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Remembrance gatecrasher?
Lib Dem candidate accused of ‘jumping’ in to be filmed at service
A STORM has broken out over claims that a Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful forced her way, uninvited, into the centre of the borough’s main Remembrance Sunday event.
In a rare alliance, Camden’s Labour and Conservative parties joined together to complain about Jo Shaw’s appearance at the war memorial in Euston on Sunday, claiming she had intruded on the pre-planned order of service for the sombre occasion by laying her own wreath.
Ms Shaw said last night (Wednesday) she was “moved” to lay her own tribute because of the number of soldier deaths recently reported from Afghanistan and because her own relatives had served in the armed forces.
Ms Shaw, who is aiming to unseat Labour MP Frank Dobson, said that a film recording taken by her Lib Dem colleagues would not be used as a campaigning resource.
Her actions, however, provoked a furious response from rival parties who claim she used the sensitive occasion for political “one-upmanship” and was not involved in the planning for the event.
A joint letter written by Labour leader Councillor Nash Ali and Tory chief Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “Attendees were quite taken aback when Jo Shaw simply attached herself without any warning to the civic dignitaries at the war memorial at Euston and then jumped into the civic procession – in which she had no role – cutting in ahead of some of the borough’s former mayors,” the letter said. “This was simply rather transparent one-upmanship: Ms Shaw’s real motivation is made plain by the fact that she arranged for herself to be videoed by her team.”
Insiders said the incident had also concerned senior officers at the council.
Ms Shaw responded last night (Wednesday) insisting her wreath was not sponsored by the Lib Dems, as her critics claimed. Angry opponents said she could have laid her own wreath at any time, without intervening in the official service of one of the best-known Remembrance Sunday events in the country.
“The number of deaths in Afghanistan in the last few months have made the sacrifice made by others much more at the forefront of my mind this year, which is why I wanted to lay a wreath,” she said. “It didn’t occur to me to make my tribute at a time other than at the official service. Members of my close family have served in the armed forces. This was a very personal moment of reflection and remembrance.” |
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Your comments:
SURELY anyone should be allowed to pay tribute to the sacrafice our armed forces are making should be able to do so in the way they want to? Especially on Remembrance Sunday.These councillors shouldn't be trying to make a political point out of a personal tribute.
O. Hartley
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