Phil Woolas ejected from parliament over election slurs

The high court ruled that Phil Woolas, the former immigration minister, knowingly made false statements about his Liberal Democrat opponent. Phil Woolas was ejected from parliament after two high court judges secured that he lied about his Liberal Democrat opponent during the general election. Woolas claimed the ruling  which also triggered a by-election and barred him from standing again for three years. Elwyn Watkins claimed that Woolas knowingly misled voters in Oldham East in a desperate bid to stir up religious tensions in the last days of the election by claiming Watkins had persuade Islamic extremists. The court upheld those arguments after it saw confidential emails between Woolas's team. This proved that Woolas  knowingly made false allegations about his opponent. As a consequence Woolas lost his seat in the Commons, is barred for three years and was also suspended by the Labour party.

Ed Miliband, Labour leader, told Channel 4 News: "The court has made a very clear judgment in this case, a clear finding of fact about what happened and what Phil Woolas did. This is certainly a reminder and warning to all politicians about the importance of a clean fight.

Reaction

I didn’t expect a minister was capable of doing something like this, lying about their opponent to win an election. I think this is really sad and disappointed for many people who voted for Phil Woolas and trusted him. I totally agree with the decision of the court and expect that ministers will learn from this case and that this will not happen again because lying in a democratic election should not be tolerated.    

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-ejected-parliament-election