What now for CLEAR?
Well knock me down with a five skinner...
CLEAR is now leaderless after a bloodless coup on Friday. Members of CLEAR's exec committable decided that enough is enough and Peter Reynold's short but tempestuous reign as leader of CLEAR is over.
It had to happen, a single issue party need unity and direction. Mr Reynolds actions appeared to tar the legalise cannabis movement. The accusations were many, allegedly
homophobic and sexist blog entries, apparent aggressiveness towards CLEAR party members, apparent sexist comments.. He was even accused of being an under cover police officer.
This produced an undercurrent of distrust between party members and the leader of the party. The two camps in-fighting left CLEAR rudderless and without direction.
But it would be remiss to downplay the role that Mr Reynolds has played in the last 12 months. He has turned the LCC into a disciplined machine. He made the notion of legalised cannabis socially acceptable for many. His slick performances impressed many in mainstream politics.
But he also caused the split, his refusal to apologise left a bad taste in people's mouths. His treatment of Sarah McCulloch was not nice to see.
There are many great people involved in CLEAR. Des, Chris B, Sanj, Jan, Stuart, Jayelle to name a few. I believe and hope that CLEAR can regroup and become stronger.
The one message that has been sent to me constantly was the validity of PoliticsUK Politician of the year Award.
I am now aware of more facts than before. After intense talks with other
PUK members
, I regret
to announce that PoliticsUK has withdrawn PoliticsUK Politician of the Year from Mr Reynolds. This is due to a contravention of PoliticsUK Terms of Use.
Although we will not award the award to the Politician who came second, we now see Alex Salmond(who recieve the 2nd hight amount of votes) as the true winner of PUK's Politician of the Year.
"12 Modifications to service
Any awards can be withdrawn if there is sufficient belief that the award was not won in accordance
with the rules, or without the correct spirit in which they should have been held and voted on. Such
awards may be reclaimed by PUK if it is felt that the awarding has reflected badly on PoliticsUK or its owner. "
http://bit.ly/HHcyDj
Alan Wyllie
PoliticsUK