Joan Ruddock and the Iraq war: an unusual self-description

Joan Ruddock didn’t vote in four of the six key Parliamentary votes on going to war in Iraq used by the independent Public Whip website (which sorts and reformats the official Parliamentary voting records) to analyse MPs’ voting records on the war.

So how do you think Joan Ruddock describes this two-thirds absent record in a target letter to voters?

This is how:

I have always acted with integrity and stuck to my principles – voting against the government going to war in Iraq.

As local Liberal Democrat blogger Max puts it:

So, I don’t think she’s being straight at all by saying that she voted against the government going to war in Iraq. She didn’t do  a Robin Cook or even a Diane Abbott, at the crucial moment she wasn’t in the room.

Something that voters should know, and that can potentially affect her chances for the forthcoming elections since it’s not just an embarrassing statement but also a great way to remind people of the clear position that Lib Dems took against the Iraq war.

She’s the incumbent with a large majority, but the debate is just starting. Lib Dems were the second party in Lewisham Deptford in 2005 and with the redrawing of the constituency boundary to include Lewisham Central ward (where Lib Dems are the first party) our chances have increased.

The Liberal Democrat candidate is Tamora Langley.