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Conservatives demand answers over Telford MP’s offensive Twitter
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Tom Biggins, Conservative Candidate for Telford, has called on David Wright MP to apologise to Conservative voters in his Telford constituency.House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
16 February 2010
Dear David,
I am writing to you regarding comments you appear to have made on Twitter yesterday about the Conservative Party.
On your Twitter feed, you posted a comment in the afternoon responding to a Conservative advertising campaign featuring people who have never voted Tory before. You wrote: ‘Because you can put lipstick on a scum-sucking pig, but it’s still a scum-sucking pig. And cos [sic] they would ruin Britain.’
This is the sort of offensive behaviour that turns people off voting. However, instead of apologising for language that demeans the office of a minister of the Crown, you chose this morning to defend it, describing it as ‘legitimate comment’.
Moreover, rather than owning up to your actions you seem to be trying to claim that your ‘Twitter feed’ was hacked into. This explanation is simply not credible:
• The ‘Tweet’ was made under your name.
• You have used similar language in the past on Twitter, including describing David Cameron as a ‘horrible opportunistic scumbag.’
• Immediately after the ‘Tweet’, you posted again to say that you ‘must’ve hit a nerve,’ and then again that Conservatives ‘do get riled very easily.’
• You then decided to apologise for the ‘Tweet’
Only after all of this did you then claim that your Twitter account had been ‘tinkered’ with.
I would be grateful if you could now stop treating people like fools and answer the following questions:
• If you did not make the comments, who did?
• How did the person hack into your account and have you reported the matter to Twitter?
• When did you first know about this? Is this the first time your account has been hacked into?
• When did you regain control of your account?
• Why did you make comments, which you have not disputed making, saying ‘They do get very riled easily don’t they,’ and ‘Oh dear, upsetting Tories again. Must’ve hit a nerve’? If these were not references to the offensive post, what were they in reference to?
• Why did you make these comments after your account was allegedly hacked into and not offer an apology once discovering your account had been hacked into?
The Ministerial Code states that ‘Ministers of the Crown are expected to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety.’ (Ministerial Code, June 2007; section 1.1)
You are clearly not currently abiding with either the letter or spirit of the Code. I would therefore be grateful if, as a matter of public interest, you could respond to me as soon as possible both to clarify your explanation and to apologise unreservedly.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Pickles
Chairman, The Conservative Party
Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar
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Write to: Tom Biggins, Broadway House, 2 Haygate Road, Wellington, Telford, TF1 1SG
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