onionbagblog

A cursory glance at the tags for this blog post reveals a return to form and blimey: it’s only b****y Lambeth again.

Oh Lordy.

An incredibly clumsy blog comment back in September by @LambethLabour’s Councillor Ed Davie of Thornton ward [top right] couldn’t be left unchallenged.

The Nu Labour twonk suggested that I was a racist for choosing to live in a:

“whites-only Olde English village. [sic]“

Such a sickening comment saddened me, and I felt that Councillor Davie should be made to answer this damaging allegation on my character. And so I filed an official complaint to @lambeth_council, stating that I believed that the Thornton representative was in breach of the Council’s Code of Conduct.

I wasn’t alone in my observation - I heard confirmation on Tuesday evening that the Standards (Assessment) Sub-Committee has met, and has decided to:

“Refer your allegation to the Council’s Monitoring Officer for further action.”

Furthermore, the Sub-Committee has ruled:

“It is necessary to identify one or more specific provisions of the Code of Conduct itself which are potentially engaged by this complaint. The following provisions of the Code have been identified for this purpose:

Part 1

General Provisions

2. Scope

(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) to (5), you must comply with this Code whenever you:

(a) conduct the business of your authority (which in this Code, includes the business of the office to which you are elected or appointed); or

(b) act, claim to act or give the impression you are acting as a representative of your authority;

3. (1) You must treat others with respect.

(2) You must not

(b) bully any person;

5. You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute.”

The Initial Assessment Decision include:

“Referral of the complaint to the Monitoring Officer to take “other action” (e.g. a written apology, training or conciliation).”

The Final Decision from the Sub-Committee states:

“To refer the allegation to the Monitoring Officer to take “other action” as follows:

1. To write to all councillors with the Standards Board for England blogging guidance and a covering note urging councillors who use social media to do so with caution.

2. To hold a private meeting with Councillor Ed Davie (who may be accompanied by either Chief Whip or Leader of the Council) to explain the concerns and advice of the Sub-Committee.

3. To refer the issue to the Member Development Group for consideration as to whether any further training for councillors should be given in addition to the SBE guidance.”

And so it seems that Councillor Davie is being hauled in for a bit of an ear bender on how to behave when engaging with social media. I greatly appreciate the time put in by the Standards (Assessment) Sub-Committee in investigating this complaint.

But it needn’t have had to reach this stage.

The Chief Legal Officer @lambeth_council liaised with the Chief Whip of the Labour group, as well as with Councillor Davie himself, with my suggestion of intervention, before eventually having to refer the matter to the Standards Sub-Committee in the absence of any response from Councillor Davie.

Over a month later, and for whatever reason, it became clear that Councillor Davie wasn’t going to offer an explanation for his actions. I am deeply offended by being publicly labeled a racist by Councillor Davie. This is a damning slur on my character that I couldn’t allow to go unchallenged.

Having previously been told by Councillor Davie that I have “no mandate to criticise elected Councillors,” I feel that I ought to point out that he has no mandate to make libellous allegations.

I don’t think calling someone a Nu Labour twonk is libellous, although the Nu Labour tag certainly is a harmful character slur.

The Nu Labour apologist flag wavers were quick to step in to defend Cllr Davie. @KieranCasey wins the prize for putting forward the most naive political argument in the history of political discourse, stating:

Following this line of thought, then someone (who is not me) is of the opinion that Councillor Davie is not best suited to civic service.

The cutting edge social commentary from other Lambeth Nu Labour apologists didn’t exactly add further contributions to the debate either. @DaMcEvoy, the self-styled “unbiased” mouthpiece of the Nu Labour love in Weir Residents Association, makes Cllr Davie look like a blushing bride about to be jilted at the altar. His language is almost as colourful as his lively Weir Residents Association website:

For a borough that is rather well engaged with its residents online, there is of course the danger that the odd loudmouth will destroy any positive social engagement put in place, and revert to type as an internet troll. For every @wellbelove and his brilliant embrace of social media, there is sadly a Councillor Davie who still believes that he is back in the school playground.

It’s all about *shhh* co-operation, Comrades.

Yeah, right…