Phil Woolas ejected from Parliament
One of Phil Woolas's controversial campaign leaflets.
The High Court has ruled that Labour’s shadow immigration minister, Phil Woolas, is guilty of knowingly making false statements about his opponent in the 2010 election campaign.
He has been ejected from Parliament, fined £5000, barred from office for three years, and has been suspended from the Labour Party.
He becomes the first politician in 99 years to be found guilty, under Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act, of giving “false statement of fact in relation to the candidate’s personal character or conduct” to prevent them being elected.
The Woolas election campaign was shameful. He and his campaign team deliberately set out to stir up and exploit racial hatred. They aimed to highlight (non-existent) links between his opponent and fundamentalist Islamists and Lib Dem immigration policy. An email from his election agent Joseph Fitzpatrick stated the aim “… to explain to the white community how the Asians will take him [Woolas] out … If we don’t get the white vote angry he’s gone.
Woolas has spoken extensively in the past about separating out the arguments of racism and immigration, but in his election campaign he blatantly played for the racist vote using scaremongering anti-immigrant statements and imagery. His election leaflet juxtaposed images of extremist (British) Islamist protestors (against the Dutch anti-Muslim cartoons) with a potential Lib Dem “illegal” immigrant amnesty. As blogger Sunny Hundal put it, his campaign went out to mix race, religion and immigration to win an election. Hardly the kind of tactics that would forward Woolas’ stated aim in 2008 to “heal this country by allowing us to have a mature debate on immigration”
This could all have been seen as the last ditch desperate tactics of an election campaign team, but Woolas’ record as Immigration Minister reveals a consistent, by-any-means-necessary anti-immigrant stance. Many in the Labour Party questioned his appointment by Ed Milliband as Shadow Minister for immigration, but colleagues in the hardline populist anti-immigration wing of the Labour Party, such as Glasgow MP Tom Harris (“Absolutely gutted by Phil Woolas’s ruling“) are backing him even today.
As access to legal representation was cut back further and further, Woolas drew strong criticism for his attacks on the legal system and charities. The Law Society accused the minister of “running against the rule of law” and making “unacceptable comments”, after accusing lawyers and charities representing asylum seekers of “playing the system” and stating that most of those seeking refuge were just economic migrants.
Ahead of today’s High Court verdict, the Liberal Conspiracy blog published papers obtained under the Freedom of Information Act which reveal Woolas authorised the use of force and restraint private security firms to forcibly deport mothers with mental health problems, kids with severe disabilities and children who are self harming. Families were broken up and campaigns by local MPs were overruled.
After the High Court verdict today Woolas gave an interview to strike-breaking BBC workers, and announced he would be mounting a legal challenge, going for Judicial Review, which could allow him to retain his job as MP until otherwise decided in the courts. Ironic, perhaps, given his previous comments about lawyers playing the system and wasting taxpayers money. However, the Labour leadership has moved to disown Woolas and will not back his legal challenge.
Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman said: “The court has found that Phil Woolas said things that he knew were untrue during his election campaign. It is no part of Labour’s politics to try to win elections by telling lies. We believe in good community relations – in fact that is central to our politics – and Phil Woolas has been suspended from the Labour party.”
So the truth will out. To us people who were affected by some of his obviously racist law changes whilst in office as the minister for immigration this comes as no suprise. When he blatantly wasted tax payers money on a consultation on forced marriage then ignored its findings to raise the age anyway! Just passing the problems on to other countries and affecting the poor British girls who wish to marry the ones they love. If my daughter had chosen to marry an English man she would be able to do so at 18 and legally live with him as man and wife but because she chose to marry a non EU foreign national she is separated from him till she is 21. Wheres the justice when Racist people are allowed to run our immigration systems!! All the changes made by Mr whoolas whilst in office should now be reviewed and the public consultations taken into consideration!
i agree his law changes should be reviewed and his motives for the changes should be investigated
Finally Woolas is seen for the lying racist that he is!!! HOORAY!!! I hope his JR is refused and I for one have not one ounce of sympathy with him or the Labour Party.
Woolas is a ‘failed’ or ‘bogus’ MP. And I wish he would stop playing for time by making trivial and repeated applications for a judicial review.
He is no longer legally entitled to be in parliament and, as he has no right to be there, he should leave immediately. Otherwise it may be necessary to remove him physically (using ‘minimum force’ of course)