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Alexander should be suspended, committee rules



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WENDY Alexander should be suspended from the Scottish Parliament for one day for failing to declare donations to her leadership campaign, Holyrood's Standards Committee ruled today.
The recommendation to exclude the Scottish Labour leader for one sitting day was agreed by the committee after a three-hour meeting.

By a one-vote majority the committee, which yesterday ruled that Ms Alexander broke the law, decided a sanction was necessary.

The MSPs voted to exclude her from all proceedings of Parliament on the first Wednesday after this recommendation has been ratified by the Scottish Parliament, which is currently in recess until September 2.



The full article contains 108 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 26 June 2008 4:39 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Scottish Labour Party
 
1

artemisclyde,

26/06/2008 16:59:19
my goodness. a whole day without wendy. what will the parliament do without her "formidable intellect"?

that will certainly learn her for getting her fingers caught in the till and i am sure others will be put off by such a draconian punishment.
2

Sod off labour!,

edinburgh 26/06/2008 18:16:27
Everybody deserves an extra day off work now and then.
3

Loki - The Scourge of the Schemies,

EH1 26/06/2008 18:27:48
Will she be suspended by her suspenders? I only ask as I have developed a powerful lust for her.
4

McMadman,

http://scottishreferendum2008.blogspot.com 26/06/2008 18:52:07
What I don't understand is this.

Why, in a one horse race, did she need any money raising anyway ?

Why did she not just declare it all, given that it is a relatively small amount ?

Why try to hide behind the blanket of £1k being the declarable limit with a succession of £950 donations

Why is she still denying knowingly receiving an illegal donation when she knew the rules, and yet wrote to a Jersey resident thanking them for a donation ?

Why is she still liebores leader ?



5

Dragonlord,

26/06/2008 19:49:24
A one day suspension is great, A committe sitting for three hours, claiming expences and wages, come up with this? Glad we have these people looking after us, where would we be without them?
6

me150,

26/06/2008 20:25:58
This has been a waste of time and a serious case of bad judgement by many.

Bendy actually did everything she was meant to do but was bushwacked by SNP. She checked with the relevant people if she needed to declare and was advised no. It was later decided she should declare which she promptly did.

It is the committee that advised her that she need not declare this money that should be in the dock.
7

McMadman,

http://scottishreferendum2008.blogspot.com 26/06/2008 21:48:57
#6

Try answering the questions put in #4. If you can.
8

me150,

26/06/2008 23:15:25
#7

These questions are non questions asked by a politically biased poster.

That aside, the questions have already been answered but that will not be accepted by the same politically biased poster and his likes.
9

Alberto.,

26/06/2008 23:22:16
Phew!!! That was a very close shave, and there was me, and no doubt many others, thinking that the Justice system in Scotland was totally dead!

But no - Lo! and behold, the day has been saved by the 'trusty' 'Holyrood Standards (?) Committee’ with their essential and overwhelming result - regardless of the cost to the Taxpayer, to ‘award’ Ms Alexander ‘a Day Off’ (presumably with the generosity of full Pay!)

The pain and suffering she will obviously have to endure will be shared by all - but possibly ‘Not a lot!’

It seems that serious penalties for Politicians misdemeanours have at last been completely abandoned, for a system that now seems to imply ‘Get what you can - while the door is open, like those down in the Westminster village are being very successful at'

This ‘award’ would also seem to be telling us - no more shall we see the barbaric brutality of vicious and serious ‘finger wagging - leg slapping and even perhaps, their good but well worn saviour ‘we shall learn from this!’ - and, if anything similar happens in the future, which again requires the very serious and expensive deliberations of the Committee, the penalty may have to stretch to an even longer period of absence (Goody! Goody! - came anonymous cries from the back of the hall!) - for purposes of reflection, and to remind her / them of the actual Duties she / they promised to the electorate by ‘swearing on oath’!

At last, it would seem, we are beginning to see that Holyrood is not all really about Political advancement - for the benefit of Scotland and its citizens, but has a far more meaningful and obvious ‘raison d’etre’ which appears to be Protection of the current political incumbents nestled therein at any given time - completely regardless of principle - or cost to the taxpayer!

A possible helpful learning curve for us all in preparation for the ever encroaching EU total control system - coming soon near everybody!


10

McMadman,

http://scottishreferendum2008.blogspot.com 27/06/2008 00:50:13
#8

How is asking why she needed to raise money in a one horse race biased ?

