AN MP who led the campaign against a Greater Manchester congestion charge has claimed he was snubbed by the man who drew up the referendum question.
Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley, told the House of Commons that Sir Neil McIntosh - the returning officer for November's region-wide vote - had been 'biased' and consulted only those who supported the bid before choosing a form of words.
Mr Stringer described the situation as 'scandalous' and said the rules should be changed for future referendums.
Last year's vote was on the issue of whether Greater Manchester residents wanted to accept a peak-hour congestion charge in return for just under £3bn from the government's Transport Innovation Fund.
'No' campaigners said the question set by Sir Neil should have mentioned congestion charging. It simply stated: "Do you agree with the Transport Innovation Fund proposals?"
Investment
Sir Neil said at the time that the question was printed below a 'preamble' which mentioned both the charge and the investment. Just over a million votes were cast in the December poll and of those 812,815 - a massive 78.8 per cent - put their cross in the 'No' box.
Mr Stringer said a lack of legislation meant Sir Neil had too much leeway in setting the question.
The MP, speaking in a Parliamentary debate, said: "Sir Neil McIntosh, who was paid £30,000 to do the job, could decide to consult only the promoters of the relevant Bill on what question to put, and did not put into the main question on the referendum paper the most controversial aspect of the proposal - the levying of a congestion charge or a new tax on people.
"Also, he would not see people such as myself who were opposed to the proposals. I think that that is quite scandalous."
And he told the M.E.N: "There needs to be more guidance. Fortunately the wording of the question helped the 'No' campaign because people do not like to manipulated and told what to do."
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Angelene19, Manchester (03/06/2009 at 06:35)
Mark,Radcliffe. (03/06/2009 at 08:09)
Jay B, oldham (03/06/2009 at 08:12)
biased adverts on TV that where deemed untouchable by the ASA as they where part of the voting process.
the yes group with with only half a story to most of their claims.
a council leader who staked his job on the yes vote getting through!
and all the other councils and their leaders who backed the scheme when they knew the majority where against it! but they just carried on wasting our money!
i do hope in local and national elections we show them what we though of what they'd done (well before the current scandal thats going on)
Bigfoot (03/06/2009 at 09:05)
Right from the start of the campaign the Government used every tool they had to sway the vote including the use of actors purporting to be Manchester citizens and absolutely scandalous poll results trying to convince us the majority were in favour. These people should fundamentally review why they are in politics i.e. is it for their self interest or is it to represent the will of the electorate.
johnnyboy, Ashton-u-Lyne, Lancashire (03/06/2009 at 09:08)
Jay B, oldham (03/06/2009 at 09:19)
Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (03/06/2009 at 10:19)
We all know that the yes campaign was biased, just look at the amount of taxpayers money was used to promote both sides of the argument, Yes campaign ££££££. No campaign £0
Knowledge Poverty, a dark future (03/06/2009 at 10:38)
This is the man who says there's no such thing as Dyslexia, and that's it's all a fabrication used to cover up poor teaching standards and justify poor educational attainment.
Nothing to do with the failings of the feckless, infantile, aggressive, bitter, whining white trash scum parents he presides over in his constituency.
He also wanted to go back to those 'halcyon days' of when buses were publically owned and run. It wasn't 'so much better' then. Buses were less reliable, less frequent, dirtier and a less attractive and viable option all round when the buses were run 'by t'corporation'.
The man's a fool, an aggressive, arrogant, beligerent fool, and a dinosaur
Jay B, oldham (03/06/2009 at 11:13)
i partly agree with his comment on dyslexia too. some do suffer from it but it is used far too much as an excuse for lazy kids who just dont want to learn! as they used to be classed as the thickies of the class. now they brand them all dyslexic.
Ronky, Bowker Vale (03/06/2009 at 12:39)
People should remember that many if not most MPs are like him - it's just that the headline 'MP does his job' isn't half as interesting as 'Home Secretary buys porn'
Angelene19, Manchester (03/06/2009 at 19:21)
The people you mention are everywhere and although I don't agree with everything Stringer says, he tells it like it is, isn't a fawning Brownite and is at least one of the few MP's not in for themselves, unlike a lot we have heard of over the past few weeks.