This just in:
A Labour MP has blasted CND for a “dirty tricks campaign†in the run up to this week’s Commons vote on renewing Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent.
Bassetlaw MP John Mann has also made a formal complaint to the Observer newspaper who claimed the MP was “uncomfortable†with the renewal of the Trident weapons system.
In yesterday’s Observer an article by Political Editor Gaby Hinsliff stated that:
“John Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw who signed a letter from Labour MPs calling on the party to think again, is believed to be uncomfortable. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.â€
The Observer failed to contact John Mann MP in relation to this article.
The Observer article claims that John Mann signed an open letter organised by CND to Labour Chairman Hazel Blears last September asking for a wider debate on Trident. CND had added John Mann’s name to this letter wrongly and without authorisation. The MP challenged CND last year and had this corrected.
John Mann said:
“Here we see CND waging a dirty tricks campaign in the run up to the Trident vote. Last September my name was added to an open letter organised by CND without my permission. The Observer’s claim that I am “uncomfortable†is totally wrong and represents the poorest form of journalism. The Observer failed to contact me nor have they checked their facts. Their assertion is based totally on conjecture.â€
“Had the journalist done the most basic facts checking they would have discovered that as a union official in the 1980s I was involved in changing Labour’s position of unilateral disarmament and have not signed any of the many anti-Trident motions in Parliament. For the Observer’s information, and for the record, I will be voting for the renewal of Trident on Wednesday and believe it to be a crucial part of Britain’s defence strategy in the 21st Century.â€
Notes to Editors
(1) John Mann is the Labour MP for Bassetlaw and is PPS to Sports Minister Richard Caborn MP.
(2) The Observer ran an article yesterday (Sunday 11 March 2007) by Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Aide resigns in rebellion over Trident’.
(3) John Mann has made a formal complaint against the Observer.
(4) Gaby Hinsliff refused to leave her name, organisation or telephone number or any message when speaking to John Mann’s daughter at his home at 10:30am on Saturday.
John, is quite rightly angry about his portrayal in the Observer yesterday.
I had a similar irritation the week before. In an article entitled “Get Brown” I was described as having “cornered” David Miliband in the tea room. The implication in the article was that I’d forced him into using the words that there were no circumstances in which he would be a challenger in the next leadership contest. Actually, we’d talked just outside the chamber and it was jovial and good natured. David was the frustrated one – irritated and annoyed at all the speculation about his future. He said that he wishes the people who wrote the stories about him challenging for the leadership would desist. It’s only a little point and I wasn’t going to say anything but John Mann’s press release prompted me to put the matter right here.
17 comments ↓
Who on earth is interested in this tittle-tattle from the village about the wounded pride of thin-skinned MP’s?
What your constituents need to know is how you intend to vote this week on the proposal to spend £76 billion on Trident renewal, since there has been debate with either them or the Party on the issue.
Second para:
Insert “NO” before debate.
[...] Original post by Tom and plugin by Elliott Back [...]
This is clearly not on and I can see why John Mann is so annoyed.
In principle I am not against renewing Trident but I am confused as to why we need to make a decision so quickly and also I am slightly aggrieved that the party has not had longer to fully debate the options.
John Edwards – Oh dear. You come by here stamping your feet demanding attention and you refuse to answer a simple question put to you three times previously. Are you the Councillor John Edwards of Sandwell council? Just confirm this and I’ll gladly enter the debate with you. Why, I’ll even post my reasons on the front of the site.
This is not the General Committee of West Bromwich East Labour Party. That is the forum where I answer questions on from any member on any issue. It was interesting that nobody raised Trident at the last meeting though.
Renew.
Calm down, calm down, Tom. Whichever John Edwards this may be, I don’t see any signs of foot stamping nor attention demanding…. and the question seemed perfectly reasonable. Surely you are not saying that constituents are barred from asking questions on your blog?
By the way, to avoid any confusion… I am the Bob Piper of Sandwell Council.
Bob -
This is at least the thrid comment from the unknown John Edwards. The question was reasonable, the manner in which it was put was not. And as Harold Wilson once said, a question should be answered in the spirit of which it is put.
Now, you being a reasonable person can have the answer. I will be supporting the government on Trident. I’ll try and put my reasons up when I have a bit more time – probably tomorrow but maybe late tonight if I get the chance.
Stay reasonable Bob Piper of Sandwell Council – and hold off until I make my case!
Tx
glad John Mann not my MP. She is one of 121 MPs who signed the EDM against Trident.When it comes to “dirty tricks”, the absence of a proper debate within the Party about a highly unpopular policy is one of the dirtiest of all.
Dear Tom
Thanks for committing to setting out your intentions.
I support representative democracy, so I was wondering: did you debate this issue with your CLP membership as a whole, GC/EC or even local supporters? Or did you take a leaf out of No. 10′s book before deciding your position and hold a representative focus group of the voters in your constituency?
Tom
I think I too am part of the ‘reasonable’ tendency – can you you exaplin why we need to make a decision now?
Mike
John Mann is the Labour MP for Bassetlaw and is PPS to Sports Minister Richard Caborn MP.
If he’s got his knickers in such a twist about this, he must suffer daily coronaries working for Caborn.
Trident always seemed an odd subject for me ‘cos in as much as I support a renewal I really don’t care that much and when it comes down to it I don’t think the majority of the public do either. (I know, what an odd way to talk about £76 billion+ but there we go)
I have no idea what John Edwards is on about, if my name went on any letter that I hadn’t signed I’d go through the roof, whether I would have put my name on it or not.
Well, when all is said and done, what’s worse? Tagging the name of an MP on to some petition without their expressed permission, or wasting tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers money on completely useless WMDs while simultaneously preaching to Iran about its own nuke programme?
Perhaps a bit of a cockup on the part of the CND crew, but in the grand scheme of things…
I deplore the Observer’s misrepresentation of you as having “cornered” David Miliband in the tea room. My sources told me you had him in a headlock.
Owen
What a fatuous argument you make. The two scenarios you pose cannot be equated at all.
It is vital to democracy that prominent people are not misquoted / misrepresented in such a way. What were the people saying about the Iraq war – “Not in my name.”
Would it be justified to state that an MP was backing a leadership candidate when they weren’t in order to ramp support for that candidate? I don’t think so.
CND roll out the same silly unilaterial position, play loony left tactics and pseudo moral and intellictual superiority. It didn’t wash. Politics should be pragmatic and less ideology. CND and the Loony Left had their fair parliamentary debate (hours of exhaustive debate and loobying in parliament prior to 7pm) and lost, with over 400 elected MPs voting decisively for a Trident submarine replacement now. Perhaps the Labour Party can resolve this isssue further by Michael Meacher running on a no Trident ticket against Gordon Brown, and lose again, thus setting the issue to bed in the next parliament.
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