I read my Montgomeryshire County Times this afternoon. Even though I've enjoyed a nice dinner at the Talkhouse, at Pontolgoch I'm still seething at 11.30. The only way I can assuage my anger is to blog about it. Now' I try to avoid criticising our local MP. I'm his Conservative opponent at the next General Election, and I know any negative opinion from my keyboard will be seen as politically motivated. So I eschew the usual political knocking. Only real criticism I've made is of his continuing role as a political columnist for the Daily Sport. He should be ashamed of the rubbish he writes for this pornographic publication. Irritates me because it reflects badly on Montgomeryshire.
But I felt incensed when my eyes fell upon today's front page. I have not been an elected politician for over two years, but I still consider myself to be a politician - and I'm ashamed of what I have been reading in the Daily Telegraph over the last month. It has brought justified public contempt and disgust down upon the heads of politicians - all of them/us - teh fraudulent, the greedy, the foolish, the naive, and the completely innocent. We have read about what seems to me to be straight forward fraud, serious misjudgements as well as some genuine errors. And hundreds of MPs have done nothing wrong at all. But all of us are in the firing line. There is nothing whatsoever funny whatsoever about any of this. Much of it is utterly shameful.
Now, I'm not making any comment about any claim that Lembit Opik has made. But what the b***** h*** is he doing making a public exhibition of himself, posing for a photograph for our local newspaper, treating the whole thing as a joke. And its not as if the County Times photographer was behind it. I was at the Carnival last Monday, and I was told that he was planning this photograph as I went onto the field. I was told that he had gone off in search of the photographer and had promised to return for a posed 'stunt' making light of the 'expenses scandal'. I was told he was planning to do it before he reached the Carnival field. Now, perhaps I'm overreacting, but while our democracy is falling apart around our heads, I really do not want to see Montgomeryshire's MP treating this scandal as some huge joke. That's better. Got it off my chest.
16 comments:
So typical of Lembit Opik. He just can't do serious. This is exactly the sort of thing that will prove to be his downfall. And why for heaven's sake, is the local paper playing along with this??
Once again, you have to say that the so called MP for Montgomeryshire just does not get it. He's toast come the election. Perhaps he'll get it then.
Way to go Glyn> clear water between u and LO, just got to get that message over to what is now a body of constituents almost deaf to whatever any politician says or promises.
But you promise crystal clear fresh water - a swing back to how politicians who don't take their constituents for granted and will work your butt off and engage in honest transparent politics.
Got to get that message across.
Do you have a link to the photo? It sounds a good laugh.
"There's nuffin funnie about zat 'Expensive Sandel."
... samo could be zaid ah-boot comes home Lemmy Outerspace.
Anon - I do not know whether this sort of thing damages electoral chances - but it certainly damages the standing of politics. Many people assume that we're all the same.
AVQ - I think we are into a new type of politics - at least I hope so. I hope the traditional boastful leaflets are going to consigned to the bin, and greater effort is going to go into finding out about the candidates.
Colin - More bizarre than funny. He's seeking to portray himself as a supporter of reform, ('In-tent' on sorting out the expenses issue.) In a later article he 'Lambastes' the system - thought this was a form of 'cooking' which is inadvertently appropriate.
What a complete and utter buerk Opik is turning out to be. He's getting worse and worse. Why on earth do the Mont Liberals stick with him? This should be a safe seat, but Opik is probably the only Lib Dem who could lose it. This sort of thing totally misjudgest the mood of the electorate. This man has zero judgement, as displayed so very often in the last couple of years
It's simply typical of our MP to behave that way as depicted in the CT.
I sent a copy of his last contribution in the sordid Daily Sport to the CT in the faint hope they may print it for all CT readers to see, fat chance. What is it with them? Surely by now they can see him for what he is?
Heledd Fychan in her blog, discovered that 94% of the Montgomeryshire people asked, would not vote for him again. I have also written to the Lib/Dem website expressing my contempt for him, and was given a rather pathetic reply about how contrite he was over his "mistake"!