You can't answer any of the questions put, not because they are of themselves biased, but because there is no answer.

Liebore troll.
11

Listening,

27/06/2008 02:12:02
ALL of your questions have been previously answered and I am not qualified to add to the previous answers.

What you and many others don't seem to see is that Bendy did everything by the book regarding this and was lambasted by political opponents.

This is yet another example of oneupmanship by a politition with nothing else to do. How about actually doing some good politics and making the difficult, unpopular decisions needed to get Scotland out of the mess currently being created by the lies of the electioneering SNP.

I personally have no problems with any party that actually does make these decisions no matter how hard it is for us in the short term but I certainly have problems with a party whose only major decisions have been by poor judgement and to the detriment of all of us. It is worse when you see that the current minority ruling party, which made all those fantastic policy statements in the run up to the election, has been found seriously lacking in actually achieving many of them.
12

Scotish Exile,

27/06/2008 12:39:20
#3

apparently not, its rumoured that she will be suspended by her n*pple clamps!
13

steve 1511,

aberdeen 27/06/2008 12:52:03
wee wendy the bung asks for advice AFTER she had broken the rules,the women and her partys actions and denials of any wrong doing bring shame to holyrood ,the labour party is corrupt at every level,thats why the last general secretary of the labour party is under investigation by the police and the cps for illegal donations of 650k,the voters are showing at the ballot box what they think of labours non stop lies
14

JT,

27/06/2008 13:11:05
Will anyone notice the difference?
15

subrosa,

27/06/2008 13:24:28
#6 and #11

You're being selective with your argument and missing the MAIN point of the case. Ms Alexander should have registered the money within 30 days of receipt. She did not. She did not ask advice within the 30 days either. She didn't ask advice until November, more than 2 months since the receipt of the money.

I agree from thereon it was a mess, one lot saying 'no registration' and the other saying 'yes' but the reason she has been found guilty is because the rules clearly state that gifts/donations must be registered within 30 days of receipt. It's a simple rule and in plain English. It also states the amount of which must be registered. At present that is £540.
16

Jenny MacArthur,

27/06/2008 13:29:46
I'm no SNP supporter. But I hate corruption. And anyone who says Wendy "didn't know" is willfully ignoring the truth. The rules are perfectly clear, and if she messed up it's only because she was trying to sail close to the wind like so many other politicians. See how many of her "donations" were bang on the maximum limit before they have to be declared. OF COURSE that's deliberate, because she doesn't want to be transparent and accountable.

We want politicians who serve US... not just the people who bribe (oops, donate to) them in return for favours.
17

John Knox furr First Meenister,

High St, Embra 27/06/2008 13:39:57
#15 Are you not being selective as well? Given that it was a fund set up by her labour party supporters for an internal labour party election, why should it have been registered with parliament at all? It was referred to the electoral commission correctly. What if she wasnae an MSP?
I'm not enamoured with her, but this is teacup and storm stuff.
18

S'me,

Edinburgh 27/06/2008 14:26:44
The SNP are a shower of inconfident bullies... Its obviously a non story they want to make a story to deflect from the unravelling mess they are creating.
19

Farmernot,

27/06/2008 14:34:57
Suspend her from one of the dodgy rafters in the debating chamber......preferrably above her party MSP's so she can truly say she is above all labour party members in stashing the dodgy bungs.........Eck should really hope she stays in her position.........after all she is an easy target.
The rest of Scottish Labour run scared of Eck.....so its Wendy up until the next elections when they will be obliterated......BRING IT ON !!!!!
20

Talorthane,

27/06/2008 15:04:16
#6 me150

"Bendy actually did everything she was meant to do but was bushwacked by SNP."

No she didn't.

Alexander announced her leadership bid on 17th August and became leader on 14th September. So any donations for her "leadership campaign" had to have been received between these dates.

She knew, like any other MSP that she had to declare any donation of over £520 within 31 days. This gave her a deadline of, no later than, 15th October.

However, she didn't even seek advice until 8th November. This, despite the fact that MSPs all know that if there is any doubt that they should declare a donation.

So she was already late, and already in breach of the rules.


"She checked with the relevant people if she needed to declare and was advised no."

She was already late.


"It was later decided she should declare which she promptly did."


Still much too late.
21

yockel,

12/08/2008 14:28:55
me150, That isn't your IQ then..... miss the decimal point perhaps?

 

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