Having just spent the last hour or so comparing Carole Dennett’s (CD) original letter to the version published on the County Press website, we’ve found more than 15 occurrences – some short, some long – where text has been removed, which the CP says they did after consulting lawyers.
The only obvious indicator of where this text has been removed is item 3) missing from the list.
VB hasn’t as yet published the letter, but you may well have already read the versions of the letter on the CP and Gazette Websites.
Summary of omissions from CP
Below are the items that we picked up as the major differences.
- Allegations that a member of staff for Standards for England was aware of questions over process and impartiality of council officers – and felt there were matters of potential significant concern
- References to the ‘Livingstone Defence’, that it’s understood was cited in connection with Cllr Pugh’s Valentine’s Ball behaviour, have been removed
- Three paragraphs about Davina Fiore, the Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal, and her lack of contact with CD as a direct witness of the events and CD’s comments on the subsequent investigation
- Suggestion by CD of type response Cllr Pugh would give if she gave co-operated with the investigation
- Two paragraphs on an alleged contact between Rachel Bushby and CD
- Two phrases where CD claimed things were untrue – specifically – “I knew straight away that was untrue” and later, “That was quite obviously untrue because …. “
- A direct reference to the Private Eye bio-mass story
- An allegation that Cllr Pugh has accused CD of abusing Parliamentary Resources
- Whole section on Cllr Mazillius, with allegations of his correspondence and actions after the Valentine’s event
- Serious question marks raised over Cllr Pugh’s assertion that the Government had miscalculated the Settlement Figure (Cllr Pugh’s letter at the time)
- Claims that CD was asked to lie
- Claims the Monitoring Officer had contradicted herself
- Claims that a senior member of staff from Standards for England shares some of CD’s concerns.
Image: spunter under CC BY-SA 2.0
