hunter
was duly elected to retain the seat for the Lid' Dem's with a smaller majority of three
thousand +. People said to me that the electoate had a chance to vote a second time, and still the Lib Dems won, I say to them, it was subconscious Martyrdom. Unseen by the voters, taxpayers, deliverers, doners, and, well, everyone but those directly involved were the costs incurred.

The Lib' Dem's Spent circa; £ 93'000 vol'
The Conservatives " " £ 82'000 vol'
The Labour Party " " £ 7,000 vol'
The lesser Parties " £ 4,000 vol'
The tax payer for admin' £ 92,000 Tax
Death in service gratuity £ 235,000 Tax

Total spend by all, be it volentary, or through the Exchequer £512,OOO to return one Member to Parliament, and no one can be bothered to question it!

4. At 09:28am on 20 Jul 2008, britom wrote:
Clearly Mr Crick, Newsnight's political editor, doesn't read these posted comments as he continues to post the most irrelevant, trivial comments. How long must we wait for the day when he obeys his own guiding rule "that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out"!

I read with incredulity, the blog by superkennet, he, or she must have spent hours, days, weeks, months, adding up to years of painstaking research. for which I am very greatfull. It has prompted me to join
in with my bit of research in South Staffordshire, regarding the General election, and subsequent re-run some weeks later just because the Liberal Democrat party didn't give a damn about anyone. On the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ website posted on 1May 2005 Liberal Democrat candidate
for the South Staffordshire constituecy has died after a short illness it has been confirmed. Jo Harrison, 53, died at her home
in Kinver on Saturday morning. A spoksman for the Lib Dems said her death had not NOT BEEN SUDDEN but would not reveal the nature of her illness. As a result of her death, the constituency election on Thursday will be abandoned and called for next month instead.

I'LL REVEAL WHAT HAPPEND ON MONDAY

HOPE YOU CAN WAIT THAT LONG





death.

I have changed my handle from i_amjunus1
to the easier title of jannuss.

tomorrow I will tell you more about the scandalous way the Liberal Democrat party
treats it's supporters.

the word death at the foot of my preious blog is an error.
see you tomorrow.

South Stafford electoin continued.

A short statement by the party's chief executive, Chris Rennard, added: "Jo has been ill for some weeks and will be sadly missed. "our sympathies go out to her family" (and so do mine, jannuss)
On Friday the 1st of July 2005 on the same ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ website The headline read Nominee six times over the limit.
The liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate whose death forced a delay to a General Election poll died of alcohol poisoning, it has emerged.
Ms' Harrison was found dead at the home
she shared with her daughter at the end of
April, an inquest heard on Friday.
Coroner Robin Balmain recorded an accidental death verdict, after hearing she was six times over the limit.

I must emphasize that this is strictly anecdotal, but I was told that she was allegedly, an at risk alcoholic and should never have stood as a candidate.

If you read between the lines you will see what mean by the way the Liberal Democrats treat not only their candidates, but the electorate as a whole.

A spokesman said her death had not been sudden, but would not say how she died. He obviously knew, why the secrecy?

Chris Rennard, said "Jo has been ill for some weeks. He knew.

how did these "spokesman" know she'd been ill for some weeks????

If her death had not been sudden, and she had been ill for some weeks, why did she become a candidate. Was it because they had no chance of winning the seat,and this poor woman was used as cannon fodder.

The coroner recorded a vidict of accidental death and said she was six times over the limit.

I'm trying not to upset anyone hear, but it begs the question, why would a person consume six times more than a safe amount of alcohol unles they were an alcoholic. or at a madcap, booze sodden party.

A re'run of the election would entail all new printing of ballot papers, all the fre-post
election addresses for each candidate, re'arranging polling booths, and numerous other expences most of which is paid for by the taxpayer. Not forgetting the poor party workers having to deliver yet more leaflets
and find more money.
CONCLUSION!
THE LIB' DEMS' DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYONE

there you go superkett put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!

Am I missing something, or doing it wrong?

Dose anyone read these blogs?

I Thought I would have the heavens fall in

on me by now.