We the People of Shetland

AN OPEN LETTER from the pressure group “We the People of Shetland” calling on political parties in the isles to back their call for a Northern Isles by-election to be held:

We are a collection of individuals with different or no political affiliation. We know that the people of our islands are not united in their condemnation or support of Mr Carmichael’s actions.

We believe that the people of Shetland deserve to have an MP who is elected in an open, honest and fair contest. The constitution of Mr Carmichael’s party states that “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society…” The information withheld by Mr Carmichael prevented the election in Orkney and Shetland being run in this way. We need a fair race where all constituents are aware of the entirety of Mr Carmichael’s 14 year career, including his actions which have generated such a variety of feelings both locally and nationally.

It is our view that politics should be conducted in an open, honest and transparent way. Fair play, honesty and decency are traditional liberal values that permeate Shetland and Orkney. Local people value others being treated with respect and this should extend to your political opponents. With this in mind, we kindly request that people remember Alistair Carmichael is a man with a family, and while you may disapprove of his actions we ask people, locally and nationally, to be respectful and measured towards him.

We believe a by-election is necessary so that this issue does not drag on and become divisive within our community. It is essential that whoever wins can say they did so on a ticket of honesty. nIf Mr Carmichael stands and is returned then he will be able to say that the people of Orkney and Shetland have listened to and forgiven him.

We respectfully request that the chairmen of the local political parties reconsider our call for a fresh election.

If Mr Carmichael has not resigned before Saturday 30 May we will hold a gathering to collect signatures for the letter above at 2:00pm at the market cross, Lerwick, to be presented at a later date to Mr Carmichael.

We look forward to receiving your reply,

“We the People of Shetland”

Iain Malcolmson
Lewie Peterson
Louise Thomason
Kris Drever
Louise Giblin
Logan Nicolson
Floortje Robertson
Tim Matthew
Jonny Polson
Dorcas Johnson
Chloe Tallack
Brian Murphy

 

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Comments (27)

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  1. Ann Dolan says:

    Good Luck with your quest as I believe the people of Orkney and Shetland are being extremely fair and more than generous with this letter requesting another election considering Mc Carmichael’s despicable conduct. As the rest of Scotland are also fed up with lying politicians not being held to account, and now to add insult to injury their behaviour being accepted as the norm.

  2. Kenneth Coutts says:

    More power to your elbow, good luck with the endeavour.
    It is glaringly obvious the contempt these unionists have for their electorate and how they feel they are above them.
    Only with progressive social democracy and power retained by the citizens will we have any meaningful input to Scotland’s future.
    Getting rid of the dregs will be a start.

  3. Lawrence Anderson Burley says:

    I respectfully draw readers’ attention to the crowd funding campaign “The People vs. Carmichael”.
    See:
    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-people-versus-carmichael/x/10915091#/story

    They hope to raise £60,000 to launch a legal challenge against Carmichael’s election. The papers must be filed today.Please help if you can.

    I have contributed my £10 and I wish them all luck

    1. John Revie says:

      Thanks for this info – I’ve added my £10 and wish them success.

  4. RichardMacKinnon says:

    Before the damage gets any worse for the Scottish Liberal Democrats and for the island communities I suggest that Liam McArthur and Tavish Scott reconsider their support for Carmichael and tell him to do the decent thing.

    1. bringiton says:

      The calculation must be that his resignation now would be more damaging for them than trying to tough it out Sepp Blatter style.

  5. barakabe says:

    Old white men clawing onto status, power & privilege is an old story. “Fair play, honesty and decency are traditional liberal values that permeate Shetland and Orkney”- are they values? A basic level of decency hardly represents an advanced civilization- I wish people in general would aspire to higher ideals than this ( not only in their public representatives). Are things so bad that honesty is now a value? Decency an ideal? If we can replace these cynical ‘pragmatists’ from public office then maybe we can begin to raise the level of representation & the standards of public conduct.

    1. leavergirl says:

      Barakabe: “A basic level of decency hardly represents an advanced civilization” — if you had meant that this particular “advanced civilization” does not meet even such a standard, I would agree. Yes, they are values, and they are not much valued in the world we inhabit, not by those in power. I think that hewing to them, and making sure our representatives do, would be a massive improvement.

      And by the by, Carmichael’s so-called apology nowhere mentions that he is sorry for having lied, to his constituents and others. Now that he has apologized to Ms Sturgeon, maybe he needs to apologize to the people of the Isles, and show his remorse by giving them another chance to elect him. Or not.

