Daily Post column: Time for answers from Merseytravel about legal bill
THERE is nothing new in one politician suing another. It happens regularly enough, certainly in local government circles.
Indeed, one local law firm has a special division set up to deal with such cases.
This week, we reported on the defamation action Merseytravel's Labour chairman Mark Dowd is taking against Liberal Democrat Andrew Makinson.
It seems that Cllr Dowd and Merseytravel did not like the wording in a press release about the chairman's authorised personal spending on the authority's credit card.
But what sets this case apart is that the taxpayer (you and I) are picking up part of Cllr Dowd's bill.
How much will the taxpayer pay? We don't know because Merseytravel refuses to discuss it, ironically until the legal case is complete.
The transport authority has seemingly made a decision about this, yet refuses to explain it. Why?
Excuses about not wanting to interfere with the legal process do not hold water.
All we know is what Merseytravel's senior legal officer, Tony Fitzpatrick, told Cllr Makinson in an email by way of explanation: "As Cllr Dowd is chair of the authority, it was felt that the press reports had harmed the reputation of the authority, and on this basis it was considered that the authority should fund the legal costs associated with protecting the organisation's reputation.
"The expenditure for the legal advice is within Neil Scales's expenditure limit approvals as chief executive of the authority, and so no further approvals were necessary to approve this expenditure."
It is worth pointing out that it is not possible in law to defame a public authority.
In 1993 (Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers) the House of Lords ruled that local government or central government institutions could not sue for defamation because this would place an undesirable fetter on freedom of speech.
Even so, Merseytravel's reputation probably has taken a knocking.
Perhaps this is because it has been shown once more to be out of touch with the way the modern world works (or should work).
For the sake of clarity, Cllr Dowd broke no rules in using the Merseytravel credit card, as there was an agreement with the authority that he could use it for personal spending and then reimburse payments.
This was always done in a timely manner, of this I have no doubt.
He used it to pay for theatre tickets, and a trip to Alcatraz while on holiday in the USA.
Attendances to the Labour Party conference were also paid for on the card, but not reimbursed because Merseytravel said he attended to represent the authority.
If Cllr Dowd needs to spend money on a credit card while on holiday, should he not use his own?
Should the taxpayer fund him to attend the Labour Party conference?
These are legitimate questions for Cllr Makinson or anyone to ask.
Frankly, most people will find it strange that he had a Merseytravel credit card anyway.
I suspect that, had Merseytravel and Cllr Dowd not decided to go down the legal road, this story would have been a one-hit wonder for Cllr Makinson.
His email was sent to journalists, who then were able to make their own checks and report their own stories.
If there were any defamatory statements in the press release (and I am not saying there were) they were not translated into the pages of this paper or the air time broadcasters gave to it.
If the defamation case was intended to silence Cllr Makinson, it has achieved the opposite.
This story now has legs, and will continue to run and run. And those very reputations that the action was intended to protect will be eroded with each outing it gets.
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David Bartlett
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Your last two sentences are so very correct which is why I have never taken legal action no matter how untrue were some of the things that have been said about me. The use of public money in this way is immoral but regrettably not illegal!
Which law firm has a specialist internecine council unit?
This links parallels very closely the MP's expenses scandal and highlight why freedom of information laws are so important in holding councillors and others to task.
This article would have more credibility and weight David if you and your colleagues were not responsible for printing untruths and sensationalised versions of events about several current and ex-councillors over recent years, often resulting in threats of litigation and actual legal action in some cases. Would not wish to support Cllr Makinson in any way, but isn't he merely guilty of what ECHO journalists get up to on a weekly basis?
This article would have more credibility and weight David if you and your colleagues were not responsible for publishing untruths and sensationalised versions of events about several current and ex-councillors over recent years, often resulting in threats of litigation and actual legal action in some cases. Would not wish to support Cllr Makinson in any way, but isn't he merely guilty of what ECHO journalists get up to on a weekly basis?
Councillor Kemp is a hypocrite.
Readers will recall how he wrote an article for the Daily Post justifying the city council banning the liverpoolevilcabal blog to the public of Liverpool, after it lifted the lid on the startling skulduggery at the city council.
The esteemed Rex Makin wrote an article defending The Blog (as it became known).
Worse, Councillor Kemp then sought to enlist the apparatus of The State to try and gag free speech, calling on the police to investigate The Blog.
Of course, the police told the city council to stop being silly, to go away and stop bothering them.
Aside from that, young David, you are correct to warn Cllr Dowd of the foolishness of his ways and the likely damage to his reputation.
Councillor Kemp's reputation, meanwhile, has already long been damaged beyond repair.
Who was Tony Parrish and how did they shut him up. I'd dearly love to know.
Mr Dowd ought to have paid his own fee for the party conference. Or get his party to pay it. At conference he was representing the Labour Party, not Merseytravel.
This toothless quango is set to be axed soon. It has no control over bus services and is at the mercy of large bus companies. Mersyrail is operated as a franchise and the tunnels ought to be managed by the Council and/or Highways Agency.
The empire is crumbling and Mr Dowd should get out while the goings good.
Alison - get back in the kitchen. Ta.
When a similar situation arose at Liverpool City Council in 2005, the clear advice members received was that due to changes in regulations in 2004, local authorities could not fund legal actions for defamation. Authorities can fund the defence of such actions against officers or members which arise out of their official activities, but cannot pursue such actions as plaintiff - or so we were told. I do not believe there has been any further regulatory changes on this. If so, how are Merseytravel legally able to fund such an action to any extent, especially as it is (as I understand it) not possible to libel a public authority. Mr. Scales needs to explain this tout de suite or else it may give rise to further searching questions.
Merseytravel thinks it is a law onto itself how can they be allowed to get away with wasting more public money to support its labour party views, if it was a councillor from another party would they reach for the public chequebook so quickly .
Scales and Dowd wasted how many million on Tram then on Rail franchise to have Dowd cave in to the RMT.
More millions are about to be wasted on a new building, “Palace Dowd” at Mann Island, well you need somewhere for his family members to work, as Merseytravel supported by lazy Unions put almost 20% of their workforce on the dole.
It’s about time these jumped up little Stalin’s became accountable and Transparent.
Merseytravel thinks it is a law onto itself how can they be allowed to get away with wasting more public money to support its labour party views, if it was a councillor from another party would they reach for the public chequebook so quickly .
Scales and Dowd wasted how many million on Tram then on Rail franchise to have Dowd cave in to the RMT.
More millions are about to be wasted on a new building, “Palace Dowd” at Mann Island, well you need somewhere for his family members to work, as Merseytravel supported by lazy Unions put almost 20% of their workforce on the dole.
It’s about time these jumped up little Stalins became accountable and Transparent.