This entry was posted on
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at
12:59 pm and is filed
under Tories! Tories! Tories!.
BBC – Ex-Tory admits harassment charges: A former Tory candidate has pleaded guilty to a campaign of harassment against his Liberal Democrat rivals. Ian Oakley, who stood down as the Tory candidate in Watford last month, admitted five charges of criminal damage and two of harassment. Oakley, of Ryeland Close, West Drayton, Middlesex, asked for 68 other offences to be taken into account… He slashed tyres and wrecked shutters at the Liberal Democrat headquarters in the town. He made silent phone calls to Ms Brinton between August 2006 and March this year, and sent her gay and lesbian magazines, the court was told. Letters addressed to “Sal Bitchton” were also sent to her workplace. Oakley’s campaign against Mr Willson was mounted from February to May this year and included painting graffiti on his home, calling him a “perv”. He also sent letters to him and his backers wrongly accusing Mr Willson of being a “child abuser”. Donna Rayner, prosecuting, said Oakley had been driven by a “desire to change the political landscape in Watford”.
I’ve personally witnessed and experienced parallels to all of the above, minus the property damage, from a range of Tories. Most of them will show some extraordinary front when denying what they’ve been up to… and then claim that what they did was somehow right/justified when they get caught red-handed. The pattern is depressingly predictable.
Is there a Tory textbook somewhere that teaches them how to do all of this… and to constantly claim (without a shred of evidence to back it up) that Labour/Lib-Dem activists are up to the same or worse?
UPDATE – More details are available via Lib Dem Voice and The Times.
UPDATE – Iain Dale is doing a pretty convincing show of hand-wringing considering some of the behaviour he tolerates from fellow Tories *not* being slammed in the national press, his close mates, and just about anyone who wants to anonymously slag off or threaten people he doesn’t like.
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UPDATE (6 Aug) – Liberal Democrats – Cameron must investigate vile campaign of criminal damage: Following the arrest of Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Watford, Ian Oakley, and his guilty plea today on five charges of criminal damage and two charges of harassment, Liberal Democrat Chair of Campaigns and Communications, Edward Davey has written to David Cameron demanding that he holds an urgent inquiry into the procedures and activities of Watford Conservative Party.
Too bloody right. Hands up anyone who seriously thinks that all of this went on without a single warning signal reaching CCHQ:
The Times – Slashed tyres and poison pen letters: how Ian Oakley bullied rivals: By the time he was arrested last month he had committed 75 offences of criminal damage, harassment and malicious communication against his Liberal Democrat opponents in Watford… Watford Lib Dems said that the anonymous vandalism and intimidation began in the months before the 2005 general election, when Oakley was the Conservatives’ campaign manager in the constituency.
UPDATE – Meanwhile, Ian Oakley appears to think that people like him should be kept off the streets.
UPDATE – And here’s a picture, boys and girls….
By Paul.Ferrari August 5, 2008 - 3:22 pm
I hope that he gets permanently barred from running for any form of Public Office.
By Jangliss August 5, 2008 - 6:18 pm
"I've personally witnessed and experienced parallels to all of the above, minus the property damage, from a range of Tories."That's not like you, Tim. Unless you cite some instances or provide a theory about why Tories are particularly given to petty vandalism and stalking then this just looks like unsupported slander.
By Paul August 5, 2008 - 7:09 pm
I wonder what your favourite nurse makes of all this?
