Conservative Lincoln MP Karl McCartney apologised after writing offensive notes to staff processing his expenses claims.
A letter from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) revealed the city MP noted on his claims offensive remarks, telling one official they were ‘talking sh*te’, and condemning another as a ‘pedantic SOAB’.
Ipsa Chief Executive Andrew McDonald wrote to Karl McCartney after the Lincoln MP spoke in the House of Commons, and suggested the watchdog used “bullying tactics and threats to try and silence” him.
Karl McCartney said during Business Questions: “What do you think that subsequent to me raising these issues of Ipsa’s senior management’s bullying tactics and threats to try and silence me regarding their spiralling costs?
“Do you think that their chief executive should show some backbone and meet with me as he refused to do so for over two and a half years, instead of attempting to smear Members of Parliament’s names by false innuendo and subterfuge?”
Andrew McDonald rejected the claims and wrote to Karl McCartney: “Some of the notes written by you, and attached to your claims, were recently brought to my attention.
“Having reviewed those notes, I was taken aback by the content, which ranged from the abusive (“you are a pedantic SOAB, aren’t you?”) through to the offensive (“you’re talking shite”) and on to the condescending (“simples – or didn’t you do Geography at Eton and Oxford…”).
“We will do all that is reasonable to shield our team from such treatment. I had hoped it would be possible to address this behaviour without writing to you formally. In the light of your comments today, I write to ask that you conduct your dealings with us – orally or in writing – in civil terms.”
Karl McCartney later told The Lincolnite: “I apologise unreservedly to Ipsa for my comments which were inappropriate, and which I regret having made.
“I accept that such comments have given cause for offence. You will not see me making similar remarks in the future in respect of Ipsa, which has a difficult and important job to do,” the Lincoln MP added.
Lucy Rigby, Labour MP candidate for Lincoln, commented: “It is absolutely and genuinely shocking that Lincoln’s MP would use this kind of language in letters to any body or organisation.”
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Whatsapp
