Sent to the Herald: 24th May 2007. Not Published
Sir
Parliamentary privilege notwithstanding, Anne Moffat’s comments yesterday in the House of Commons are almost beyond reproach. To blame any particular voting system for the election of the Nazi regime in Germany, and then to liken this event to the recent election result in Scotland, is a disgusting slur not only on the particular individual she mentioned, but on everyone associated with the electoral process - including the electorate themselves.
Will she stand by these comments and follow them through to their logical conclusions? Ireland goes to the polls today, using a system even more proportional than that in Scotland. France is also about to go to the polls to elect its parliament, having just elected a new president, using a run-off system than provides more choice and proportionality than the system used to elect Ms Moffat. Can we expect her next week to stand up in the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ and compare Ireland’s Taoiseach and the French Premier Ministre to the Führer of the Nazi regime? Better that she stand before the House and make an unequivocal apology, or that some form of disciplinary action is taken against her, before anyone accidentally associates these comments with the beliefs of the wider parliamentary group to which she belongs.
Yours etc
