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The waiting is over, finally the worst kept secret in history has become public. The General Election will be on May 6th, the same day as the Local Government Elections.For the first time since 1931 when the Tory, George Herbert, beat the Labour Candidate only to lose it again in 1933, the Parliamentary Constituency of Rotherham has a realistic chance of being lost by Labour.
The many scandals that have become public have exposed greed and corruption at all levels and in all parts of the House. Labour, Tory and Lib Dem Members of Parliament were all involved up to their necks, in some cases now before the courts.
Few have come through this process with dignity intact. To have realised that a majority of MPs were involved was shattering in terms of public confidence. Despite the largest number of MPs in history standing down at the end of a Parliament, the problem is not yet over, there is still unfinished business.
There are Members of Parliament who served throughout this disgraceful period who are not standing down next week, simply because they have, so far, been able to hide behind the still impenetrable wall of secrecy, that surrounds the Houses of Parliament to this day.
Denis MacShane, my Labour opponent, is in the top league when it comes to greed. He has regularly claimed to within pence of the maximum allowable but totally refuses to account for the hundreds of thousands of pounds of your money he has spent since 1994.
He has always been reluctant to account for the extra jobs he takes on the side, the pattern of declarations shows a degree of manipulation of the ever changing rules, to avoid giving any more information than absolutely necessary.
Close analysis of recently available information shows clearly this tendency and raises the most serious of questions, even more serious questions than I have previously published here on this site. I have written to MacShane asking him to clarify his position, but alas, no reply, not even an acknowledgment. I will share this with you later, either when I have a response or I am sure I will not be getting one.
It is not just me he will not answer, he won't tell you his constituents either - try asking him yourself! Please email me with any response as I would be most interested.
MacShane is not interested in us he just wants to be the MP for Rotherham and the Ex-Minister for Europe, both titles having been worth thousands over the years when peddling his journalism. Oh, and he wants you to put him back on the gravy train so he can rip us off for another four or five years.
The greed and corruption must be purged from Parliament. If the Labour Party will not rid us of MacShane, then we must do it for ourselves.
I offer myself as an antidote to all the sleaze, greed and corruption that has infected public life at all levels. Public service should be just that, not a way of getting rich. Nor is it there to make anyone important. I firmly believe that MPs are there to serve their electorates without the stench of corruption that now swirls around public life generally.
Rotherham MP Denis MacShane has brought disgrace on the whole Town. I stand with Rotherham in rejecting the recent scandals and believe that I can restore Rotherham's tarnished image by bringing some basic honesty, Yorkshire thrift when it comes to your money and some good old fashioned decency and commonsense when it comes to working on your behalf.
Together, Let's Change Rotherham for Good.
Peter Thirlwall
Independent Candidate
Rotherham
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