According to the BBC David Laws had resigned. David Cameron and Nick Clegg paid tribute to Mr Laws saying they hoped he would return.
Was he pressurised? We'll never know. Mr Laws is a person who prefers to keep things close to his chest.
He's made the right move. He knows he broke rules and his excuses were pathetic.
Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he had always admired Mr Laws' integrity and he hoped he would one day be able to return to government.
He said Mr Laws' privacy had now been "cruelly shattered".
I've no sympathy. Maybe Mr Laws may understand the legislation government makes can 'cruelly shatter' many lives for no reason at all.
In his defence it would appear he resigned before he was pushed.
Libdems Scottish Secretary Danny Alexander will take over his post Downing Street has announced.
Doesn't that go to show that the Scottish Secretary's post is redundant?
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22 comments:
I care not a fig for his private life..but his Honesty was a different matter..
This Coalition is doomed the stench of death already surrounds it.
"The stench of death" ??? LOL! I hardly think so. So far I'm a bit impressed at how they have started and this episode shows them in a better light than their predecessors when it comes to the crunch moment.
Subrosa, my MP, Michael Moore seems to have got the Scottish Sec's post. I'm still not sure of him though he has in the past answered very constructively a couple of my messages to him . (It still wasn't enough to make me vote for him!)
Fair play if he resigned he has more integrity than most of the troughers, witness the Lieborites that refused to go.....
Oh yes! in the new politics a minister can only last a few days applause all around...
Cameron gave him his own personal imprimatur oh! no Tory stooges this will not be so lightly passed over.
If he really wanted to protect his privacy, he should have bought his own house Niko and claimed for it.
Thanks for letting me know Henry. Quite a while since Michael Moore was in the media to answer MSM questions.
Again, it shows that the post of Scottish Secretary is one of little importance.
Indyan, I respect his decision. It's the only way he'll get back into government.
Oh Niko, you said nothing when the labour troughers got away with fraud. All was peaceful on your front then.
At least the man's had the good sense to resign.
Subrosa
no good blaming everything on the government before.......... it wont work
Well I don't think it is the present government that created the £893.4bn mountain of debt, eh? So if it wasn't the previous government, who was it?
Go on, tell me it was Thatcher & Major wot done it.
He simply had to go.
Both his sexuality and wish for privacy were but a smokescreen to divert attention from what he had been doing.
Without question Mr Laws is a very clever and astute individual, having obtained a double first degree. When the law on expenses changed in 2006 one could have reasonably assumed that he would have read the regulations and if there was a question or doubt over the definition of ‘partner’ and how it might relate to his co-habiting with another, then he should have asked. Over the intervening years he has chosen not to ask that question for his own personal reasons.
Again when the scandal of MP’s expenses broke last year one could have assumed that any clever and astute politician would have questioned his own expenses to assure himself that everything he was claiming was above and beyond reproach. Again, he chose not to ask the relevant questions for his own personal reasons.
This entire sorry mess was of his own making, he chose to interpret the rules as he did for his own personal reasons and for that he simply had to go from the cabinet.
We now have Danny Alexander as his replacement. Much as I may like him as an individual, this I fear is a post to far for the young Mr Alexander.
This does prove that clever has nothing to do with common sense John. Or perhaps he thought he could get away with it, I've no idea.
I'm fairly sure many within the Westminster bubble knew he was living with his partner. It's a small world there and they do protect each other to a great degree.
My knowledge of Mr Alexander is next to nothing, so I respect your opinion.
Niko, when did I blame the last government? Goodness me, I only mentioned them... You're becoming too sensitive Niko. :)
Niko is a labour supporter as I'm sure you've gathered Henry. He insists he's a lifelong supporter but at times his dedication wanes. :)
I would think that the 1922 committee are not entirely unhappy with the "outing" of Mr Laws from his cabinet position.Indeed, I would go as far to think that some folk to the right of Ghengis Khan might have encouraged this "outing" by whisperings in corridors of Westmidden and the old establishment watering holes.
To utter platitudes of I'm different and I wish to "privatise" my differences is utterly contemptable. He dipped his fingers into the till at our expense ...end of story.
MPs have been conspicuous by their silence haven't they wisnaeme. Only journalists have leapt to Laws' defence.
Not only has Laws resigned, they have switched the (now) former SoS for Scotland to his position and moved another Scottish LibDem into the SoS for Scotland position.
Now didn't the LibDems campaign to get RID of the SoS for Scotland saying it was a waste of money???
Or did I imagine that?
At least he went as soon as he was rumbled; not like the Troughers from the last parliament (& those still sitting in the Lords)
Yes they did Jeanne and no you didn't imagine it.
Wonderful how power affects policy isn't it.
I agree Joe. Doing that has left a way open for him to return to government once it all blows over.
Laws is certainly guilty of poor judgement and he has paid a high price for it. I for one believe his wrong doing was motivated not by greed but by a need to protect others and he is not like the rest of the other troughers and wish him a speedy return to government.
In my lifetime I've met many who were classed as 'clever' or 'intelligent' Antisthenes, yet they had dreadful judgement in their private lives.
Hopefully he'll work out a more comfortable balance, recognise his partner publicly and get back to where he was once the investigations are complete.
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