Many years ago, when I was but a lad, my favourite 2pm programme on the steam wireless on a Sunday was The Navy Lark. What fun we all had listening to John Pertwee and crew as they as they went through their familiar routine, ‘Left hand down a bit – no, right a bit’, and then the inevitable crash as their ship once again collided with the jetty. That’s how I see the Standards Board for England. What’s got it in the news now is the righteous indignation coming from Islington, where the costs of the SBE’s inquiry has come home to roost. Of course, the people having to settle the bill are not board members but Islington taxpayers. But other councillors have not been so lucky. They have been unwilling or unable to let their local taxpayer pick up the tab. That has meant that in some cases, they have ‘won’, but picked up massive legal costs. Or they have lost, and lost their position and respect, and been heavily out of pocket. In some ways, even worse, are the significant numbers of members who have decided they could not risk fighting the board and have given in rather than fight, even though they have done nothing wrong. Any reasonable system of justice demands that both sides in a legal dispute can dispute on a level playing field. If the SBE is to continue to investigate, then justice demands that councillors be given the resource to prepare their case and reply to the process without risking their house or livelihood. It is also vital that people with an understanding of being elected also take a leading part in directing the work of the SBE. A quick review of the current SBE board members reveals that not one of them has ever sullied the ballot paper with their presence. n Cllr Richard Kemp is a Liverpool councillor and leader of the Lib Dems at the LGA
