Stephen Williams
Labour Party activists in Bristol have called on a Liberal Democrat MP to apologise for describing a man with HIV as talking “complete drivel” in protesting at his party’s stance over the controversial Health and Social Care bill.
Bristol West MP Stephen Williams told 48-year-old self-employed businessman, Andrew Schofield, his assertions that the government would withdraw medication from people with HIV was “my most nonsensical email of the day”.
“As one of the party’s MPs who happens to be gay I find your assertion that ANY of my colleagues would countenance such a proposal to be grossly offensive,” he said.
His condemnation of the HIV-positive businessman from Salford was backed by Andrew Stunell, MP for Hazel Grove, who emailed Mr Schofield: “Consider just how counterproductive it is likely to be to send an unsolicited bar-room rant to a load of very busy people at the end of a long day.”
Mr Schofield sent an email sent to Lib Dem MPs, saying they had “betrayed the British people” by supporting the NHS bill and would be punished by the electorate.
“As you walk away from public office I hope you hangs your miserable heads in shame, and take your shame for consenting to this ugly despicable act to your graves,” he wrote.
He has raised the “unacceptable and insulting language” with the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, which oversees the conduct of MPs and is seeking an apology.
The chair of the Bristol Labour Party has now called for an apology from Mr Williams.
“People like Mr Schofield with chronic illnesses know more than most how vital our NHS is. For his concerns to be dismissed by Mr Williams as ‘complete drivel’ shows both a lack of empathy and a concerning ignorance of the views of the majority of Bristolians who oppose this Bill,” Darren Lewis told Bristol24-7 this morning.
“I think Mr Williams should recognise this was a human being, shaped by his own reliance on the Health Service, crying out ‘stop!’
“Mr Williams should apologise, sit down with critics of the Health Bill and reflect on whether their experiences should change his mind on the privatisation of our NHS.”
But the Bristol West MP has said he will not apologise for the comments, telling The Huffington Post UK that he had no regrets about his reply.
“Of all the scaremongering stories about the Health Bill that’s the most ludicrous I’ve been sent,” he said. “There is no risk whatsoever of anyone with a long-term condition being charged for it.
“He told me that as a gay MP I should hang my head in shame, well actually as a gay MP I find what he was saying completely offensive. It’s a ludicrous scare story being circulated.
“This is the idiocy of the internet, where nonsense gets circulated and gets given currency it doesn’t deserve. What this government has done is actually make it easier for many people with HIV to get treatment. What he has said goes against the grain of what the government’s doing.”
I have a low opinion of Williams, who strikes me as both lazy and extremely arrogant.
He is the MP for my constituency, and my experiences of trying to contact him have not been happy. I sent him an email about the Murdoch bid for BskyB, and got no response until weeks later, when I received a circular.
Next, I wrote him a letter by snail mail to ask him to vote against the Health and Social Welfare Bill. I got no reply, but met him at an event in the Colston Hall and asked him about it in person. He was was thoroughly supercilious towards me, and implied that I didn't know what I was talking about. He voted for the bill to privatise the NHS.
If Bristol opts for a mayor and Williams stands for the position, he certainly won't get my vote.
Yeh – its not like Stephen Williams pledged to support sick people when standing for election.
Why do the labour party feel it is reasonable to back this ludicrous claims with no evidence? I think this bill is pointless, but it certainly won’t kill people .
These lies have got to stop – its scaremongering and causing people unnecessary worry.
Labour should oppose the stupidity of another restructuring of the health service but not make up ridiculous unfounded lies about fellow MPs. We expect politicians to act with dignity, well done Mr Williams for not taking the bait.
What this story doesn't say, which the Huffington Post does report, is that Andrew Schofield also wrote in his e-mail, "You DISGUST me!" Have to say that he sounds like a pretty nasty piece of work. It wouldn't be okay to scream this at somebody in the street, so why does he think it's okay to do it in an e-mail? Fair play to Stephen Williams for not pandering to him – people like this need to learn that courtesy and respect go both ways. If he's going to be rude and offensive to others, that's exactly what he deserves back.
As for Bristol Labour Party, how typical that they should jump on a bandwagon like this. They have nothing meaningful to say to the people of Bristol, so can only associate themselves with the rude and irrational criticism of some plonker from Manchester.
Unfortunately, people do shout things like that at Lib Dem MPs in the street now. I left the party shortly after the Coalition was formed and I am strongly opposed to the current NHS reforms (as I was opposed to many of those under New Labour as well). But the Bill will not remove treatment for people with HIV.
The comments are wrong and there's nothing wrong with saying so. I'm not sure why the local Labour party can't see that. They should be wanting an honest debate about the NHS reforms, because if that happens then they will win the argument.
Instead they have gone in for more of this nasty business that targets Lib Dem MPs for abuse instead of trying to build an alternative coalition of progressive critiques of the government. That is why I've left one party, but I'm nowhere near joining another.