Dodgy New Tory MPs - Two Case Studies

In yesterday's Guardian, there was an illuminating article by Rajeev Syal and Rowena Mason: "Who are the Conservatives Most Controversial New M.P.s?". It is a very interesting piece, which I recommend to everyone who cares - here is the link. The article names five new Tory MPs (there could well be more) with what can only be described as dodgy credentials. These MPs do not like being scrutinised. One of them, Stuart Anderson MP, told his local paper that The Guardian had not told the whole truth about him. Mr Anderson and his colleagues should remember that the right-wing press are forever "exposing" the far Left pasts of Labour MPs. They deserve the same treatment, where appropriate, and in the case of the five MPs featured in the article, it is certainly appropriate. With all due respect to the Guardian article, I think that a closer look at two of these MPs, and a glance at another, could be productive. The two selected for closer scrutiny are Sally-Ann Hart, pictured above, MP for Hastings and Rye, and Brendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw.

As a manic Leave campaigner, Sally-Ann Hart, says The Guardian: 

"The new MP for the Tory marginal seat of Hastings shared a video with an image implying that Soros, who is Jewish, controls the EU. She also liked a Nazi slogan on Facebook.".

"Soros", is the Hungarian billionaire, George Soros, about whom I have written before, and is a hate figure for the far right. Our dear old pal, Nigel Farage, shares this antipathy and has accused Soros of being the mastermind behind the EU. Even Michael Gove has expressed concern over Mrs Hart's utterances, telling the Jewish Chronicle that they were "a cause for concern".

A further cause for concern is the fact that she has made some dubious comments about how disabled people with learning difficulties "don't understand about money". The Hastings paper, The Argus, comments:

"Martyn Ellacott, 63, head of the Phoenix Disability help group in London, said her comments were “disgraceful” and amounted to discrimination".
Mr Ellacott and others have said that Mrs Hart should stand down. Nice thought, Martin, but don't hold your breath.
Mr Clarke-Smith has roots in the teaching profession, as have I. According to NottinghamshireLive, he was once a head teacher in Transylvania, but I will resist the temptation to make vampire jokes. Instead, I shall quote The Independent: 

"Mr Clarke-Smith faced shouts of "shame on you" during an election hustings after he said food banks were a "political weapon" and it was "simply not true" that "people can't afford to buy food on a regular basis"
This would presumably put Clarke-Smith at odds with another of the MPs named in the Guardian article: Stuart Anderson, newly-elected MP for Wolverhampton South-West. Mr Anderson appears to have had a chequered career before he entered Parliament. As the article says:
"... five years ago, he received an illegal dividend from a security firm which went into administration owing £271,000 in tax".
Mr Anderson, a former soldier, understandably rejects this accusation, as well he might. What is of interest here is that he claims to have been bankrupted, lost his house and reduced to penury. Then, as the Express and Star says: 

"...he ended up using a food bank after losing “everything” when his first business went bust."

Now, there's an irony. Had Mr Clarke-Smith encountered him at that time, we can only guess at the comments he would have made - or what Mr Anderson might have said in reply.

These two examples, however much the Conservatives might seek to explain them away, are indicative of the new Conservative mind set. Tory pundits have told us that Boris will seek to re-establish "One Nation" Toryism. These new Tory MPs, and a number of others, would seem to heading in a different direction. As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined. The rocky ride has begun.