There has been something of a ruckus within the Libertarian party in recent weeks. I stayed out of it, ignored it and made no comment because I'm not a member. I have no first-hand knowledge to add to the situation and no access to any internal party information. It was none of my business.
That just changed with this quote:
the LPUK website that seems to have forgotten there was an election, putting an Easter competition up about cannabis instead
The quote is attributed to Andrew Withers, whose 'looking for a voice' blog had a new post yesterday but that has been deleted today so I can't check if it came from there.
I do recall the Easter competition, which now only gives me a 'page not found' error. It's vanished into the memory hole too. [Update: It's still in Google's cache] That referred to a post of mine showing newly sprouted seeds. The post made clear exactly what those seedlings were.
All the evidence is gone so I can't link back to any of it other than my original post, however if it turns out that Andrew Withers has implied that the plants I showed were cannabis, that is a very serious allegation indeed. These days it could easily result in a dawn raid and the loss of all my carefully nurtured vegetables as well as the tobacco plants. Well, could you tell the difference between a cannabis plant and a pepper plant at the seedling stage? I couldn't. Pretty much every plant starts out as a stalk with two nondescript leaves on top.
It could also result in a police record for me. Oh, I know, the 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' brigade will be out but really, they should know better by now. There is no need to commit any crime to get arrested these days. All that needs to happen is that you get accused of something.
Look, if you want to have some internal party spat, fine, go ahead and beat each other to death for all I care.
But leave me out of it. Okay?
15 comments:
The LPUK compo you link to seems to suggest you are growing tobacco?
If Withers has suggested it's canabis then yes he's a muppet.
My only source of that quote so far is the Anna Raccoon site. Guthrum's post yesterday (which showed up in my blogroll as 'Raccoongate') is gone, and it's not in Google cache either.
I haven't yet found the origin of that quote. If it's in an Email then I never will.
I tried to leave a comment on Anna Raccoon's site but it didn't show. Maybe moderation is on over there.
Also, the loss of Guthrum's last post might be due to Blogger screwing up over the last few hours. Its disappearance might not be sinister or even connected to this.
Look on the bright side, at least Blogger is working again :-)
My last post is lost in the ether as well, so I doubt it's anything sinister.
Bit disappointed if Andrew did make that allegation though.
Bit disappointed in the Libertarians in general.
I get a fairly regular mauling for daring to do anything other than mutter darkly about the government.
For "freedom loving souls" they're a bit fucking picky about what others can and cannot do.
CR.
For "freedom loving souls" they're a bit fucking picky about what others can and cannot do.
Thought had crossed my mind too.
How's yer plants doing now, LI? Mine are big tough sods now, some of them ready for a taste of the great outdoors.
I've heard by Email (from a reliable source) that the 'Raccoongate' post doesn't contain that quote so I still don't know its origin.
It's not just paranoia. People have been arrested for harmless comments in this country as a matter of routine in recent times. Since the police are no doubt all too aware of the general Libertarian stance on drugs, a remark like that could be all the trigger they need.
They won't find any drugs here but they'd wreck my greenhouse and destroy all my plants while looking.
They'd also seize my computer (they always do) and although it contains nothing illegal at all, it's the principal tool of my job so having that nicked would be a serious blow.
It could well have been a throwaway remark, not intended to be serious, but in the current climate, careless talk costs livelihoods.
My last two posts have vanished also. That'll be what happened to Guthrum's post.
George - plant growth is slow here but the little monsters are putting on weight. Today there was a hailstorm that perforated the rhubarb - so there will be nothing planted out before the end of May.
The only things thriving at this time of year are the rhubarb and the weeds.
The vanishing posts reappeared, but the comments haven't come back yet.
Did someone at Blogger accidentally engage the infinite improbability drive?
For what it's worth, I am a member of the Party, and I've found the London (or rather South East) members to be a really good bunch of people.
I don't know any of the people in this dispute, and it all seems very personal, i.e. individual people falling out.
It may well be the death of the Party, but if so, the blame must be spread more widely than the little circle at the centre. There's no handbook teaching how to set up a party, and I think too many people joined but didn't realise that they would need to build the thing themselves, expecting that it would happen of its own accord, perhaps.
I'm not having a dig at anyone, especially those who were never members. I'm just saying.
Trooper - as I said at the start, I have no idea what's going on within the party beyond what is publically available. It is, has not been and should never be any of my business.
It's only when I see the party leader suggesting I might be involved in illegal drug production that I feel the need to comment at all.
Yikes! What a bunch of....
Well, I'd better not say, on a family blog!
I have not deleted anything on my blog, nor do I recall posting anything in the public domain to that effect.
I was asked to publish the LPUK Chairman's report and the minutes of the NCC that accepted the findings and recommendations of the report into the allegations that had been made against me.
Blogger was down, and somebody made an executive decision that they were not going to publish the report or the minutes.
I understand that it was reluctantly eventually published four hours later.
Having stood aside nearly a month ago you would need to direct that question to the editorial team of the Libertarian Party.
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