A
couple of weeks ago Bexley’s two-timing former Mayor James Hunt perhaps ill-advisedly
added his twopennyworth to a journalist’s implied criticism of Boris Johnson. (I
had better say straight away that I refer only to James being Mayor for two years during the pandemic.)
A number of local commentators interpreted his comment as touting for freebies
and him being open to bribes which - risking losing a few friends here - I regarded as some sort of idiocy.
I would not count myself as one of James’ close friends but I suspect I have
spent far more time with him than his public critics. An hour or two at a time in a couple of cases.
The man is good company and loves to joke about pretty much everything especially about himself,
junk food and Rishi Sunak being the best choice for PM. To be honest I don’t think you have to know him at all to guess that
James was joking when he referred to donors paying for holidays. (See associated Tweet.)
Nevertheless he was on the receiving end of an official complaint. It
acknowledged that James was joking but said his follow up comment showed
that he misunderstood the Code of Conduct which states “The presumption should
always be not to accept significant gifts or hospitality”.
At some cost to the Council Taxpayer the Monitoring Office has provided
clarification. She adds a qualifying statement. “However, there may be times
when such a refusal may be difficult if it is seen as rudeness in which case,
you could accept it but must ensure it is publicly registered.”
I can sort of understand that but with rudeness impossible to define it appears
to open up the possibility of all gifts to Councillors being acceptable so long as they are declared.
I doubt there is any way of closing that loophole, one might more simply allow
all gifts so long as they were declared and let residents judge Councillors accordingly.
