Denis MacShane, Labour MP 1994-2012, says Fiona Onasanya should resign
Stripped of her liberty and now behind prison bars, Fiona Onasanya will not appear particularly out of the ordinary to her fellow inmates.
For these days, most people given a jail sentence have, like her, committed a non-violent crime or have felt pressured to do something stupid to protect a family member.
That said, to the public at large, her crime — perverting the course of justice — is a profoundly shocking one.
It is deeply disturbing that an MP — and a solicitor, too, no less — could so brazenly lie to try to save her skin.
What she did was lie to avoid a speeding ticket, colluding with her brother.
Sentencing her, Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Stuart-Smith said: ‘You have let down those who look to you for inspiration, your party, your profession and Parliament.’
Disgrace
For, as one of the country’s 650 MPs, Ms Onasanya is a legislator — someone who had been deemed worthy of representing more than 70,000 people in Parliament.
But now, the Honourable Member for Peterborough is a disgraced woman.
Despite calls from her Labour bosses to ‘do the decent thing’ and resign, the first serving MP to be jailed in 28 years refuses to step down and is believed to be planning to return to Westminster after she leaves prison.
As long as Ms Onasanya (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn) refuses to resign her parliamentary seat, she will continue to be paid by the taxpayer
Her fellow Labour MP Lucy Powell was not alone in feeling ‘it shames us all’.
To compound matters, Ms Onasanya will continue to be paid — by taxpayers — while in prison.
As long as she refuses to resign her parliamentary seat, her personal disgrace will be cast on the entire House of Commons.
Ms Onasanya undoubtedly thinks her jail term is just an unfortunate, short interlude in her Commons career. She will probably be in prison for only half her three-month sentence; and on her release, for a brief period, she will have to wear an electronic tag on her ankle that restricts her to a designated address between 6pm and 6am.
If she cared at all for her constituents, she wouldn’t let this drag on any further. Indeed, it is in her own interest, too, to resign quietly as soon as possible.
I write as a Labour politician whose life was suddenly overwhelmed by a criminal offence. As Labour MP for Rotherham, I abused the Commons expenses system to be reimbursed for travel in Europe, where I networked politically and kept up my knowledge of European politics — my specialism as an MP.
I was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2013 for six months for false accounting.
Yet there is a big difference between my case and that of Ms Onasanya.
She is still an MP, whereas I had stood down as soon as I was suspended as an MP for 12 months.
If she tries to hang on as an MP, she will be blighting her future life and lowering the reputation of all politicians in the public’s eye, says Denis MacShane
Also, I never profited personally from the expenses fraud — unlike many scores of other MPs who used investment rackets to amass private fortunes with their expenses.
I have no doubt that rival political parties are busy organising a way to get Ms Onasanya removed as an MP. They would need what is called a ‘recall petition’, which would require the signatures of 7,000 people on the electoral roll in Peterborough.
But the unrepentant MP — who bizarrely likened her court ordeal to a number of Biblical figures, including Jesus, and asked her parliamentary colleagues to pray for her — seems, rather unwisely, intent on putting this off.
She has appealed against her conviction, a process that could take longer than two years, during which time she would be able to draw her MP’s salary of £77,379 and claim expenses. Only when that was over could a ‘recall petition’ be launched.
My advice to her is: do not take that course of action. Quit now!
More importantly, at a time when MPs are being criticised for the way they are dealing with Brexit, Ms Onasanya’s behaviour has become a lightning rod for the public’s view of politicians.
Unlike Ms Onasanya, I did not make what I see as the unconscionable decision to carry on as an MP. Naturally, like her, I felt aggrieved at my treatment. Indeed, I still think my sentence was harsh, but I knew I had done wrong and deserved to be punished.
I saw no point in causing more trouble for my family, colleagues and constituents.
So, as soon as I was suspended from the Commons, well before I pleaded guilty in court, I quit — not just as an MP but also as a Labour Party member and a Privy Councillor.
Criminal
How was it possible, I reasoned, that I could serve my constituents, let alone make their voice heard in the Commons, from behind bars?
And even when I was released, I knew I could never brush my actions under the carpet. Much as it pained me, it was clear I could no longer be the MP they needed.
The people of Rotherham, like the people of Peterborough now, deserved someone who could give them their undivided attention, not a criminal.
It is a great honour to be elected as an MP. Nothing is more humbling than having your fellow citizens put their trust in you. Most MPs realise this.
If Ms Onasanya tries to cling on, she will become a spectacle in politics and her entire life may be consumed by her wrongdoing.
Former Labour whip Fiona Onasanya leaving the Old Bailey in central London after she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice following a retrial for lying to police to avoid a speeding charge
It could also badly damage the Labour Party — which, given that she represented it as both a councillor and an MP, surely ought to concern her.
Certainly, her lack of contrition could damage the party’s chances in a by-election in what is a marginal seat (in 2017 she ousted the sitting Tory, who had been the city’s MP for 12 years, with a majority of just 607 votes).
Blighting
As she sits in her cell today, Ms Onasanya may feel angry about her prison sentence. Indeed, for the record, I don’t believe it was an offence that should have resulted in her being put behind bars.
Under Margaret Thatcher, the prison population was half what it is today. But her successor Tories, such as Home Secretary Michael Howard, then set about implementing a policy of ‘Prison Works’.
How ironic that Lord Howard, as he later became, was himself accused of speeding in 2016.
But his defence in court was much more restrained. He said he could not remember who was behind the wheel when he and his wife were travelling from their Kent home to Westminster.
As a result, he was duly fined £900 and ordered to pay £625 costs, after magistrates found him guilty of failing to give police information relating to the identification of a vehicle.
Of course, Fiona Onasanya’s case is much more grave.
Take it from me, if she tries to hang on as an MP, she will be blighting her future life and lowering the reputation of all politicians in the public’s eye.
Denis MacShane’s Prison Diaries was published by Biteback in 2014.
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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/31/denis-macshane-why-labours-jailed-mp-must-resign/
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Denis MacShane, Labour MP 1994-2012, says Fiona Onasanya should resign
Stripped of her liberty and now behind prison bars, Fiona Onasanya will not appear particularly out of the ordinary to her fellow inmates.
For these days, most people given a jail sentence have, like her, committed a ...
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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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