Speaker’s reason for abstention
Reference is being made to the article entitled ‘Speaker’s abstention has brought “law of the jungle”‘ (May 3).
By way of right of reply, attention is being drawn to the press release issued by the Office of the Speaker on May 3 on the vote taken last week during the last meeting of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
In this press release, Anġlu Farrugia is making reference to the motivation of his vote and to his argumentation that, even though he shared some of Commissioner George Hyzler’s views on the case in question, he could not vote in favour of the report in its entirety because the Standards in Public Life Act does not permit voting in favour of parts of the report and not of others. He, therefore, maintains that, in the particular circumstances of the case in question, he felt that his only option was to abstain.
The speaker’s decision to abstain from a casting vote on a matter of standards in public life could lead to the stalling of any future votes and effectively grants immunity to MPs, according to legal experts.
On Wednesday, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia, as the chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, was given a casting vote after the other members reached deadlock on whether to adopt a report by the Standards Commissioner on Minister Carmelo Abela’s use of public funds.
Following a complaint by civil society NGO Repubblika, commissioner George Hyzler had investigated whether print adverts of Abela published last year constituted a misuse of taxpayer money.
BACK in 2016 at a campaign rally in Iowa, Donald Trump boasted that support for his presidential campaign would not decline even if he shot someone in the middle of a crowded street. “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters, ok? It’s, like, incredible.” Trump was highlighting the loyalty of his supporters, many of whom would tell reporters and pollsters that almost nothing could make them change their mind about voting for Trump in the presidential race. Nobody could accuse Boris Johnson of shooting anyone but over the past weeks accusations have been made against the Prime Minister by a range of people from his own ministers, such as Jonny Mercer who resigned in protest at the Government’s broken promises, through to his former adviser Dominic Cummings blogging about the Prime Minister’s untrustworthiness.
CITY of York Council leader Keith Aspden faced calls for a vote of no confidence at an extraordinary council meeting tonight (Tuesday). And a former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life also posed questions about accountability and leadership at the council. The meeting was called to discuss a damning public interest report by independent auditors into the council s handling of a £404,000 payout to the former chief executive. York Labour councillors planned to propose a vote of no confidence in the leader of the council, which would only be permitted if councillors agreed to suspend normal procedural rules. A leaflet shared by York Conservatives said Liberal Democrat Cllr Aspden would face a vote of no confidence and called for him to step down ahead of the meeting.
James Jamieson and others: New code of conduct will improve standards
04 May 2021
Public intimidation is a significant barrier to new candidates standing for election, write James Jamieson (Con), LGA chair, Nick Forbes (Lab), LGA vice chair, John Fuller (Con) LGA deputy chair, Ruth Dombey (Lib Dem), LGA deputy chair, and Clive Woodbridge (Ind) LGA deputy chair.
Improving the standards of conduct within local government to support positive engagement and safeguard the values of local democracy is something the Local Government Association is keen to address with the release of our new model councillor code of conduct.
The code has been designed help protect democratic roles, encourage high standards of conduct amongst councillors, officers and members of the public and we believe it is a vital tool in ensuring the responsibilities of councillors can be carried out effectively to support local communities and maintain trust in local government.