David Laws wishes to remain an MP
I am relieved to read on the BBC News website that David Laws has now confirmed that he wishes to remain an MP as long as he retains the confidence of his constituents which he will try to ascertain in the next few weeks.
It is clear that he is very bruised from the events of the last few days but as I blogged at the weekend I was worried from his statements that he was thinking of bowing out of politics altogether.
I am very glad that he has instead decided to try and remain an MP and am hopeful that he will generally receive a good reception from his constituents.
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5 comments:
Good news!
Laws has lied to family, friends and colleagues. For many years.
privacy is one aspect, deceit is another.
I would not vote for anyone who lived a lie to their family, sorry but that is how I feel.
After previous liberal sex scandals when I was younger they just need to be open abd honest; too much crap at Wastemonster from the last lot in there.
I do not lie to my wide and children, and like to think they can ask me anything within reason.
Does that make me a better person than Laws? Absolutely.
Redcliffe62 - I'm sorry you feel that way. I didn't tell my parents for years that I was gay. It's a deeply personal and difficult thing to communicate to people you love, particularly if you grow up in a religious family and at a time when the world was not so tolerant as David Laws did.
Although I knew my parents would be OK with me being gay I still didn't feel comfortable with them knowing and delayed telling them for some years. This decision to hide your true feelings from your loved ones is something that corrodes away your insides day by day and I am sure that David Laws will feel relief as much as anything that this ordeal is now over. That said, it has to be the individual's decision when they tell their loved ones.
We all have difficult things to deal with in life but I really feel that coming to terms with your sexuality if you are gay is something that only gay people properly understand. Some find it easy others not. The best that we can hope for is that the people around us are not too pious and judgmental in there assessment of us. I feel that in your final comments you are particularly guilty of both of these.
David Laws is a man who gave up a lucrative job in the city because he decided he wanted to bring his considerable talents to public service and by all accounts has been an outstanding constituency MP.
He made a mistake, not for personal gain, but he is no more flawed than any of the rest of us. Anyone who sets themselves up as a 'better' person is riding for a fall in my opinion.
This is good news, I hope he stays.
@ redcliffe62 - have you no idea about 'protecting' family from what you believe would be a deep hurt?
Some people pretend they don't smoke, or eat chocolate, or drink alcohol. Some pretend they haven't lost their jobs or pretend they're still happily married - and they go to great lengths to hide their secrets because their families 'believe' all these things are terribly wrong.
If you've never told a lie, not even so you don't hurt another, then ... well, maybe I'm glad you're not my husband, because I could never ask you if you like my new hairstyle.
Laws' reaction is indicative of something more occurring than an expenses scandal, albeit one that was intrusively revealing of aspects of his private life he did not wish to be made public. (That wish was itself at best naive although significant publicity may reasonably not have been expected.)
The "something more" is speculated upon by Guido Fawkes today. If it did run to an "et tu Brute" type attack, then the repugnant lack of integrity between colleagues would be a convincing reason to reconsider one's desire to remain in politics. It might also explain why Clegg himself has to assume Alexander's former role of providing for coalition cohesion. Sad times!
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