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Mark Oaten

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I've been impressed with Mark Oaten in the past, and he seems to talk sensible politics on occasion. It seems that the News of the World has caught him with his proverbial trousers down, causing him to resign his front bench position in the party. BBC story

So, another MP ruining his career with sleaze allegations. The only credit to him is that he hasn't denied the allegations.

Would you object if your MP employed the services of a rent boy, or is it a case of only being wrong if it affects his ability to do his job (which was the general consensus on the David Cameron/drugs debacle)?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What an MP does in their personal life is no concern of me. As long as they are doing their job. Does that Rag make all its money out of screwing people over then?
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Renzo wrote:
    What an MP does in their personal life is no concern of me. As long as they are doing their job. Does that Rag make all its money out of screwing people over then?

    I agree. Their personal life is not my concern.

    And alot of mass media does that, it seems alot of people are interested...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Surely forcing MP's to resign all the time is counter productive for the country as a whole. The Lib Dems are now without a leader or a home affairs minister, they have no political clought now. The Kennedy and now Oaten stories are causing the Lib Dems to get tied up in internal struggles rather than what they should be doing, opposing the government.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They allege he used his 'family man' status as an election tool, and now has committed adultery. So if we can't trust that he is a devoted father of two like he says he is, can we trust what he says in the Commons? I assume that is the issue, regardless of the details of what he did and with whom (which is what the NotW will have devoted its pages to I'm sure). The fact that he has asked for "personal privacy" and has apologised for the embarassment caused to his family suggests to me that they didn't know.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It left him open to blackmail, which in a political leader is not the best idea.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    rent boys ...peedo's ...money in brown envelopres ...cocaine ...none of it should bother us ...it means we finaly have simnk estate politicians running the country. somethng blkagsta will be cheering. we are now at the point where nothing matters anymore ...everything is ok ...i find that scary.
    no doubt many of you will defend this as ...this is the ideal ...this is what generations dreamt of ...freedom aye. you won't be able to be nominated as an mp unless you deserted your wifge and kids soon ...cos that will show your a man of the people.
    is this where we realy hoped we would be heading?
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    is this where we realy hoped we would be heading?

    Of course not, but I don't see how it affects his ability to run the country?

    If you are good at running the country, do it. If not, do something you are good at. Ideally, only people who are good at things would do these things.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's a shame so many people take what they read in the tabloids so seriously - well, the press in general. You never know, Mark Oaten might've made an excellent leader of the Lib Dems and then a really good PM, but now he won't because of an interfering newspaper.

    Have people always been this concerned about storied such as this, or is it becoming more of an issue because of 'celebrity culture', as Kentish says:
    Kentish wrote:
    I assume that is the issue, regardless of the details of what he did and with whom (which is what the NotW will have devoted its pages to I'm sure).
    the NotW is more concerned with printing the dirty details, and ignoring the issue. Thing is, people want to read the dirty details because that is what they do with every other public figure/celebrity.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    rent boys ...peedo's ...money in brown envelopres ...cocaine ...none of it should bother us ...it means we finaly have simnk estate politicians running the country. somethng blkagsta will be cheering.

    What the fuck are you on about now you senile old fool?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It’s somewhat odd that Oaten even stood for leadership in the first place, I'd have thought he'd have realised that these things have a tendency to end up in the Sunday tabloids.
    Renzo wrote:
    What an MP does in their personal life is no concern of me. As long as they are doing their job. Does that Rag make all its money out of screwing people over then?

    That’s nice in principle but it completely unrealistic. And if an MP is doing things that are widely perceived to be immoral – adultery, lying and paying for sex why doesn’t the public have a right to know? Politicians are there to represent us and are accountable to us. Oaten’s misdemeanours are of concern to the public.

    If Oaten was a bachelor there’d be less of a story here but here I think the News of the World haven’t done much wrong. (Whereas with Sven I think they’ve behaved quite disgustingly).

    To go back to Oaten though the way things have turned out for him are unfortunate. I don’t rate him as a politician at all and I think there are far more capable figures in the LibDems but I do feel pretty sorry for him.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Meh, a nobody resigns...

    Does anyone here actually care? I mean really?

    Politically he was right to quit, just as Cook should have when he dumped his wife, but It's not exactly going to make much of an impression on our lives.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Meh, a nobody resigns...

    Does anyone here actually care? I mean really?

    Politically he was right to quit, just as Cook should have when he dumped his wife, but It's not exactly going to make much of an impression on our lives.

