Dear Rotherham Politics readers,
Having recently enjoyed the numerous public faux-pas of RMBC Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns and their muckers and the offensive and often juvenile twitter-twatter flutterings, I was somewhat amused by a recent comment that was weakly raised in their defence, ergo: “they weren’t making those comments as RMBC Councillors, but in a private capacity”.**See note below.
Well what other word is there to adequately describe a “turd”, as other than a “turd”, be it a private “turd” or a statutory authority “turd”?
Anyway now I have the definitive piece of evidence from their own hands that Cllrs Emma Hoddinott and Christoper Read do indeed sport and furnish their twitter-twatter addresses as an accredited means of citizens contacting and communicating with them, and vice-versa, in their capacity as Rovrum Laybah Wickersley Ward Councillors.
Don’t believe me? Well observe the attached pic on the left and see for yourself. Click to enlarge, use browser back button to return.
So feel free to scrutinise their twitter-twatter flutterings and anything that you may find offensive, or indeed gratifying, is there in their official capacity as RMBC Elected Members and thus will come within the RMBC Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
Simplez innit. Their words not mine
Mind how ya go
Grald-Hunter
Note**:
jules says: September 13, 2012 at 9:34 pm
“Cerberus
I am assuming the 2 tweeters were posting in a private capacity and not as official labour Party spokesmen. If that had been the case an unreserved apology would defo be the right thing to do.”
Rotherham Politics 
I have to agree with you that people in public life can’t have it both ways. If, for example, you use Twitter for public musings and Facebook for private, social contact with family and friends, I think most people would respect the difference. However, if you use Twitter to promote yourself in an elected post, contact constituents and so on, you really can’t then claim it’s a private communication. The reality is that you are putting it out there and you are responsible for any damage done.
A court of law would certainly see a Twitter comment as meeting the definition of “publication”, so my advice is if you tweet something that isn’t true and it could harm another person’s reputation unfairly, be mindful that you are committing the offence of libel. Be sure to delete it quickly and apologise at the first opportunity. Otherwise the damages will just be greater when the lawyers get involved, as they surely will if the matter is not remedied in a reasonable amount of time. Certain local politicians should take note.
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“A court of law would certainly see a Twitter comment as meeting the definition of “publication”, ” – It’s – as ever, a bit more complicated than that 🙂
http://jackofkent.com/2012/09/the-proposal-for-cps-guidance/
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If you want an example of how Twitter should be used by politicians take a look at Cllr Ken Wyatts, no light weight matters here, interesting, topical and relevant issues.
I would give second place to Cllr Jahangir Akthar.
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Does Jules still believe they were tweeting in a private capacity?
How about the incorrect facts presented, which Darren shared with his twitter followers? Distribution of such a tweet without a retraction and pretty fulsome apology could prove ultimately painful?
Darren Hughes, though not a Borough Councillor, is a parish councillor and Chairman in Catcliffe, so he is therefore subject to the Borough code of conduct.
Why doesn’t he just apologise?
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Based on the irrefutable evidence presented here by super sleuth Graldhunter I am minded to agree with his conclusion in the great twatter debate. That once you invite and encourage people to follow you on twitter then one should be prepared to be held accountable for any posts.
And this may seem splitting hairs but I stand by part of my post which said that the said individuals were not posting on behalf of the labour party which negated the need for the party to appologise for the inaccurate post about Gillian.
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Hi Jules,
You may fall into Rovrum Laybah line and dream that the Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns can use the “get-out-of-jail” card with the distinctly weak defence of: “it was said in a private capacity” inspite of the fact that a twitter-twatter fluttering makes references to Da Laybah Partee and being an RMBC Corn Fed Grunter, Muppet and Clown.
I’ve every confidence that Da Bruvvaz-n-Sistaz on Da Rovrum Standards Panel, which ironically is full of Dodger’s muckers, would reach the same conclusion.
But, and this is a mighty BIG but, would a Judge in a High Court action for libel reach the same myopic conclusion? And if the Judge didn’t reach the same conclusion could the offending party really really afford to pay a whopping financial penalty for peddling a public untruth?
My money’s on the Judge’s ruling being the likely one, and not on Da Rovrum Laybah muckers’ back-em-at-all-costs-right-or-wrong, rayt, reight, right.