  6. Sandy Ritchie says:

    no lover of Carmichael, a man who sold his soul to the Tories, but the campaign orchestrated by Indie zealots has all the hallmarks of a witch hunt…and they scent blood. Normally I would be glad to see the back of this roach, but the Indie lynch mob (cos that what they are) ..led by the siren Ms Riddoch .. make all decent Scots feel sorry for the man…

    1. bigal says:

      ” all decent Scots ” ? – I must protest!

      1. johnp45 says:

        As an Englishman, living in Scotland over 25 years – having raised a family, done charity work and never been in any sort of trouble with the law – I think I can say I’m a “decent Scot”. But do I feel sorry for Carmichael?? Not for a single moment.

        1. Dan Huil says:

          Well said, John. It is a sad day when people are criticised unfairly for trying to right a wrong.

          1. leavergirl says:

            An old trollish strategy: playing the victim. In this case, on behalf of a corrupt politician, no less! Ain’t buyin’…

    2. fillofficer says:

      ms riddoch is beyond reproach, always fair & utterly honest, no siren qualities, but u must fancy her, I guess

      1. Borders says:

        Lesley Riddoch is an amazing, knowledgeable and passionate woman in Scotland’s interests – and not to be compared with lying, cheating politicians

        1. Neil says:

          I have to say I am not an adulator of Riddoch. She did a program on Radio 4 on renewable energy that was one of the most badly researched programs I head for a long time. It was basically an hour of fallacy. I was actually shocked by how poor it was – she didn’t even mention global warming. She does spout rubbish she just makes up, quite regularly.

  7. J. Livingston says:

    Er, that picture is on Orkney mainland. Other than that I agree.

  8. BillH says:

    Don’t live in Orkney but have close family there and long association. While having no wish to interfere in Orkney’s business, this is something with far wider ramifications. And after listening to the deafening silence from all the other Politicians who had leapt with alacrity to perpetuate the initial smear and now remain silent over Carmichael’s subsequent lies, we donated to the Legal Campaign. It should not be necessary to go to these lengths to bring to book a grudginly self confessed liar and cheat who for the next 5 years will have a vote on issues that could have disastrous consequences for millions of people. Another Thatcher or Blair style war? And if the “Honourable”??? Malcolm Bruce is to be believed, there are many Carmichaels in Westminster.
    See Tavish Scott questions at http://wingsoverscotland.com/a-dereliction-of-duty/#more-71622

  9. George Gunn says:

    Has no one noticed how the BBC, especially Radio Scotland, is trying to kill this story?

    1. Shaun says:

      I don’t think it’s them trying to “kill” the story, but rather that the news moves on.

      1. Shaun says:

        Although that said the story seems to be YET AGAIN featured on the BBC news website – still top of the North East, Orkney and Shetland section. Likely since yesterday too, as it’s dated from yesterday. Not sure how that constitutes trying to “kill” the story…

        1. BillH says:

          The News ‘moving on’ is what the Carmichaels in HC rely on. Them and the >850 in the other place many having come from the Commons (after being booted out by the Electorate) a majority of them, by Bruce’s thinking being liars and cheats like Carmichael. So they keep their heads down and pick up their £300 a day Tax free or £67k+ with sometimes >£200k tax free expenses (much of that in “staffing costs”???) and hope that 5 years down the line they have been forgotten or their party has come back in to vogue.
          I doubt many of the 60 million outside Scotland, in particular the 8 million in the SE or for that matter our own 5 million go through the 2 or 3 clicks to get to “NE Scotland, Orkney and Shetland” as a run of the mill thing.
          It shouldn’t be a Witch Hunt though. I think we have the decency not to want his family going through that even if he clearly doesn’t mind. But it needs to be kept alive throughout the UK.

  10. Neil says:

    Fair enough – if he has broken the law, there should be a byelection (I think that happens automatically, no?).

    But calling a pressure group “We the People of Shetland” sounds very conceited.

    1. sandy ritchie says:

      yep for accuracy ..it should read “we the undersigned… etc etc..”….or “we some of the people….”

    2. James Soper says:

      The phrase “we are a collection of individuals with different or no political affiliation” isn’t quite as clear as it might be either. Louise Giblin was a Shetland SNP delegate at the Glasgow conference earlier this year, and a quick web search reveals Logan Nicolson is a SNP member, three others describing themselves as proud “yes” supporters, the rest are some really talented musicians and artists who express no political affiliation online. I personally agree with the call for a re-run but “we the people of Shetland” should take care not to risk misrepresenting themselves or risk claiming to represent people they don’t especially when criticising someone else for lying.

  11. SBS says:

    As per J Livingstone above, just wanted to point out that the photo is from Orkney. Whole other place from Shetland. Quite a misleading photo

    1. That’s true – although he represents the whole constituency.

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