    I care, I thought he was the best person for the leadership, I've had some dealings with him and I found him to be sharp and politically similar in views to me.

    This is just another of those vile stories the Red Tops make the money from, certainly its a crappy thing for him to do to his family, but is it in the 'public interest'? No.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i think politicians have as much right to have a sordid sex life as the rest of the population. I dont believe it affects their ability to do their job particularly.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Personally I couldn't care less if he enjoyed golden showers from old ladies.

    So long as is consenting sex between adults, who cares?

    Had Mark Oaten been a campaigner for so-called family values and against adultery, one could see why he had to go.

    But he weren't.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Sunday newspapers didn't need to 'reveal' this, he's a libdem, it's obvious.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Sunday newspapers didn't need to 'reveal' this, he's a libdem, it's obvious.

    What? Because he's a Lib Dem he had an affair?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    bongbudda wrote:
    What? Because he's a Lib Dem he had an affair?
    Blimey, well wouldnt you if you were a lib dem?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Blimey, well wouldnt you if you were a lib dem?

    Its obviously a part of their manifesto which I missed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My old man always called the Lib Dems the pufter party. And it looks like he was right all along.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My old man always called the Lib Dems the pufter party. And it looks like he was right all along.

    What an incredibly mature statement to make. :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Lib Dems have been exposed as the party of drunks and buffoons they are.

    I predict melt down for them at the next election with the Tories demolishing the Lib Dems and Labour taking whats left.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well if there is a silver lining to all of this is that it has happened years before the next election. By then nobody will remember- or care- about Kennedy or Oaten.

    The Lib Dems are unlikely to ever become the main opposition party (let alone get in office) for as long as the electoral system remains first past the post. But they will always have their core voters, and they will be continued to be use as a useful tactical vote for both Tory and Labour voters.

    I don't expect them to implode any more than the Tories didn't implode in the early 90s with Archer, Mellor et al.
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    The Lib Dems have been exposed as the party of drunks and buffoons they are.

    And the Conservatives enjoy a little white line...
    Labour are theives...

    Who DO we vote for?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The SWP.

    Or the Greens.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it shouldn't matter in a very narrow sense, but......

    The fact that he knew it would matter, and the fact that he did it anyway (nevermind that he is a twat for cheating on his wife and hurting his kids, and I personally am far less inclined to vote for a twat) makes you question his judgement, and if you are voting for someone to be in power, they need to have good judgement.......
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mark Oaten's career is by no means finished. He admitted what he did, and resigned for the sake of preventing further embarrassment to his party. That was very noble of him. I have no doubt he will be back.

    Contrast though, with the disgraceful attitude of the government's own ministers. For two weeks, Ruth Kelly let the scandal of sex offenders in schools carry on. The Government was being embarrassed day after day, because of a minister who cannot run her own department. She should have been sacked, yet she remains in Cabinet. Ask yourself - a man having a gay affair, or a woman letting paedophiles teach - which is really the worst scandal?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote:
    Mark Oaten's career is by no means finished. He admitted what he did, and resigned for the sake of preventing further embarrassment to his party. That was very noble of him. I have no doubt he will be back.

    Contrast though, with the disgraceful attitude of the government's own ministers. For two weeks, Ruth Kelly let the scandal of sex offenders in schools carry on. The Government was being embarrassed day after day, because of a minister who cannot run her own department. She should have been sacked, yet she remains in Cabinet. Ask yourself - a man having a gay affair, or a woman letting paedophiles teach - which is really the worst scandal?

    Ruth Kelly’s misdemeanours are something separate and morally I don’t think she has done anything particularly wrong and she seems to be correcting the flaws in the system. Mark Oaten on the other hand hasn’t just had an affair – in fact it’s less that but imo more that he paid for sex and lied to his family and constituents.

    I don’t see how his resignation is particularly noble. He resigned because he got caught. Charles Kennedy only stopped denying to a drink problem when the media had evidence to the contrary, if the media hadn’t produced solid proof Kennedy wouldn’t have said a thing. And it’s the same with Oaten. He would have went on lying to his family and probably continued to pay vulnerable young people for sex if the News of the World hadn’t discovered his exploits. Yeah, really noble.

    His political career is pretty much over. His seat will turn blue at the next election anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hello monocrat you sad fuck
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Edited because I read the above post wrong.
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Monotwat returns! Woo etc. Now fuck off and die.
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