Baroness Verma asked to Apologise for Defamation of Anti-Nuclear Campaigners
Anti Nuclear Campaigners 30th January in Carlisle
Dear Lady Verma,
On February 5th Radiation Free Lakeland sent an email to Jamie Reed MP outlining concern about Copeland and Allerdale’s wish to revisit the geological dumping of nuclear wastes in Cumbria despite the conclusion of the MRWS process.
Since then it has become apparent that to achieve this goal of continued steps towards geological ‘disposal’ Jamie Reed MP is waging a smear campaign against anti nuclear campaigners in Cumbria. We have written to Jamie Reed MP to to ask for either a full apology for the slanderous and constantly repeated accusations that anti nuclear campaigners used “threats and intimidation”
or hard evidence that this was the case.
The content of the email used as the basis of “threats and intimidation” looks like very small beer indeed for an internal message between friends which was never intended for public consumption.
The email appears to be from an anti-dump in the Lakes campaigner to other like-minded people and rightly points out that councillors should be notified that they will be called to account for their decision. The email was within an anti-dump list and not within the lists of “anti-nuclear
campaigners” who are campaigning to stop not only the dump but also the continued production of high-level nuclear waste.
Lord Jenkin and youself have eagerly taken up Jamie Reed’s cue and said ‘intimidation by anti- nuclear campaigners may be looked at by police’ This is an appalling and unfounded smear campaign.
Cumbrian anti-nuclear campaigners are volunteers from all walks of life, from farmers, hoteliers, scientists, academics and artists.
Since when did it become acceptable for an MP who has received a constituent’s correspondence via a third party to then leak that private correspondence?
Radiation Free Lakeland are under no illusion that if, like Jamie Reed, we had obtained via a third party sight of private correspondence from him to pro-dump colleagues and then published that correspondence, we would now be facing legal action.
The actions of anti-nuclear and anti-dump campaigners have been exemplary, especially given the context of the almost obscene pressure put on Cumbria by the MRWS process and what appears to be blatant predetermination of central Government regarding siting a geological dump in Cumbria.
On the basis of a rather innocuous leaked private email from an anti –dump campaigner to fellow anti-dump campaigners, repeated accusations of “threat and intimidation” have been levelled at anti-nuclear campaigners in Cumbria. We would like an apology.
Yours sincerely,
Marianne Birkby
On behalf of Radiation Free Lakeland
Letters have been sent to the BBC, Jamie Reed and Lord Jenkin asking for an apology for the repeated and published defamation of anti-nuclear campaigners i.e. ordinary Cumbrians
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21370919
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