Mark Oaten (Again)

[flip-flop]

Reports suggest he is attempting a reconciliation, whilst Belinda is said to be 'incredibly angry'.

This man traded on his wholesomeness and family values, and then is caught in bed with two male prostitutes - male prostitiutes that he is reported to have asked to 'degrade' him.

Belinda - get rid of him, he is utterly untrustworthy.

Can constituents really trust a person like this?

[WaldoMcFroog]

Even if one believes that it is our business to know the private lives of politicians, is it honestly any of our business whether he and his wife sort their problems out?

[andy-hughes]

I see your point Waldo, but there is an argument that a man who lies to his family might more easily lie to strangers, which is not acceptable in a position of trust such as an MP.

It's that age-old phrase 'lack of judgement', although I think that is stretching the definition of that phrase beyond breaking point. A one-night-stand with a prostitute is 'an error of judgement', a two-year relationship is a life of duplicity - Mr Oaten's family's reactions are rightly private, but if he has the honour he should posess to be an MP, he should use it to resign.

[mike1222]

I'm getting so tired of repeating this........but he is a politician - ALL politicians lie - liars are, by definition, untrustworthy, so, no, constituents cannot trust him.............no different from any other politician!!!!

[BigMac]

1. Agree with waldo: his private life is his own affair; how his wife/family regard him now is a matter for them and not us.


2. andy - your point about the facility to lie is well made, but I don't recall Mr Oaten telling anyone else how to live their lives or what is/is not 'morally' acceptable. If he had been shouting from the rooftops about the sanctity of marriage over other forms of relationships then he should be hounded for hypocrisy.
   Consequently, I do not believe there is a question of honour which should lead to him standing down.


3. mike 1222 - I think you are wrong. I think it is extremely cynical to hold that view. Yes, some politicians lie some of the time - don't we all? - but to state that all politicians are liars all the time (or to take the Paxman approach: why is that lying b*st*rd lying to me?) is just plain wrong.

Finally, I think it is time that we as a country grew up a bit. "Do as I say not as I do" should be roundly condemned, but we each of us will have things in our lives that we would rather others did not know (for whatever reason) - and few of us could stand up to the scrutiny of a red top tabloid (and its cheque book).

[mike1222]

BigMac, You are entitled to your opinion, but I think you are wrong! It may sound cynical, but I think that it's a truism that they all lie. I would remind you of the old adage that two wrongs do not make a right - just because everyone lies at some time does not make it right!

I would also point out that I did not say that all politicians are liars all the time, although..............!!

As a last point, the original question was " Can constituents trust a person like this?" and only Andy has so far come close to answering it!

[Englishbird]

The fact that we all lie doesn't make it right, but it makes it (lying that is) more understandable and human. You can understand something without agreeing with it. However, a fairly high ranking Member of Parliament getting caught with two prostitutes is a step beyond lying me thinks!

I just feel so bad for his wife, to suffer that kind of public humiliation through someone else's actions must be very hard to bear.

[flip-flop]

Anybody who parades his wife and kids in front of TV cameras whilst they are breakfasting thus suggesting domestic bliss and wholesomeness is as good as promoting the sanctity of marriage.

This is no different to Gummer getting his little girl to chow down on a burger during the whole mad cow debacle.

Gummer was, disgustingly, using his child to promote British beef, whereas Oaten was using his family to show what a wholesome family man he is and therefore promoting marriage (which, actually, is not a bad thing).

However, whilst conducting this farce, what he really wanted to do was jump into bed with a couple prostitutes.

This man is not trustworthy.

[flip-flop]

....and if he wants to retain any last vestiges of honour he should resign his seat.

I mean, christ, it is only a few years ago that Mellor (odious he may be) was hounded out of the brownies because Antonia was sucking his toes in a Chelsea strip.

At the time there were the usual calls of tory sleaze - where are the calls now???

[kick3m0n]

I love that you refer to his wife as Belinda...so chummy that you'd think you know her! Anyway, I think it's totally up to them how/if they sort this mess out and no one else's business at all. As for whether voters could trust him, unless you live in his constituency, it matters not one jot, as it won't affect you directly. I'd imagine people would be less likely to vote for him if he stands at the next elections, but who knows. Their vote, their choice. I think he has made remarks in the past about unsuitable behaviour from political opponents, so you could accurately accuse him of double standards, but I'd guess that applies to a lot of politicians who will trot out some party line or soundbite at the drop of a hat, without thinking it could have any bearing on their own lives. It's "The Thick of It", really, isn't it??l!!

[noxlumos]

I think he's as trustworthy as any other person to be brutally honest. The reason virtually ALL politicians like to promote themselves as Persil white goody two shoes living in some Kellogs Cornflake Ad ideal family situation, is that if they are honest about themselves 100% then some jaded rag like the News of the World would sieze hold of any negative information about them and crucify them with it.This man has done nothing illegal, prostitution is not illegal and niether is homosexuality, the fact that he is clearly unhappy in some way within his marriage is none of our business.

You would have to be monumentally naieve not to realise that had he campaigned saying "oh yeah and by the way I sleep with a couple of rent boys" that he would NOT have been elected.Therefore if he is a man who genuinely believes he can serve his constituents well he is in a terrible dilemma, either lie to them about his sexual preferences which frankly should only be his business anyway,get elected and do all the good that he thinks he can do, or be honest and have all his aspirations dashed and see someone who is maybe less sincere take his place.From what I know of him he is a good MP, end of story.

[brachiopod]

"[with Mellor] there were the usual calls of Tory sleaze - where are those calls now?"

Not quite the same is it? Mellor was a government MP, a government that promoted family values. It was the double standards of the party in power that prompted the calls of 'sleaze'. As with this and any other government.

The actions of a third party MP are hardly likely to evoke the same volume of 'calls of sleaze', are they?

[jno]

everybody lies about their sex lives, not just politicians. This is because we instinctively feel it's a private matter and we shouldn't have to tell others about it. I believe that instinctive feeling is right. A politician's sexual habits are as irrelevant to his job as mine are to my job. (There will be exceptions to this, for instance in the case of home secretaries legislating on the sex lives of others.) Simon Hughes, I see, has now put a foot outside his closet. He shouldn't have had to; presumably some newspaper was planning to out him. Most of us don't get caught out, because newspapers aren't interested in us. But I think it's wrong to imagine politicians's intimate habits are much different from anyone else's, or that it matters.

[bill barlow]

No people cant trust a person like this and he should resign. Trouble is when the Prime Minister is proven to be a blatent liar over the far more serious issue of Iraq and gets away with it, why should he. A very dangerous precedent has been set.

[GruntFuttock]

Whether or not this disgusting person's sexual proclivities are of the homo or hetero persuasion is as irrelevant as the political party he represents.

He betrayed the very people to whom he should have shown the most loyalty,namely his wife and children.

So why should the poor bloody electorate trust him?