Dogs Dinner: Honoring a Pervert

The http://barryphelps.posterous.com blog has known for some time about the plans for that outrageous dinner held in Phelps' honour last Friday, 25 February 2011, at Whits restaurant in Abingdon Road, W8. We wanted to write something on the blog, even start a campaign, but other commitments from our writers prevented them from launching a campaign to highlight this appalling event and the message it conveys of condoning Phelps' monstrous conduct in sending emails sexualising young boys. However, the blog's failure to campaign on this issue so far should in no way provide any encouragement to Phelps or his supporters. He can say he shouldn't have resigned but there is no way he could have survived the avalanche of complaints and adverse publicity his pervert emails would have caused, let alone Mr Justin Downes' Standards Complaint on that issue, which was only withdrawn because Phelps resigned. There was another Standards Complaint being prepared by a resident in the Borough concerning sexual harassment by Phelps and his breach of the Data Protection Act. The conduct and actions of Phelps was subsequently apologised for by the Council in a formal complaints process, and the complaint about breaches of the Data Protection Act, including personal and sensitive personal data, by Phelps was also upheld by the Information Commissioner. If he had not resigned, Phelps would have been under continuing scrutiny for his misconduct and would have brought the Council into disrepute, something even his former allies, such as Cllr Cockell, would not have tolerated. It is thoroughly unacceptable that somebody of Phelps' misconduct and reprehensible behaviour should seek to rehabilitate himself, raise his public profile, or even possibly seek public office. We believe that it is now necessary to remind residents of the Borough, and the wider public, of the scandal which occasioned Phelps' resignation concerning his disgusting emails sexualising young boys, and that such individuals in public life are unacceptable, unwanted, and should not be given dinners in their honour, and that their past misconduct in public office must be condemned.

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