As the great Harry Callahan has been heard to say more than once: “Well, are you feeling lucky today?” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xjr2hnOHiM&feature=related
Mind how ya go 🙂
P.S. I’m still sure that even at this late stage a simple public apology (like Longshanks swiftly did) would suffice to stifle any further debate on this subject.
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Thanks for your clarification Jules, however no one has yet called for the Labour Party to apologise for the simply outrageous twitter exchange between Chris Read and Darren Jason Louis Hughes which they distributed far and wide. This exchange contained inaccuracies that would damage the reputation of Gillian Radcliffe if true.
Chris Read apologised to Gillian, as soon as the facts revealed themselves, but not Darren Hughes! Has this man no sense of shame? You cannot go around peddling untruths as facts and expect no comeback!
My simple advice to Darren Hughes is to apologise and withdraw the defamatory statements he made on Twitter before it is the Labour Party whose reputation is being trashed by his inaction and calls for Labour to apologise become insistent.
Come on Darren, time to eat humble pie?
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Oh yes they have!!! See exhibit from original post – The last sentence
This just in from Cerberus:
It just goes to show how low two Labour supporters will go to score a political point, this Tweet on Darren Hughes site with comments from Cllr Chris Read, they should both be ashamed of themselves.
“Gillian Radcliffe withdraws as an independent candidate for SYPCC. Anything to do with working for SY Police press office at time of Hills D 35 minutes ago”
Scoring political points when 96 people lost their lives says it all about these two.
A retraction and an apology?
An apology from the Rotherham Labour Party?
Cerberus.
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Jules, you must be in the running for hair splitter in chief or pedant of the year awards?
You have cited the following quotations from Cerberus, as evidence of your assertion that Rotherham Politics has called for an apology from Rotherham Labour Party:
A retraction and an apology?
An apology from the Rotherham Labour Party?
These are not calls for actual apologies, but rhetorical questions which asked for discussion on the issue of apologies! Hence the use of the ? As in, should there be an apology from the Rotherham Labour Party?
Hope that has clarified things a bit at least?
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Darren Hughes is making the Labour Party in Rotherham the subject of ridicule!
I am ashamed by his arrogant and contemptuous behaviour. The Labour Party must take responsibility for their own members and require Darren to explain himself and to apologise forthwith!
Unless of course the Labour Party are about to announce that Darren is no longer a member and therefore nothing to do with them?
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I’d settle for a public apology and a confirmed retraction from Del Boy, Da Laybah Champayne Commissar. We’ve had one from Comrade Longshanks, why not Del Boy?
If Del Boy’s right, then by virtue Longshanks is wrong, and vice-versa.
I’d not want Ed Da Millipeed or Da Rovrum Dodger to apologise for the John Innes that these two muppets have been liberally dumping around the Borough.
Sod Da Laybah Partee, they’re in deep enough doo-doo wiv art allying themselves to the two aforementioned upper-class twit schoolboys who have never ever stood a post in their short well-fed sheltered removed-from-reality Partee apparatchik lives.
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From Denis MacShanes twitter account 21 September 2012.
Independent” candidate pulls out of South Yorkshire PCC contest citing lack of funds i.e. no-one interested in her
Let me tell you Denis we are interested in you, what you do, what you claim for, who you receive donations from, how you calculate your expenses claims, the mileage taken to travel between two points, what you say in your support for Israel the list goes on.
Rest assured Mr MacShane we are definitely keeping up the interest in you!
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He makes me sick. Lackeying around Muslims and Asians, then giving the ‘I’m so proud to be stood next to Rotherham’s first Muslim mayor’- yeah, course you are. Proud to be a useless, corrupt little toad, more like. I’ll be more than happy to explain to British Muslims that he supports the Israeli onslaught on Palestine, if he stands again in 2015. Scum Labour- he personifies it.
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Dear Brother Omar, Jum’ah Mubarrak ho!
I too am constantly appalled at the relentless imposition of systematic settler and IDF violence against the Palestinian population and I just can’t understand any British politician who will not publically support the Palestinians and their just cause and speak out equally strongly against their cruel military oppressors.
But back on track, my most immediate concern relates to the goings-on in my little Borough of Rovrum and how poorly we are served by the higher-paid-than-SCC -councillors junketing herd of RMBC Corn Fed Grunters, Muppets and Clowns and their craven brown-tongued lackey Officers, and what me and other active and empowered citizens can do to bring a change of culture within the deep dark recesses of Town Hall Towers and Da Rovrum Laybah Grooip.
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