Anyone reading this blog will be aware that the author tends to be, er, uninspired by some of the statements made by local councillors, many of which seem to have been littering the local press over the last few days in particular. Indeed, these were to be the subject of another blogpost, but they're coming in so thick and fast that I'll probably feel so overwhelmed by them that eventually they'll give way to something else. Like this post.
Anyway, one Dundee councillor who certainly isn't among those who feature regularly in the pages of the Tele and Courier is Mohammed Asif, who just happens to be one of my representatives in the Coldside ward. Of course, this blog tends to be a bit critical of the whole policing/law and order thingy, and one facet of this is the toadying nature of the councillor membership of the Tayside Police Joint Board, which Councillor Asif was previously part of.
But Mr Asif did get his name in the papers big-style a couple of years ago, and this was doubly ironic because it involved criticism of Tayside Police. However, this was the notorious black-puppy-on-a-postcard incident, which according to Mr Asif would offend local Muslims. But the Dundee press could find no evidence of this, theologians disputed his claim, and the Daily Mail went ballistic, blah, blah.
Onyhow, Mr Asif stood down from the police board shortly after the postcard incident due to, ahem, business and council commitments, and somehow I felt he would also stand down at the next council elections.
Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I picked up Friday's Courier and read that Labour had selected the good councillor to contest the Dundee East seat in next year's Holyrood elections!
Of course, there's more (hopefully!) to being a councillor than getting your name in the paper, but Mr Asif's low-profile (but see this intervention, which seemed to contradict his Muslim-offence stance) is certainly no way to bid for higher office. However, in 2007 the SNP's Shona Robison almost scraped a majority of the votes, while Labour's Iain Luke obtained less than one third, so perhaps the latter are regarding it as a lost cause already. Or maybe they're just trying to out-PC the SNP. Or perhaps Mr Asif has hidden talents, best considered beyond the confines of tomorrow's mealy-puddin' supper wrappers. Indeed, I perhaps recall recently reading something in the Courier about Mr Asif being rehabilitated in some way - perhaps appointed to some board or other - thus the rationale for this is now obvious, or transparent, even. And presumably those obstructive business and council interests have been overcome, or will we be seeing a Coldside by-election if Mr Asif gets to Holyrood?
Meanwhile, Lib Dem candidate Allan Petrie also faces an uphill struggle, with his party polling just 6.7% last time round. And Mr Petrie has enjoyed a highly eclectic political background, having been an SNP councillor, then standing as an independent, also campaiging under something called IVOTE (Independent Voice Of The Electorate) and according to these letters in the Tele he was part of Labour's campaign team for Holyrood 2007. Most bizarre of all was his leadership of a group of Dundee's taxi owners called something like the People's Party. And the culmination of this political odyssey is the Lib Dems, and I suppose supporters and detractors could spin this any way they choose, so no further comment on here.
(A slight declaration of interest is perhaps in order, since yours truly stood as an independent in Mr Asif's Coldside ward in 2007. And anyone guffawing at my 80 or so amassed (first preference) votes should be told that I was actually very pleased with that, particularly since I'd effectively given up before the campaign even got going and was also placed bottom of the ballot paper, although I doubt if I'll be standing as Stuart Aardvark next time round.)
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6 comments:
Your attempt to do down the Lib Dem Candidate is ridiculous just because someone shows support for others you try to discredit them Mr Petrie was one of the best Cllrs Dundee has had and only lost his seat because the SNP run a dirty campaign telling people at the election on 2003 that they already had an SNP cllr who has made the area much better than it was I know this because they told me the same i chased them off but know a lot of people who thought they were voting for Mr Petrie when the voted SNP a lot of them are elderly and looked for the SNP LOGO and not the name as the SNP had told them. since Mr Petrie lost his seat the area he represented has been stripped of all its facilities 2 schools closed 2 child and family centers closed 2 nurseries closed, in place it has had a (homeless Unit being used as a prisoners half way house with registered sex offenders living there. In 2007 Mr Petrie gave his support to Ian Luke personally and not the Labour Party. and IVOTE was the taxi party however the taxi trade who called for the party to be formed would not come out and fight they expected Mr Petrie to do it all so he withdrew from it he has now joined the Liberal Democrats and good for him they are a party that will allow him to stand by his principles unlike the SNP who stabbed him in the back. and just for your information Mr Petrie unexpectedly beat the Deputy Lord Provost in 1999 not even the SNP thought that it would have been possible they then decided that Mr Petrie should move his seat and stand against Helen Wright but Mr Petrie refused and was then DE selected Mr Petrie then stood in the 2003 election as an Independent however with the SNPs unethical campaign and abusing there election expenses by hiding them under the MSP campaign Mr Petrie could not out campaign them however the SNP did not win by that much I for one will be supporting Mr Petrie as he is an honest hard working politician who works for his constituents and not the civil service as our incumbent does.