By Manic August 5, 2008 - 10:45 pm
Hey Paul.I would expect her to be as convincingly shocked as Iain is.-Hi Jangliss.I can provide you with a number of links to show you my many bad experiences with Tories and/or bad experiences involving others that I've witnessed and documented. There are three relevant direct and indirect links in the 2nd update alone. If you'd like more, then please ask – but do keep in mind:- Re: "petty vandalism"; I said "minus the property damage".- Re: "stalking"; I cannot possibly comment on that right now in this context, as Oakley has admitted his guilt regarding his actions, but last time I looked the court had yet to rule on the nature/purpose of these actions (were they calculated, passionate, innocently assumed to be par for the course, etc.)"Harassment" and other forms of intimidation on the other hand…There are some games that a lot of people play and, yes, a bit of argy-bargy and deceit is often a cross-party thing.Example… the tiresome and selfish tactic of *crying* 'stalker':https://www.bloggerheads.com/archives/2005/06/harr…https://www.bloggerheads.com/archives/2007/06/bull…But – while I will stress that not all Tories are into this kind of thing – you know that I've faced some serious opposition from Labour over the years (mostly from Blairites)… and I've suffered nothing like the childish, cruel and deeply personal treatment I've been subjected to (and seen others subjected to) by Tories and their hangers-on since they eventually stumbled onto the web.And almost without exception they have the audacity to do this while playing the victim.I rarely cross swords with Lib Dems, Greens etc., but I've watched this game up close through quite a few big and small issues and elections now, and I can tell you for a fact that when you're facing down a group of Tories online or offline, you are far more likely to suffer an anonymous personal attack and/or some other form of intimidation than you are with any other party.I stand by my position that there might just be something about [fanfare] The Conservative Party [/fanfare] that attracts more people who are more prone to this.So unlike some, I do not see this was a Watford problem…http://stuartsharpe.co.uk/2008/07/27/what-can-wat…… but more of a CCHQ problem.Hey, we all watched Tories telling each other to ease off on the celebrations during their recent surge. They know the image of a smug Tory is poison to them.They should be more wary of the 'nasty' tag, though:a) they've earned a great deal of itb) falsely pointing the finger at others isn't helping as much as they might expect it to
By Mr Eugenides August 6, 2008 - 12:01 am
This guy is bang to rights. But [disclosure: Tory sympathiser, but not member, activist or online cheerleader] I'm not sure I can accept that there is something about us righties that makes us more likely to play dirty pool than Labourites or others.Apart from anything else, what about the New Labour smear machine over the last decade? Brown "psychologically flawed"? (Yes, true, but from his neighbour?) Mowlam talking rubbish because, so they said, she had never properly recovered from the cancer? And certainly in Scotland some of the shit that goes on at local level makes the Labour party look like the worst offenders.This is, I freely admit, a partisan rejoinder. I guess what I'm saying is this: if your contention really is that the Tories play dirtier than other parties (and I know it's a theme you've explored before), I'd like to see you develop it into a proper post – a real "J'Accuse". How and why is this so, and where's your evidence beyond the circumstantial?Show me the money, Manic!
By Manic August 6, 2008 - 12:19 am
Hello, Mr Eugenides1. I've been quite vocal about the way some senior people in the Labour Party have chucked the 'mental' tag about:https://www.bloggerheads.com/archives/2005/08/mo_m…2. So long as it's understood that I'm talking about grass roots activism and the use of "childish, cruel and deeply personal" forms of intimidation, I'll happily write such a post. But I might need some input…Has anyone ever seen an online dispute where a Lib Dem has dodged the issue and instead 'played the man' by making irrelevant and disparaging claims about their opponents' mental health or sexual orientation? An example involving a pile-on would be a bonus.
By Letters From A Tory August 6, 2008 - 8:41 am
"I've personally witnessed and experienced parallels to all of the above, minus the property damage, from a range of Tories."Cheap shot, Tim. If you want to accuse other Conservatives (or anyone else, for that matter) of behaving inappropriately on the campaign trail, either name names or stop wasting everyone's time with vacuous statements.
By Manic August 6, 2008 - 8:53 am
Cheap shot?I've named names and produced evidence many times in the past, LFAT… and have been labelled an obsessive stalker for my trouble. Now all of a sudden everyone's begging for another 'long and boring' post?There are three relevant links in the 2nd update in this post, as my previous comment makes clear. If they're not enough, if you don't regard the actions of Phil Hendren, Mike Chambers, Dennis Paul and Iain Dale's gang of mostly anonymous hangers-on to be suitable examples of harassment and intimidation, then please make your case.Also, perhaps you can produce a link to the single valid example of Lib Dem harassment that I'm seeking.
By Manic August 6, 2008 - 2:59 pm
Is it just me, or has it gone awfully quiet?
By Professor Paul August 6, 2008 - 4:17 pm
Iain Dale once claimed during the last election that adverse comments were made by the Lib Dems about his sexuality,I'm sure he'd be more than happy to let you have details.