I thank Robin Page for these words of wisdom and concern over the totalitarian gagging of councillors:"A ridiculous code of conduct was then introduced in 2001 - an exhaustive 22-page document covering everything from treating others with respect to declaring any gifts or hospitality worth £25 or more, it was aimed at controlling councillors what they could say and how they said it. It is a code that severely restricts free speech and debate. Previously a chairman would control councillors and the councillors themselves would have to declare if they had pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests. But under the new code virtually everything became a matterof' ‘prejudicial interest', which meant that if a councillor had previously expressed views on a subject outside the council he was prejudiced and therefore could not speak about it in council meetings. If he did, he would be reported to a monitoring officer, the local Standards Committee and then the Standards Board for England, an intimidating new London-based quango employing 100 staff and a team of ethical standards officers each paid £61,000 a year. It's a cross between Monty Python and a kangaroo court.This absurd, undemocratic and intimidating system, in which informers, commissars and quislings thrive, covers every parish council, district council, county council and unitary authority in England. It's not just an insult to the ideal of free speech, it causes anxiety and career-threatening consequences to those who simply say and do what they believe.This is, quite plainly, not a code of conduct but a Government gag. Ironically, the man who introduced this neo-Stalinist nonsense was that paragon of good behaviour, John Prescott, who is to democracy what Attila the Hun was to flower arranging. "
