Jared O'Mara On Trial - Now Found Guilty

[The_DADDY]

2 minutes ago, Dannyno said:

 

You might have done.  The point is that nobody said this in public in that thread at the time, before the allegations were published.   It was claimed that this was all common knowledge and widely discussed.   It wasn't.   

I wasn't clear. I've recently heard he has a problem with women.

[Dannyno]

2 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

Fair enough - it was a long time ago, and I've had a proper life to lead in the interim, but his selection still seems 'odd' and has done Labour no favours whatsoever.

It was obviously disastrous.   Doesn't make it a conspiracy.

 

 

2 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

I wasn't clear. I've recently heard he has a problem with women.

Er, Ok.  I mean, that's been clear for a while now!

Edited February 9, 2023 by Dannyno

[RollingJ]

3 minutes ago, Dannyno said:

Yes.  Well, as I say I have no inside knowledge, but I imagine that's how it went.  He would have looked like a good political bet to Momentum and in the rush they didn't enquire any further.

 

But as I also pointed out, until someone is put up as a candidate, you can never be absolutely sure what's going to emerge.  There's no foolproof screening method that is remotely practical.

You might have done.  The point is that nobody said this in public in that thread at the time, before the allegations were published.   It was claimed that this was all common knowledge and widely discussed.   It wasn't.   

He may have 'looked' like a good candidate to them, but I still say they clearly did no basic checks - totally understandable given 'Momentums' lack of clear thinking.

2 minutes ago, Dannyno said:

It was obviously disastrous.   Doesn't make it a conspiracy.

 

 

 

No - just plain stupidity.

[The_DADDY]

1 minute ago, Dannyno said:

 

 

Er, Ok.  I mean, that's been clear for a while now!

Only if you've been following the case. I haven't. I've dipped in and out and haven't read most of the thread.

To be honest just looking at his face makes my foot itch. 

[HeHasRisen]

6 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

He may have 'looked' like a good candidate to them, but I still say they clearly did no basic checks - totally understandable given 'Momentums' lack of clear thinking.

No - just plain stupidity.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[RollingJ]

1 minute ago, HeHasRisen said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

It is - but had they thought a little, it wouldn't be needed.

[Dannyno]

3 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

He may have 'looked' like a good candidate to them, but I still say they clearly did no basic checks - totally understandable given 'Momentums' lack of clear thinking.

"Basic" checks I suppose would be interviewing the candidate in detail, checking out the information on an application form, checking declared social media accounts, basic  DBS check.   Apparently no contact with the local party in this case, but that ought to be basic too.

 

Thinking about the stuff that came out after he was elected, how would a party process have picked any of that up, if Jared didn't volunteer it?    It's not impossible that the women who came forward didn't realise he was standing until the election was well underway.    Sophie Evans received his leaflet and saw his name in the polling booth, but doesn't seem to have known he was standing before that, and didn't tweet about it until shortly after he had been elected.

 

Short of employing private detectives or putting adverts all over inviting feedback, I don't think you can expect even an NEC which was going beyond "basic" to have picked up Sophie Evans' experience.

 

On the other hand, they should definitely have spoken to West Street Live, you would have thought, assuming he'd put them on his application.   Even if just as part of checking employment history info on the application.   That might have turned up what they knew.   Sophie Evans says they knew what O'Mara was like; I doubt the Hallam constituency party had many West Street Live regulars in it, hence why paying a visit would have been a good idea.

 

O'Mara's old band with its dubious misogyny song was found out about during his candidature, but that wouldn't have been fatal on its own.

 

The thing is, O'Mara had stood for election for council seats before, and you wonder if any rumours had filtered through because of that?   Maybe not.

[geared]

9 hours ago, Dannyno said:

The point is that nobody said this in public in that thread at the time, before the allegations were published.   It was claimed that this was all common knowledge and widely discussed.   It wasn't.   

 

Comments are moderated, and pretty serious allegations against someone with zero evidence wouldn't be allowed.

 

So it's not a true reflection on what the public knew or thought.

[Baron99]

I'm just wondering if he's still going to be picking up taxpayers cash when he gets out for his few years as a bona fide MP?   And I use the term bona fide very loosely. 

 

His lifestyle probably goes a long way to explain why it took him best part of a year to get round to making his maiden speech? 

[Guest]

Couple of interesting articles here about the role of Momentum in getting O'Mara elected: How Momentum Helped Sway the General Election; Momentum Boots Out Nick Clegg, written in 2017 by Momentum Sheffield's political education officer.

 

The second article is quite telling with reference to the local Labour party's role (apparently not keen, let alone enthusiastic) vs Momentum (vigorous local campaigning):

 

Quote

 

... pretty much all initiatives from below were shut down and the campaign ‘plan’ ignored large areas of the constituency. Instead, volunteers were directed to help out in the neighbouring constituency of Penistone & Stocksbridge, to defend the seat of anti-Corbyn MP Angela Smith.

 

We ignored these defeatist instructions and organised what amounted to a parallel campaign. Momentum organised a very successful canvassing event with a Bernie Sanders campaigner, who inspired attendants to go beyond the “Voter ID” process that has replaced real canvassing (ie, talking to people). We equipped volunteers with a fact sheet on the betrayals of Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. We organised leafleting and canvassing sessions, focusing on schools and student accommodations and drove the candidate to various events - something that his election agent should have done.

 

We also got Momentum nationally on side which was very helpful in directing volunteers towards Hallam. Over the course of the campaign, hundreds of volunteers came along, the vast majority of them very much on the left of the party.

 

It was a political choice to ignore how the tide was turning. If I am charitable, I would say it displayed a lack of confidence in the manifesto and Jeremy Corbyn. Otherwise I would say the actions of the local Labour leadership came close to active sabotage.