Mayor cleared

I was very pleased to learn that the Mayor of Copeland, Councillor John Jackson, has been cleared of the charges made against him by an anonymous complainant.

I could not believe that John would ever have made the remark he was supposed to have made, and none of the people who were at the event concerned who I have spoken to had heard him say anything of the sort. Indeed, several Labour supporters and councillors have made a point of openly and publicly rejecting the charges against John.

One Labour councillor - John Kane - who was at the White Mare on the night in question, wrote on the Whitehaven News website that he had not heard anything of the sort, and that the person responsible for the allegation should "hang their head in shame."

The allegations have been investigated and no case to answer has been found.

I have often been involved, in various capacities, in trying to persuade people to put their names forward for public office. We need people with integrity to put their names in the frame if democracy is to work. And one of the most infuriating aspects of the task of persuading people to stand is that I have to admit to anyone who puts their head above the parapet that there is a chance that you might be made the subject of politically moticated false allegations of improper conduct such as corruption or racism. Needless to say, the more honorable a potential candidate is, the more likely they are to really hate the idea of being publicly accused of anything of the sort.

For this purpose I don't care what party someone is a member of, making false allegations of racism or any other form of serious misconduct is not a valid campaign tactic. It brings the whole of politics into even more disrepute than it already is, makes it harder to get good people involved, and indeed, makes it less likely if true allegations should be made on another occasion that they will be believed and acted on.

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