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PM fails to back Nawaz petition
PROTESTERS angered by the appointment of a city councillor with a criminal record as deputy mayor of Peterborough have failed in their bid to persuade the Prime Minister to intervene.
PROTESTERS angered by the appointment of a city councillor with a criminal record as deputy mayor of Peterborough have failed in their bid to persuade the Prime Minister to intervene.The installation of Cllr Gul Nawaz as the city's second citizen prompted a petition on the 10 Downing Street website, calling on Gordon Brown to "join the criticism of Peterborough City Council for appointing a convicted fraudster as deputy mayor".
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mr Brown has declined to involve himself in the matter, which revolves around Cllr Nawaz's imprisonment for his part in a 3,000 housing benefit fraud committed between January 1995 and April 1996.
In its response – triggered by the petition attracting more than 200 signatures – the Government says it would be "inappropriate" for Mr Brown to comment on the actions of the council, as elected local authorities are "largely independent".
Cllr Nawaz said he had not been worried by the petition.
He said: "The people have elected me for the third time in Ravensthorpe ward with an increased vote, and along with my fellow councillor, Harry Newton, I am doing my job.
"I don't know why these people were doing this petition against me, but it didn't bother me.
"What happened in the past is in the past. It was in the last century, before I even became a councillor, and it was all settled back then.
"It's a great honour to be deputy mayor, and it's going very well."
The petition claimed "It is morally wrong for Peterborough City Council to appoint a man jailed for housing benefit fraud in 2002 as deputy mayor, just six years later.
"We believe it reflects very badly on British politics in general and the city of Peterborough in particular.
"We urge the Prime Minister to join us in condemning this decision and urging the council to remove Cllr Gul Nawaz from the role and replace him with a councillor who has no criminal convictions."
But the reply issued on Mr Brown's behalf points out that Cllr Nawaz was not barred from being a councillor as he was sentenced to two months in jail, with one month suspended, when the law lays down a minimum prison term of three months for disqualification to apply.
Liberal Democrat leader on the city council councillor Nick Sandford was one of the petition's supporters.
He said: "I don't think there was an expectation the Prime Minister would take any action. The main purpose of petitions on the Number 10 site is to get some publicity for a particular issue, and I think it has achieved that.
"The question was whether it was appropriate, in terms of the reputation of the council, to have someone convicted of a crime involving dishonesty appointed to such a position of responsibility."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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