Monday, March 12, 2012

The twisted moral logic of Eric Joyce

"You can't touch me, I'm an MP," Eric Joyce told the police when they were called to Strangers' bar. He wasn't wholly right, but he was certainly on to something.

If a member of the public had attacked two MPs and two local councillors they would have gone to prison. Joyce got off with a fine and community service.

And Joyce's announcement today that he is resigning from the Labour Party but holding on to his Commons seat seems to me to be the wrong way round.

Membership of a political party is not a reward for living a blameless life. Every party has plenty of members whom it would hesitate to put before the public as candidates, but that does not mean those members should leave the party.

But once you have been put forward as a candidate and elected then you do have certain obligations. And twatting two MPs and two councillors is a good sign that you have failed to fulfill them.

So Eric Joyce should resign as an MP, but no one should object to his remaining in the Labour Party.

Incidentally, this is not a party point. I had exactly the same thoughts when Mick Bates resigned from the Liberal Democrats after being convicted of assault (apparently before the party could throw him out) but kept his seat in the National Assembly for Wales.

Meanwhile, those who hanker after a power of recall should read this first.

2 comments:

Charlieman said...

"But once you have been put forward as a candidate and elected then you do have certain obligations. And twatting two MPs and two councillors is a good sign that you have failed to fulfill them."

Eric Joyce is a human being, a frail person, as are we all. His obligation is to himself: to honestly answer whether he is capable of doing a good job as MP.

He can make a decision. His true friends may advise. I cannot make a proclamation because I do not know Eric Joyce.

crewegwyn said...

But he has himself admitted an unworthiness to continue as a party member!

If he's not fit to be a party member then surely he's not fit to continue as an MP?