Cllr. David Potts needs a moderator

Twitter comments unacceptable

On the one hand Cllr. Potts, the Leader of the Conservative group on South Tyneside Council, announces that he intends to divorce his political opinions from his Twitter account, yet on the other proceeds to launch an intemperate personal attack on David Miliband the South Shields Labour MP. Whilst you will all appreciate my political abhorrence of most things socialist, especially within this little borough where the majority stay at home during local elections, you will find that my opposition is generally penned in acceptable terms that most will understand, and often with a wry streak  of humour. I detected a slight taste of mischief making in Andy Hughes report in the Journal, as the former Shields Gazette journalist continues to take a close interest in the online affairs of one or two of the borough’s politicos, however, my own guess is that without Hughes interest this story may well have been buried away within the millions of “tweats” cascading on to the internet every day.

I tend to agree with those contacted by Hughes, Cllr. Potts should withdraw his remark, offer a fulsome apology, not only to Miliband but also to his party colleagues for the embarrassment he has caused them, and to consider more carefully his online remarks in future. He should also get on with creating a new Twitter account, if that was his intention, and try to remember that politics is about the promotion of ideas/ideologies and representing the common interests of his constituents in Cleadon Village and East Boldon. He should endeavour to forget the personalities in South Tyneside (despite some of the savage personal attacks against him recently) and concentrate on presenting an effective case for believing in Conservative principals within South Tyneside. If the Conservative led coalition does eventually manage to get some sort of a grip on the economy with its runaway public spending and ever increasing debts, then they will need people like Cllrs. Potts, Milburn, and Wood to support and defend its actions as when they affect us here.

If I were one of the other two Tory councillors in South Tyneside, I’d be taking some sort of action to persuade David Potts to moderate his language and online behaviour, I’d be rather concerned and anxious about what future comments from my “leader” might lead to. A group need to play as a team, and the team captain is normally the one that provides the inspiration, direction, example, and leadership for the others to follow, but there must be question marks over the direction of Cllr. Potts political thoughts at the moment.

I’m having a bit of fun ribbing David Miliband this week, I don’t know if he can cook or not (or if it is worth £1000 to find out), I’d like people to ask the serious questions about how committed he is to his constituency, but we can do this in a light hearted way, we can disagree without being disagreeable. If Cllr. Potts wishes to join in the fun that’s all well and good, but he must remember that some of the best comedians kept it clean and didn’t need to resort to the “Chubby” Brown material.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::