Former Parliamentary Candidate for UKIP, Iain McKie, has today sent an email to Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Andrew Turner accusing him of misleading the Isle of Wight electorate in the 2015 general election.
His letter is re-produced below in full. OnTheWight has written to Andrew Turner’s office for a response to the accusation (Update: Now published). Ed
Dear Mr Turner
I see from today’s County Press (page 10) that despite responding to concerns expressed by KILF about their latest concerns on Island Line, you were at the same time unavailable to respond to my concerns about the veracity of a statement you made in one of your election leaflets.
You will be familiar with the attached leaflet – The Big Issues – that was circulated to Island households during April 2015. That leaflet made a specific statement on transport issues:
“I have persuaded the Government to set up a Transport Infrastructure Taskforce, to be effective and responsive to the Island’s needs.”
This unambiguously implies that the Government would be setting up the much-vaunted taskforce, and that you had persuaded them to do so.
Yet since the election, you have made the following comments:
- 30th July 2015 – You issued a press release saying “the Council must get on and set up the Taskforce. They decided to do so unanimously last November – it needs to be done now.”
- 3rd September 2015 – You issued a press release saying “last November the Council agreed to set up a Taskforce to look strategically at the Island’s future transport needs…. We need the Taskforce to be set up as soon as possible….”
- 16th September 2015 – You issued a press release saying “The Council’s scrutiny committee have apparently this week urged me to take responsibility for setting up the Taskforce, but I have had repeated assurances from senior officers of the Council that they are proceeding with it themselves and that the political leadership remains supportive of that approach.”
- 7th October 2015 – You issued a statement to OnTheWight saying “The Council voted to set up a taskforce (although it may be called by another name) to look at the Island’s transport infrastructure, which should include expert advice to test out the various models for Island Line.”
None of the statements above suggest that the Government would be setting up the taskforce (and that you had persuaded them as such). To the contrary, you have placed the entire emphasis on the local authority (the Isle of Wight Council) being responsible for setting up the taskforce.
Furthermore, four days before the dissolution of Parliament, you sent the attached letter to Claire Perry, asking for her confirmation of the Government’s commitment to help establish the taskforce.
And two days prior to the letter being sent to Claire Perry, you got the attached letter from John Hayes, saying that once the taskforce is established, the DfT will then start to take an interest. This certainly doesn’t indicate that the government will be “setting it up”. This was in response to the attached letter sent in January to John Hayes, which talks of the steps that you and the local authority are taking “to establish the taskforce”. The whole tone of the letter is not one of being in response to the Government setting up the taskforce; quite the opposite.
Above and attached I have laid out the evidence to suggest that you had NOT persuaded the government to set up the taskforce; and this is apparent by the fact it has not been set up – and you are now making clear it is the council’s job to get on and do so.
I therefore consider that you misled the electorate by making a false assertion in your “The Big Issues” leaflet that you had “persuaded the Government to set up a Transport Infrastructure Taskforce”, when you had done nothing of the sort.
You will be aware of your obligations under the Representation of the People Act 1983. As I said in today’s County Press, making false statements to win votes is a serious business.
Unless you are able to provide me with evidence to support the aforementioned claim you made in your election leaflet – that you had persuaded the Government to set up a Transport Infrastructure Taskforce” – I will give serious consideration as to what further steps may need to be taken in order to protect public confidence in – and the integrity of – local democracy on the Island.
I can only assume when you wrote this leaflet you considered that you did have evidence of the government’s position in this respect, and if so you will be able to provide it to me (and the others copied into this email) without delay. I therefore look forward to hearing from you immediately.
In the interests of transparency and openness, I am copying this to my fellow candidates in May’s General Election, the local media and the Isle of Wight Council, given how the latter have been caught up in the fallout from your conduct on this issue.
Yours sincerely
Iain McKie
Former Parliamentary Candidate, UKIP, Isle of Wight
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