The Truth, The Whole Truth & Nothing But the Truth
At the Council meeting yesterday evening, where the adolescent leader Sean Fielding puffed his cheeks and faked outrage at what he believed to be ‘bare faced lies’, it got me thinking about the other forms of lies. I suppose if there was a sliding scale, on it would feature terms such as malicious lies, such as referring to someone as a paedophile, selective lies, where an element of the truth is withheld to present a false perspective and white lies. Who knows, maybe decisions that politicians claim to be in the public interest fall under this category of white lies.
I’m sure this of who who have been following my posts will know of parts of my past life spent in the company of senior politicians and those that advised them. During this time, not only did I witness all of these different types of lies in all types of combinations, I also witnessed how best to present them. It’s probably the main reason why I’ve been able to do what I have so far. A lesson that Sean Fielding is yet to learn in his politician’s journey isn’t just the telling of the lie (less drama Sean, that’s the secret) but how you tell the lie. The best lies are hidden in plain sight. And the purpose of the best lies is not to keep secrets, it is to tell a version of the truth that suits.
Which brings me to my point. A point that I will demonstrate with 2 different newspaper articles. Both articles relate to the former Liberal Democrat Councillor Rod Blyth. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, Rod Blyth represented Shaw Ward for 25 years before resigning on the 9th December 2017. Here is how it was reported.
The Oldham Times reported that Cllr Rod Blyth had resigned for ‘personal reasons’. It did not expand on this other than he had stepped down from his office with immediate effect. It then shifts focus to the mechanics of electing his replacement before a council spokesperson confirming ‘Oldham Council has received notification of the resignation of Councillor Blyth. We would not be able to comment further on any aspect of this.’ An ordinary Oldham citizen would think that was that and there was nothing to see, right? Here is the link
The Oldham Evening Chronicle reported that in addition to Cllr Rod Blyth resigning for ‘personal reason’, the Liberal Democrats had also been made aware that Cllr Blyth was subject to an ongoing police investigation. The report continues that as a consequence of being made aware of the information (of the police investigation but not of the details of the investigation) immediately suspended (as a neutral act) Cllr Blyth.
The article continues, again with the mechanics of an election before concluding that ‘no further comment will be made at this time whilst the matter is subject of a police investigation.’ It does not confirm who this statement is from. It could be the Council or the Liberal Democrats. What is clearly evident between this and the earlier article is that there was more to Cllr Rod Blyth’s ‘personal reasons’ than suggested in The Oldham Times article. Here is the link.
Both articles were published on the 13/14 December 2017. It is now nearly 2 years since his resignation. I have been unable to find any further information on the internet as to what the Police investigation related to. I’m presuming that as Cllr Blyth now lives overseas, the police investigation is complete and any punishment since spent. Nonetheless, additional information has been brought to my attention from multiple sources. It seems that what was shared in both newspapers was just different version of the truth and if the truth was to come out, well then I suppose that what was shared would be considered by many people to have been a bare faced lie.
At the time of Cllr Rob Blyth’s resignation, the Leader of Oldham Council was Cllr Jean Stretton. The Liberal Democrat leader was Howard Sykes and Dr Caorlyn Wilkins was fully in charge as Council Chief Executive. Perhaps Sean Fielding should ask the grown ups regarding the facts behind Cllr Rod Blyth’s sudden resignation. I have the truth Sean. But just for kicks, I’ll wait a few day to see what you do. Who knows, perhaps you’ll grow a conscience and tell the people of Oldham what you’ve kept hidden here.
You really should have just answered Debbie Cole’s question yesterday instead of bullying and intimidating her. I only got what I did today. It came from multiple sources in Oldham Council who were incensed by what you and every other Councillor did to her.
Raja Miah MBE