Sex Workers Vote Too…

finally, someone who can see this for what it, something about nothing. well done. They ( the Three councilors )should never have been allowed to get this far with their little crusade, I’m sure if it was up to them there would be a public flogging or burning at the stake, they should be made accountable for the disruption and distress the have caused Mrs Bushell and her family.

Thankyou, you’re kind to say so.

Having been involved myself in local politics I know well just how backbiting, spiteful and personally motivated it can be – in fact I think most voters would be really shocked at just how many council decisions get made bacause of personality rather than policy.

There are many good, committed local potential candidates and even elected councillors who find themselves blocked because some small-minded suburban party activist (and this goes for both partiesa) disapproves of their morals or that they came from a council estate or are the wrong sexuality or colour, or anything at all really.

Bullies seek positions of power where they can be petty tyrants and push other people around – local politics is one of the prime arenas for people of this tendency.

sorry hope you got the first part of the email. Please look at the Lib Dem voice for someones elses comments – tells you some of the truth.

The thing is you don’t know the whole story and you have done down some really good people. They left the party because –
They didn’t know the truth and some officials covered it up. They were lied to.
The electorate certainly didn’t know and Mrs. Bushell was most definately not up front – she had said so in the papers. Many local people are furious – the reality is they would not have voted for her had they known everything – and which should have been declared when she became a Councillor.
The whole range of services has not been detailed and some in my opinion is definately illegal. One website (which she hasn’t spoken about) was very questionable. Stripping as a school girl is a bit questionable as well isn’t it?
Please don’t jump to quick conclusions. Think about it. Who is in every magazine, paper etc now? You have strong views and it takes a special person to change their mind and admit it – will you? In reality three ‘politicians’ made a moral decision and you have criticised them for it. Much easier to stay in the comfort zone of a political party.

Duchess: no I didn’t see the first par of your email, it may have been aten by the spam filter.

You’re right, I don’t know the whole story – and I take yiour point that I don’t and I’m perfectly willing to change my opinion should the evidence suggest she was deliberately deceptive, but as yet you haven’t shown me any.

My point as was about who decides who is entitled to democratic partcipation and representation in a democratic society, and on what grounds they make that decision.

The councillor may have been secretive about her sex work, but if the Lib Dems have a problem with sex workers standing for their party and didn’t know the full background or extent of it before selecting their candidate then they have been lax in their candidate-vetting procedures and can’t now say ‘we were fooled.’

You say “the reality is they [the electorate] would not have voted for her had they known everything”. You make this assertion without any evidence at all to back it up: how do you know?

Surely the test of that is the next election and whether or not she’s re-elected, rather than your anecdotal opinion? If the voters are unhappy, let them vote her out. That’s democracy – not a few party members attempting to impose their own personal morality on the candidate they chose, after the fact of her election.

If she lied, then complain to the ethics panel and/or wait for the election, and be a bit more careful next time in choosing your candidates.

Thanks for the comments and I understand your view.

In a recent interview (which she no doubt got paid £ks for) she states that she kept things to herself. However the crime for me is that some LD Officials knew and chose not to tell other party members. At the same time dismissing other potential candidates. Friend of someone?

She also wasn’t a Lib Dem at the time of the election (for whatever reason) and was introduced around two weeks before the May elections. Convenient that she wasn’t a member, as she could be sent packing. However the three that resigned felt equally uncomfortable about this. when they found out They very rightly had started to ask questions about vetting procedures and were threatened with discplinary action etc. They got no answers over two months. They were strong enough to stand up and be counted but in the end felt it was better to walk away.

Why haven’t the Lib Dems demanded by-elections of the three? Not a word.

They also found it difficult to stomach the sale of soiled pants and video porn to order. Legal? The officials had knowledge of the website.

Yes the party was at fault, that is the whole point – and if you were to actually look at the resignation letter from the Cllrs their problem was with the party and not the stripper.

You cannot complain to the ethics panel (the Standards Board) about a Cllr or group for being very economical with the truth. So all is ok then? Watch this space for the next election in Bideford although I will never vote Liberal Democrat again.

You need evidence? Go with your heart and know I am telling the truth. Maybe the numerous emails will come out one day – so you can have your evidence then. What would you have done – said nothing as others have?

The comments I find so hard to read are those that say the LibDems are better off without the three. How little they know – they the local branch will be nothing without them. Funny, down to earth and honest (and according to the election results extremely popular) – what a loss.

I’ve been very active in local politics and I know well that no political decision is taken in a vacuum.

Not all those tasked to make decisions are making them on an objective or rational basis: often there are years of backstory, entwined personal histories and self-interests that lurk underneath the most innocuous political action. Even the most well-run local party branch, of whatever party, has hidden (or not so hidden) personal animosities and deep, ongoing political and moral disagreements that colour everything they do.

Obviously there is no way, as a casual observer, I could possibly hope to know all the backstory to this. What I was attempting to do was to tease out the larger issues which are, it seems to me, the problems people have separating personal sexual morality from political morality in an open democracy.

If, as you say, there are no grounds for an ethics complaint against those involved then those who are unhappy with the councillor must accept it or resign from their party. That’s what’s happened. Case closed tilll the next election, unless you can point to some actual wrongdoing rather than just an offence against your own personal moral code.

Speaking as someone considerably further to the left than the average Lib Dem, it seems to me that this has happened because it is a party that tries to straddle left and right and fails: instead it takes on the worst of both, with a hefty dose of added woolly indecision. If a national party doesn’t know what it actually stands for, how can the local branches?

Their reason for resignation was not fundamentally to do with the stripper at all. They were unhappy with the officers in the local branch who they believed had not been entirely honest and would not answer some fundamental questions about the selection panel decisions that they had taken. They felt uneasy staying in a branch that was run in such a way. Also would you continue to be involved with a group that appeared to condone potentially illegal practice – and continue to put that person forward in the local community without question? The three who resigned have been badly misrepresented by one of your contributors (jewell) and I hope you can acknowledge that some politicians can act with honour.