It's official: Cameron's one-dimensional Watford whitewash
Following Ian Oakley’sconviction for a vile campaign of criminal damage, harassment and vile abuse, LibDem spokesman Ed Davey called upon David Cameronto hold an inquiry into the procedures and activities of the Watford Conservative Party.
Today we got Cameron’s answer. Asked what action he was taking to ensure such people could not be selected as candidates in future, the Conservative leader is quoted by the Press Association as saying:
“There are certainly procedures in place to get a new candidate in Watford. Clearly what this individual did was completely unacceptable. He is no longer the candidate, he is no longer a member of the party and we will work very hard to make sure that Conservatives in Watford can choose a really good candidate to challenge that seat.”
So there we are. No hint of an apology, No thought that the Watford Conservatives could have realised that their leading campaigner was conducting a campaign of an entirely different kind. No desire to make sure that the next Conservative candidate isn’t either mad or bad. Just business as usual for the Tories.
Almost exactly a year ago, David Cameron made a keynote speech, in which he called for drastic action to mend Britain’s “broken society” and said that the country was suffering from a “real and growing problem” of violence and anti-social behaviour.
Following up by taking over Tony Blair’s seat on the GMTV sofa, Cameron said:
“The problem is the Government’s response is one dimensional. They have just looked at the criminal justice system. What we need is a three-dimensional approach – looking at criminal justice, yes, but also looking at policing and thirdly looking at society and how to strengthen society and strengthen communities.
“It’s only through that three-dimensional approach that we can get to grips with the problems on our streets and the fear in our society. In the end it is stable homes – good values taught in the home – that is the best way to tackle crime in the long term.”
So why not use a three-dimensional approach for the Watford Conservatives, Mr Cameron? Is it a stable home? Is the local party teaching good values?
The truth is that he has no idea, and no wish to find out. Maybe the attitude of the local party could be discerned from its chairman Steve O’Brien, who dismissed the entire issue in the Watford Observer as ‘a little hiccup’.
Pontius Pilate could not have made a better job of washing his hands in public.
Related posts:
- Cameron must investigate Conservative's trail of harassment and abuse
- McBride, Draper and the Ian Oakley link
- A Watford Conservative speaks about Ian Oakley
Comments
13 October 2008, 5:52 pm
[...] to be a deafening silence from Cameron’s Compassionate Conservatives. Still no apology. The whitewash continues. As my colleague Cllr Iain Sharpe has previously commented, the Conservatives cannot be [...]
14 January 2009, 8:26 pm
[...] akin to Dave Spart’s mob than Dave Cameron’s parliamentary party. David Cameron’s only priority was to get another candidate in place as soon as possible. And when they did move to get a new [...]
14 April 2009, 9:54 am
[...] the past nine months, the Conservatives both locally and nationally have maintained that whatever Ian Oakley did was nothing to do with them – he had resigned and that [...]