Two stories in the Indie (get them while they’re free!) that may interest those interested in the LibDem leadership.
The first I highlight for a particularly dim quote from Peter Tatchell:
Peter Tatchell, leader of a militant gay rights group, said: “Mark Oaten is not the only Liberal Democrat MP who has had sex with men.”
Not that I wish to delve into MPs’ private lives, but I imagine these include Annette Brooke, Sandra Gidley, Lynne Featherstone, Lorely Burt…
Then there’s another leak story:
Sir Menzies Campbell’s campaign team for the Liberal Democrat leadership has been accused of breaching the Data Protection Act by asking for a membership list of thousands of student supporters.
An email from the chair of Liberal Democrat Youth & Students has been leaked. I don’t know who it was sent to, but my guess would be the LDYS executive. Sounds like a Hughes or a Huhne fan got a bit carried away.
One of the bitterest snipes of the merger saga was Ian Wrigglesworth acccusing “Dr David Owen and his friends” of “purloining the party’s membership list”.
If X reveals to Y that he/she is a member of the Liberal Democrats, then Y is entitled to communicate this information to Z, provided that X did not manifest an intention to Y that it should be kept confidential.
The party membership list, on the other hand, is a confidential document, and membership secretaries owe a fiduciary duty to members not to disclose membership details to solicitors, debt collecteors, NOS reporters, leadership campaigners, or whomever.