For me, Lembit Opik's behaviour over the last few years, never mind this latest scandal, has been dispicable. He is only interested in getting his silly face in the newspapers - and doesn't care how he does it.
The sooner he goes, the better for Montgomeryshire.
You hit on something 'inadvertent' there Glyn.
Though not well known in cooking circles (not related to crop circles) and meat farmers have a latent desire that such knowledge is cooked and canned - meat cooked in an oven presents a curious property vis-a-vis boiled meats. Burnt meats are particularly tastey for some, but offer the prospect of enhanced cancer issues with regard to, e.g., parts of the human digestive system.
I'm amazed it's as low as 94% !
Really, the man has totally lost it. How dare he take this stance. But I totally agree with the comments made about the County Times. No one in Montgomeryshire is fooled by their pro Lembit slant and it's about time this silly paper realised that there are mutterings in the area about their coverage, or rather, non-coverage of Lembit Opik's idiocies. Their readers are the people who are going to vote him out and it's about time the paper got real about the strength of anti Lembit feelings here. People have had enough of him embarrassing the area
Is this the article Glyn? http://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/Lembit-lambastes-the-parliamentary-expenses.5316329.jp
Anon (12:12)> Did Heledd Fychan report on what % would vote for her or Glyn Davies?
My wife and I were at the same event and I took a couple of photos similar to those published. I said to my wife at the time that I thought Lembit was foolish to co-operate with the photographer. Now it transpires that he did more than co-operate - he actively set up the photo opportunity.
His most recent column in the County Times begins with the observation that while the press is "obsessing" over the expenses scandal there is a far more serious catastrophe taking place in Sri Lanka.
I am sure that the Sri Lanka situation is pretty serious, but that doesn't alter the fact that it isn't just the press who are greatly concerned about MPs expenses. You will ignore this fact at your peril Lembit.
Looking Ahead, Heledd reports on a Wales Online poll of 2,000 readers. She and Glyn did not figure because the poll only concerned current MPs and the support they had, or in My Purse Lembit's case, they did not have within their constituencies. Adam Price had the highest level of support, Lembit Opik overwhelmingly the lowest, with 94% wanting him to go.
Anon - I prefer not to comment on what he says and does, but this stunt angered me enough to make an exception.
Frankie - I don't think the sort of 'photo stunt' which so irritated me exhibited any contriteness.
Anon 2 - I don't think you can blame the CT for giving coverage to the local MP and AM. But they did do the piece about expenses. I agree that his writings for the disreputable Daily Sport should be more widely known. At least Vaughan Roderick ensures that some people seeit. If the people of Montgomeryshire knew what utter garbage he writes on a weekly basis, they would never cote for him again.
Peter - No. What irritated me was a photograph on the front page, which showed him under a sort of tent, pulling a face, with a lady and her bike which were dressed up, making a great joke about the expenses scandal. The 'lambastes' article was on page 2, and involved our MP telling us how he wanted to sort out the problem. I didn't read that but liked the headline.
Looking ahead - No. I think its a poll about the Welsh MPs. Personally, I think that som eof the 94% are so disillusioned with politicians that they will not vote for any of us - which brings me back to why I was so cross about his being so frivolous about the issue.
Martin - I would have taken the same view as you about posing for silly stories. I thought just that when I walked into a tent and saw Mick Bates and Lembit under a table peeping out from some camoflage. That one turned out ok. I would not have known that its was Lembit who set up the front page photograph if I had not chatted to the lady involved as I walked into the Carnival field.
It is widely known that the Lib Dem grandees were always worried about Lembit Opik's lack of judgement, but my oh my, this really does take the biscuit. LO has zero dignity, zero moral authority, zero empathy and let's hope come the next Genral Election, zero votes.
Any chance of seeing the picture of the dreaded Lembit please Glyn?
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