Andy McSmith's Diary: How can this disgusting man Robert Bleakley still be a councillor?

The most extraordinary aspect of the story of Robert Bleakley, former leader of the Liberal Democrats on Wigan Council, is that he is still a councillor. This is a man who was twice suspended from the council by the now abolished Standards Board for England for his aggressive behaviour towards women.

There have been three more hearings into his behaviour since councils became responsible for policing their own members. In one case he doctored an email to discredit a senior council employee, in another he was accessing pornography on a council-funded laptop, and in the latest and worst he has been found to have run up a bill exceeding £2,400 on sex-chat lines on a council-funded mobile phone, and to have sent disgusting, abusive texts messages about women.

Wigan’s chief executive, Donna Hall, has told female staff not to speak to him. Let us suppose there is a woman in Tyldesley ward, in Wigan, which Bleakley represents, who has a problem she wants to take up with a local councillor. Is she really expected to go to this man who is on record as thinking that women are “idiots” and “just cooking and washing material”?

On the subject of former Liberal Democrats, Mike Hancock, the now party-less MP for Portsmouth South, was to be seen around the House of Commons yesterday, for the first time in a long time.

In June, he owned up to “inappropriate” behaviour towards a vulnerable female constituent who came to him for help. He has been disowned by the Lib Dems, but he is still an MP. Again, could a woman living in Portsmouth South be seriously expected to go to Mr Hancock for help? Yet he is still the local MP.

“How Good is Your Crisis Communications Strategy?” is the title of a forthcoming event staged by Parliament’s The House magazine. The main speaker is someone experienced in working for an organisation where crisis follows hot upon crisis – namely, James Sorene, Nick Clegg’s head of communications.

TUC leaders were visibly pleased to have the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, at their annual conference yesterday, even if some of the big unions were sniffy about his speech. Something that helped endear him to the brothers and sisters was that he turned up in Liverpool the previous evening and dropped into the Revolution bar in Albert Dock for a drink. In the old days, union bosses expected to be invited to Downing Street for beer and sandwiches, but they have been spurned by the powerful so often for so long that Mr Carney’s gesture helped them to feel valued once more.

It is almost 69 years since John Amery was hanged for treason. No Briton has been charged with that offence since, and it has been suggested that the offence should be abolished.

But if Tory MP Philip Hollobone has his way, it will be used once more, against young Muslims who have gone to fight as jihadists in the Middle East. “British citizens who go abroad to take part in jihad are giving aid and comfort to the Queen’s enemies. The British public want to see some exemplary prosecutions for treason so that the seriousness of this international terrorist activity can be fully and properly recognised,” he told the Commons.

This caught justice minister Simon Hughes off-guard. He said it was “very clear” that the Government will have to do something or other. “Very clear” is a phrase politicians use when they really do not know what they are supposed to say.