The case of Phil Woolas who was recently stripped of his parliamentary seat by a specially convened election court has stirred up considerable controversy, particularly within the Labour Party.
Mr Woolas has many supporters in the Party who believe that Harriet Harman – deputy leader– was wrong to say that he had no future in the Labour Party.
Harriet Harman’s comment about Phil Woolas was that, “It is not part of Labour’s politics for somebody to be telling lies to get themselves elected“.
Her comments are based on section 106 of the “Representation of the People Act” which makes it an offence to publish “any false statement of fact in relation to a candidate’s personal character or conduct”.
MP Graham Stringer, however, put forward an alternative view when he stated that Ms Harman had gone far too far and not recognised Mr Woolas’ contribution to the party over many years. He went on to say that election battles in marginal seats were not “Sunday-school outings” and “If the courts get involved in elections when people go over the top on policy and sometimes tell lies then we are going to have a very strange electoral process in future,”
That provoked a further response, this time from Harriet Harman’s husband, MP Jack Dromey. He believes that Ed Miliband and Harriet have done absolutely the right thing. It is no part of our politics to tell lies, to fan prejudice to win votes. What happened was wrong. I’ve always believed in what I’ve called standing on the moral high ground. How we conduct ourselves is of the highest importance.”
So what do we, the ordinary electorate think?
- Is it acceptable to tell lies in order to win an election?
- Do we want to be represented by people who are prepared to falsely attack the reputation of someone else?
- Or would we prefer to be represented by people who have high moral standards and integrity that we can rely on?
Solomon, who is reputed to be the wisest man who ever lived, is recorded as saying, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
(Proverbs 14v34)
It’s up to us what kind of people we elect to run the country but we can be assured that ultimately we will reap what we sow, whether that be leaders who have genuine integrity or those who put their own ambitions first.
