by Les May
ON 17 January 2009 the Rochdale Observer printed a letter
rebutting earlier comments by Simon Danczuk in the paper on 3 January 2009 that
members of Rochdale Constituency Labour party were bandying false accusations
and 'bullying'.
Signed by seven long standing members it called for an
inquiry into allegations that Mr Danczuk hit his partner Karen Burke (later
Danczuk) while on holiday in Spain. A Mail on Sunday article of 11 July 2015,
gives some background to the incident in question. Irrespective of the truth of
the central allegation the incident does not reflect well upon Mr Danczuk.
IN September of 2009 those who signed the letter faced a
disciplinary panel to answer charges they had brought the party into
disrepute. Mr Danczuk and the now Karen
Burke were represented by regional Labour party executive Anna Hutchinson.
This is a curious state of affairs because as we were led to believe in a Mail on Sunday article in July, that Anna Hutchinson had previously put pressure on
both Karen's brother Steven who had contacted the Rochdale Labour Party to say
that Mr Danczuk was not fit to be an MP, and upon her father Martin who had made
a complaint to the chairman of the constituency Labour Party about the
happenings in Spain. Though Anna Hutchinson in the same Mail on Sunday article, did deny these allegations.
The outcome of the disciplinary panel was that five were
expelled after also being accused of 'bullying' and the two people who signed
the letter were suspended. So the going rate for bringing the 'party into
disrepute' is suspension. Or is it?
In March of this year an interview given by Danczuk to Ashley
Cowburn of the New Statesman was headed, 'Exclusive: Labour MP says the public
think Ed Miliband is aloof and more of a toff than Cameron' and was a sustained
attack on Labour policies and on Ed Miliband as leader. Without a trace of
irony Danczuk said, 'The public are fed up with career politicians.'
Cowburn commented, 'This scathing criticism – 45 days before
the general election, and less than two weeks before the beginning of the short
campaign – will be an embarrassing blow for the Labour party. Not to mention a
complete denunciation of Miliband’s biography and media strategy. Hardly
welcome news for a party that was polling around 40 per cent in 2013 and are
now neck and neck with the Tories in the polls.'
In the Daily Mail of 23 March this interview had
metamorphosed into, 'Ed Miliband is a "f***ing knob" who costs Labour votes,
according to one of his own MPs. Mr Danczuk's bombshell remarks come just 45
days before the general election – and less than two weeks before the official
campaign kicks off.'
At this point Simon seemed to get cold feet and tried to undo
the damage to his career if not to the Labour party, so the same day the Mirror
had the headline 'Simon Danczuk: I wasn't having a go when I called Ed Miliband
a 'f***ing knob' and 'I want Ed Miliband in Downing Street.'
This may have had more to do with the headline writer's
paraphrasing than what Danczuk actually told them but the Morning Star was a
bit more expansive saying 'Mr Danczuk subsequently backpedalled in a series of
panicked tweets, saying the interview “does not fully reflect my views”.'
He wrote: 'We all have off days. I’d had a very difficult day
and was feeling emotional.'Asked whether Mr Danczuk would face disciplinary action, a
Labour spokeswoman said:
'Simon Danczuk has made clear the interview does not
reflect his views.'
So whose the telling the porkies here? Ashley Cowburn by writing it or Simon Danczuk
for saying it and then denying it?
But these were Danczuk's views all along. Last November he
was reported as one of two MPs who had called for Miliband to resign. And if we
believe the Morning Star he was briefing anonymously against Miliband,
something hinted at in a Manchester Evening News article from the same month.
The one thing all these have in common is that they get Simon
Danczuk noticed. He gets a few more column inches of publicity. But in the
minds of people like me they raise the nagging question, 'If you are a Labour
MP just what do you have to do to bring the Labour Party into disrepute?'
Clearly a lot more than if you are just one of the footsoldiers.
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1 comment:
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97952/tory-supporting-daily-mail-pay-rochdales-labour-mp-1000-per-hour
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97953/karen-danczuk-queen-of-overtime
I would not be surprised if she did not actually work these so called actual hours. I bet she worked far less in her role than she was paid for, just like her Cllrs job in which she did very little.
Usually in such a job, overtime is not paid, instead it is counted as time in lieu, so one would "bank" hours, to take at other times. I sense a rip off to the tax payer here, and this is the problem when family members are employed in such jobs, often, like in this case not even qualified for the role.
If so many hours of overtime were required, then DAnczuk should have employed an extra person. But it suited this greedy couple to have her paid a lot of money on top of his very high salary, as well as "earnings" from anti working class papers
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