Jack Straw is guilty of the criminal offence of treating – offering food and drink to electors as an induucement to vote – under the Representation of the People’s Act 1983, Clause 114 (2). The maximum penalty is one year in prison. As a corrupt electoral practice it brings disbarment from parliament for life – including the House of Lords.
The evidence against Straw is overwhelming. Free food was given to hundreds of Blackburn Muslim voters at a rally in his constituency on Sunday 25 April 2010. Speeches were made specifically calling on the recipients of the free food to vote for Jack Straw in Blackburn. He also made a speech urging them to vote for him, and he approached voters individually to ask for their votes in the hall where the free food was being given out.
Affidavits have been sworn to this effect and handed to the police. You can see them here:
A complaint about him has been formally made to Blackburn Police and given police report ref LC-201004271237.
Treating is not an obscure offence. It is number 2 in the Electoral Commission guidebook for police officers
http://www.tinyurls.co.uk/I2081
It is also detailed in the Association of Chief Police Officers “Guidance on Preventing and Detecting Electoral Malpractice” .
At Page 22 of the ACPO guide, there is important information on how Blackburn Police should be conducting this investigation:
1.1Suggested action for all cases:
preserve evidence
respect the secrecy of sealed documents and seek advice before opening
when election documents become evidence in a potential crime, the method of preservation by the police should include consultation with the elections office to agree a mutually beneficial way forward
invite the suspected party for interview under caution or consider Section 24(e) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 (as amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005)
consider advice from the Special Crime Division of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
inform the Returning Officer and the Electoral Commission via police SPOC
advise Police National Information and Computer Centre (PNICC) in scheduled return of all allegations and outcomes or immediately if there is a major allegation
In fact I expect them to avoid telling the Police National Information and Computer Centre – the authorities will try to bury this quickly and corruptly in Blackburn. There is a plaque proudly displayed in the entrance of the police station where I reported this treating. It states that the station was opened by Lord Taylor of Blackburn – the highly crooked Labour Party politician who was last year suspended from the House of Lords for Corruption –
The police station plaque bears another name also – Lord Adam Patel of Blackburn, who was put in the House of Lords because of his work as an “enforcer” of the Blackburn Muslim vote for Jack Straw, and who was himself present and implicated in the present instance of massive treating – see the affidavits above.
I am therefore sending copies of the dossier to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to be sure it is investigated properly, and the full rigour of the law applied to Mr Straw.
Christopher Hope of the Telegraph contacted Jack Straw’s constituency office, who gave one lie and two irrelevancies in reply to this accusation of treating. Straw’s defence is:
1) That people were asked to make a voluntary contribution to the cost of the food.
That appears to be a simple lie by Straw. All of the witnesses to whom I spoke – and I interviewed many others who were too scared to swear an affidavit – said they were never asked to make any contribution.
2) That the Returning Officer had approved the arrangements in advance.
He can’t. Straw’s people are, to say the least, very chummy with the Returning Officer. But Treating is a criminal offence and the Returning Officer can no more OK it than he can OK burglary. The Returnng Officer has no role at all in determining whether treating has taken place, which is solely a matter for the police, crown prosecution service and courts. Mr Tom Hawthorn of Electoral Commission HQ in London has confirmed this to me. It is also made very clear here:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/guidance_issued_on_eros_consent
3) That the advertisements for the event did not mention that free food will be provided
This is a complete irrelevance introduced by Jack Straw. Prior advertisement is nowhere a condition of the offence. The offence is of offering food and drink to influence someone to vote. Crimes are not mitigated because you do not advertise them in advance.
As I see it, the Police now have to act. Either Straw has to be charged under Representation of the People Act 1983, 114(2), or I have to be charged under the Representation of the People Act 1983, 106 – for making a false statement about a candidate.
If no action is taken against Straw, I shall be advertising free meals for anybody in Blackburn who wishes to vote against him.
Suhayl
I only know what I saw on the BBC but the reporter was on the ground in the town and seemed to corroborate what had been said. I dont think this is a slur on Pakistan more the depths that nu labour are willing to go to to stay in power.
Yes we Americans don’t use the word Zionists to describe Israel.
We use the word Master Race, they are our masters and we are their slaves.
They are the chosen people, our chosen people, the people we have chosen to be our masters.
Just as your three main parties have all chosen us to be your masters.
Bow down before your masters while saluting the special relationship.
You are all silly geese, and not silly gooses as I have said earlier.
Even your Craig Murray has now realised that the only way forward is to submit to our authority, by joining our agenda and working within one of out parties!
And I can give people as much food as I like to get people to vote for me.
And each and everyone of you has to vote for me for the food that you eat and the bed that you sleep in.
You should even vote for me because of the air that you breath.
And most of you will, because each and every vote is a vote for me. Where ever you are who ever you vote for, I own your votes because I own this country and everyone who votes within it.
I am Britain, the only authority greater than me here is America and Israel.
It’s a bit worrying for this project that none of the press seems to be running with the ‘Currygate’ label.
http://www.meltdown.uk.net/election/The_Plan_Mayday.html
Workers of the world unite!
http://www.meltdown.uk.net/election/About_Us.html
Vronksy
I am the press, I tell them what they can write and what they can’t.