Thanks for that George - very interesting - but I think you're being a bit defensive because I barely said anything about Allan Petrie other than to outline his political background, which I think the vast majority of people would consider noteworthy.
As for IVOTE, I thought the taxi-related thing was called the People's Independent Party, so it was presumably just a name change then.
Interesting though that you say the taxi trade didn't want to do any of the work, because I thought the whole idea was that the trade's mobility meant that they would be useful for campaigning purposes. But surely getting invovled in this was a misjudgement on Mr Petrie's part anyway, because what sort of policies would they have come up with? I mean, you only have to read the Tele to conclude that the Dundee taxi trade can't agree amongst themselves even on taxi issues, so what chance anything else?
And I must take particular issue with this: "...he has now joined the Liberal Democrats and good for him they are a party that will allow him to stand by his principles unlike the SNP who stabbed him in the back."
It's surely a bit difficult to argue on the grounds of principle when he's been just a tad politically promisicous?
For example, mainstream politicians have a hard enough time changing parties once, never mind Mr Petrie's history.
I don't doubt what you say about him in the main, but I hardly think what I wrote about him is unfair.
You are misinformed as Mr petrie has actually only been a member of 2 political Parties the SNP and the Liberal Democrats if you check IVOTE was not a a registered party as I said Mr Petrie withdrew from it as the trade would not do any of the work to get it going, I do not believe Mr Petrie was misguided to try and help them as they came to him and asked for his help which he gave to them, just like the fact he is now helping to try and strengthen the child protection law in Scotland with his petition in the Scottish Parliament. It is just a pity that our other politicians don't help unless there is something in it for them self. Also I am not being overly defensive of Mr Petrie just pointing out the facts to your innuendos of Mr Petrie's political life.
I also think it strange that you made a comment on another blog that you give no credence to non DE plume letters but gave a link in your comment to 2 letters in the evening Tele falsely accusing him of being active in the labour campaign of 2007 strange to say the least
"You are misinformed as Mr petrie has actually only been a member of 2 political Parties the SNP and the Liberal Democrats if you check IVOTE was not a a registered party as I said Mr Petrie withdrew from it as the trade would not do any of the work to get it going,"
Misinformed about what? I didn't specify how many political parties Mr Petrie had been involved in. You're just trying to split hairs here, as you were about him helping Iain Luke in the Holyrood 2007 vote; Mr Luke was a Labour MP and stood as a Labour candidate so Mr Petrie can hardly just claim that he was campaigning for Iain Luke personally and not Labour. He would have known that at the time, surely.
As for the taxi whatchamacallit, that was always going to end in tears whoever was doing the donkey work, so you can hardly blame people for raising it. If Mr Petrie wants to stand for Holyrood then his track record can't be flushed down the toilet, and that particular episode was a misjudgement, and I'm sure he regrets getting involved.
"I do not believe Mr Petrie was misguided to try and help them as they came to him and asked for his help which he gave to them, just like the fact he is now helping to try and strengthen the child protection law in Scotland with his petition in the Scottish Parliament."
Well if you're making a virtue out of helping anyone who asks for it then that's also evidence of naivety. In fact this reminds me a bit of Nicola Sturgeon's defence of her involvement with the fraudster Abdul Rauf - he asked me for help so I gave him it - but Shona Robison's memorable Newsnicht defence of Ms Sturgeon merely compounded the misjudgement, so perhaps Mr Petrie could remind her of that during the forthcoming campaign :0)
"Also I am not being overly defensive of Mr Petrie just pointing out the facts to your innuendos of Mr Petrie's political life."
