David Campanale, the former prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam who was deselected in 2023, and the national party are oceans apart when it comes to the compensation he deserves for suffering religious discrimination.
The Guardian reports:
Campanale's schedule of loss, seen by the Guardian, puts his claim at £788,740.75, including interest. It seeks compensation for injury to feelings, aggravated damages, past and future earnings, the loss of an MP's pension, counselling costs and the "loss of a chance", or "loss of political capital".
But in a counter-schedule filed on Friday, the Lib Dems described Campanale's claim as "grossly inflated and egregious". Their lawyers say £14,000 should be awarded for injury to feelings, and as a volunteer political party member, Campanale could have been expected to withstand “rigorous political debate and criticism”. They put aggravated damages, past and future loss of earnings, an MP’s pension and the loss of political capital at £0.
The Lib Dems have admitted to direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief under the Equality Act in connection with the affair.
It will be interesting to see what damages the judge awards. A MP's salary is £98,599 from last April and is due to rise to £110k by the end of this parliament, so five year's salary would be around £500k plus loss of office payment at another £20k. It is easy to see the size of Campanale's claim on this basis. The judge's decision will make it clear what he thinks, but the Party's offer of £14,000 looks like "you've got to be joking"; it could prove to be a very expensive joke for the Party.
ReplyDeleteWhatever people may think about the merits of the Christian Peoples Alliance and how their views sit with modern liberalism, I think it's highly speculative to assume that Campanale would've have won Sutton and Cheam. Many Lib Dems activists would've refused to work for Campanale on the basis of the CPA's stances on issues such as reproductive rights and Gay/Lesbian marriage. It's generally the case that we don't win where we don't campaign, even in seats we've won before.
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