It’s all part of campaigning. Firstly, we get people outside the party to lay on a banquet so that our own hands are clean. We’d never be involved with anything like Treating, perish the thought! Then we we invite some unemployed dossers and the following dialogue takes place:
Labour member: I hope you find the food satisfactory?
Dosser: I can’t believe I am here. I can’t usually afford to eat such stuff.
Member: Well, this is an indication of what may be in store for you some day, if your choice on election day is correct.
They always make the correct choice, and so we have one of the safest seats in the country. Ha ha ha!
Be it known to you that the parody of “J. Strawman” is totally untrue and cynical to boot. New Labour would never, ever, be involved with such dirty business!
@ All
In amongst the backslapping for voting for a party most of whose members (nearly 7 years ago) voted against the Iraq war, consider what you should slap when the party you vote for continues ALL wars after they are elected.
Was there a vote on the illegal war against Afghanistan? What were the Lib Dems doing then?
It’s true, it’s true! I cannot resist the eloquent words of the Straw Burner. I made up cynical lies against Labour, and I retract them. Is not Jack Straw is a wonderful, wonderful leader of democracy who would never, ever break the law? And I write these things freely and voluntarily without any monetary inducement or threat whatsoever from any Labour party member, nor any lawyer of theirs!
If my experiences are anything to go by, the police will take at least a year to investigate this, never release any details and then drop the casre. Unless you do something they can charge you with, in which case they will spend at least a year investigating it, never release any details, then charge you. Hopefully it will then be dropped by the courts, at which point you should sue the police
Yes it is true, I didn’t threaten him at all!
Mr Murray,
Good for you. Jack Straw deserves everything he gets!
Will you be giving the same determined attention to the large scale vote fraud taking place in Tower Hamlets?
See Dominic Kennedy, The Times, 1st May.
Or don’t you believe it; or it’s Muslims just doing the things Muslims do (especially Bangladeshis)!
Libertyphile,
I don’t disbelieve it. There seems to me a need for us fundamentally to put our foot down and say that multiculturalism does not extend to the acceptance of South Asian practices of electoral fraud.
While I relish the idea of seeing Jack Straw in prison (I would prefer if it was because of his involvement in the Iraq war crimes though), even after his stewardship as Home Secretary and then as “Justice Secretary” it is for the Court to decide guilt, not the accuser.
I also sadly expect that he wont be seeing time behind bars. His Agent, if found guilty, would probably be the one doing time.
It seems you are fair game to be assaulted by the full force of the NuLabour apparatchik if you dare to argue with Fuher Braun. Dissent will not be tolerated!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1270254/Heckler-thrown-shouting-Brown.html
@ All
In amongst the backslapping for voting for a party most of whose members (nearly 7 years ago) voted against the Iraq war, consider what you should slap when the party you vote for continues ALL wars after they are elected.
Was there a vote on the illegal war against Afghanistan? What were the Lib Dems doing then?
Posted by: lwtc247 at May 1, 2010 10:38 AM
_______________________________________
VERY WELL SAID LWTC247. EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS.
Of course, the relaxing of electoral process rigour that is a central feature of Berlusconi-Blairite corruption has enabled the gradual infiltration of such practices of electoral fraud which occur in South Asia (and places elsewhere too). It needs to be stamped-out forthwith. It has nothing to do with multiculturalism, though. Whether it occurs here, in South Asia or anywhere else, it is simply crime.
“What were the Lib Dems doing then?”
Yes. Maybe a man thing. Craig is going to bed with a pretty girl and will wake up with an ugly one.
Sure glenn – I do feel a bit silly 🙁
Suhayl,
“The word, ‘teabagging’ appears to have a number of different meanings, one political (current US right-wing pro-corporate ‘movement’), another, sexual.”
The word “tea-bagging” is not used by the “tea-baggers” themselves. It was made up to ridicule the Tea Party movement as it already had the sexual meaning. Just as Twoofer is used to make fun of you know who… Of course, Twoofer has no sexual meaning but that also makes it somewhat appropriate.
There is an excellent interview with Bushra Irfan on the Ummah channel website, an imslamic channel here in Blackburn, it is called ‘Islam on terrorism’.It is an interview With the BBC’s Mark Collins and many issues are covered which are ususally only distorted by our tabloid media
Sadly I have no time to link it, but it will soon appear on her website.
meanwhile jack stood on his soap box again yesterday talking at the masochists who are screaming for more of the same, still nobody here hasmade a move to arrest him or interviw him over this incident.
An email to the chief constable, asking for further action, has been sent after the complaint was lodged, still the rabbits are sitting in the headlights, stupified and motionless.
Vronsky, what if she were a soprano?
Angrysoba, yes, I thought that was the dynamic wrt the word. Interesting. I’d thought of dropping it into casual conversation at suburban high tea, but after reading more deeply into the matter, decided that it probably would not be a good idea!
Glenn, although in past I have explored expletives and other words of opprobrium, I thank you for introducing me to word with which I was not familiar. If I’d known about it back in 1997, I might have would’ve passed it on to my research assistant, Melanie D, who wrote that fascinating novel entitled, ‘The Snake’. I am sure that at some point, somewhere, in some or other narrative, it will come to be used, and perhaps even neologised – hopefully to good effect!
Well they got Al Capone for Tax Evasion, so perhaps we could get Straw for Treating (rather than the war crimes that he is truly guilty of).