Could you be more specific about these innuendos George? I thought the post played a pretty straight bat on Mr Petrie's past and left readers to make up their own mind. For example, I merely restated what the Tele letters said about Mr Petrie, and didn't try to claim he was a Labour Party member, or whatever, so I think it's more a case of you distorting what I said rather than me distorting things.
Indeed, it's becoming obvious that you're not just being defensive, it's more a case of paranoia!!
"I also think it strange that you made a comment on another blog that you give no credence to non DE plume letters but gave a link in your comment to 2 letters in the evening Tele falsely accusing him of being active in the labour campaign of 2007 strange to say the least"
Well I haven't deleted your posts, have I, and I've spent a fair bit of time replying to them, haven't I??
And I'm quite sure your statement above distorts what I said on the other blog, but if you could direct me towards the precise quote in question then maybe we could compare that with how you're now representing it.
And the letters didn't 'falsely' accuse him of being involved in the Labour campaign - you don't deny that he campaigned for Iain Luke, and as I said trying to dismiss this on the grounds that his support was merely personal isn't credible.
As for the issue of anonymous contributions, there are many factors to be considered when evaluating them, but the letters page of the Tele isn't quite an internet chat room, and indeed in Mr Petrie's response he didn't deny the substance of what the letters claimed. He merely said that he'd concluded that the Lib Dems were now his preferred party.
are you really as naive as you sound i am a 72 year old man and I have never heard so much nonsense in my entire life Nicola Sturgeon gave her support to Abdul Rauf who was a criminal are you saying that the Taxi trade in Dundee are criminals?
Are you also saying that people cannot support an individual because they are the best person for the job instead of blindly following a party political party?
I also find it strange that you do not seem to think that the people involved in the Taxi Trade do not have the same ability as yourself to put up policies for the city perhaps this arrogance is the reason you only received about 80 votes when you stood for election.
So please let us know what do you actually stand for what are your politics/policies for the city and who do you support when you are not standing is it for a party or the person.
"are you really as naive as you sound i am a 72 year old man and I have never heard so much nonsense in my entire life Nicola Sturgeon gave her support to Abdul Rauf who was a criminal are you saying that the Taxi trade in Dundee are criminals?"
You're missing the point - deliberately, I suspect - which was that both Mr Petrie and Ms Sturgeon were naive enough to proffer help just because it was asked for, but without thinking of the wider implications.
"Are you also saying that people cannot support an individual because they are the best person for the job instead of blindly following a party political party?"
Certainly not, since I don't support any political party, indeed I would prefer someone more independently minded rather than a member of a party. I would be more inclined to support Mr Petrie if he wasn't standing for a party, but I suspect he thinks that he will garner more votes as a member of one.
And by highlighting the "best person for the job" aspect, does this suggest your'e not too enamoured with the Lib Dems?
"I also find it strange that you do not seem to think that the people involved in the Taxi Trade do not have the same ability as yourself to put up policies for the city perhaps this arrogance is the reason you only received about 80 votes when you stood for election."
More twisting. My point about the taxi trade was that they can't even agree on taxi matters, never mind anything else.
Perhaps you could provide some evidence of IVOTE's specific polices - as agreed by the taxi members - to make your point.
Just because it backfired for Mr Petrie doesn't mean you have distort the whole thing to denigrate me.
As for my 80 votes, I was quite pleased about that, for the reasons I stated. Another aspect you're distorting.
"So please let us know what do you actually stand for what are your politics/policies for the city and who do you support when you are not standing is it for a party or the person."
So who's 'us' then, precisely?
I don't support any party and if in Dundee East I would be inclined to support Mr Petrie rather than Ms Robison or Mr Asif, but we'll see.
Forgot to say, as well as his past connections with both Labour and the SNP, as a Lib Dem there's always the coaltion aspect with the Tories to consider, which no doubt the first two parties will use as a stick to beat him with.
I quite like his maverick/independent tendencies in a way though, but for the voters generally I doubt if it will help his chances of election, which was the original point I was trying to make.
Now what about that quote regarding anonymity, and what precisely were these innuendos you were going on about earlier?
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