The Dragon Says: We Need Evidence and Straight Answers

Published on: 29 Jan, 2019
Updated on: 30 Jan, 2019

Our legal system demands that we are all innocent until proven guilty; to prove someone guilty, evidence is required.

See: ‘Russian Row’ Over Wisley Splits Guildford’s Tories, Clarity Call in Russian Row Over Wisley as MP Sir Paul Offers to Withdraw Claim and associated correspondence in the Letters section.

But what evidence does Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford have to back his claim that council leader Paul Spooner travelled to Russia with Mike Murray, the Vale of the White Horse councillor and front man for Wisley Property Investment Limited?

Sir Paul used Parliamentary privilege to make the claim. That such privilege exists is important and it must not be abused. But, in the two weeks since his assertion, no such evidence has emerged.

That the claim ignited much speculation cannot be a surprise to Sir Paul or anyone else observing the progress of Guildford’s controversial Local Plan and, in particular, the inclusion of the former Wisley airfield as a strategic housing development site.

Paul Spooner’s response was swift and emphatic. But it did not clearly answer all the questions raised. He needs to be totally specific about his travels to Russia, travel for which he could have a perfectly legitimate reason, especially as he has a Russian wife.

But the problem with the Wisley proposal is not just about the council leader’s possible involvement. The company behind the proposal, Wisley Property Investment Limited (WPIL), is registered in the Cayman Islands, which prevents the taxman getting his proper share of any profits and also obscures the identity of those involved.

For as long as that situation exists, there will continue to be questions about the identity of the investors, their standing, their power and their influence. It is unhealthy and if, as is claimed, Guildford Borough Council can demand that their identities must be revealed, they should.

The council appears to have got too close to WPIL. It is one thing for the council to maintain that Wisley is a suitable site for thousands of new homes, it is another for them to advise developers, as they did in the early stages, to avoid conducting surveys in the immediate area to obtain more favourable results. Yet that is what minutes obtained under a Freedom of Information request do show.

Openness is required by the Nolan principles, principles all councillors sign up to, because it is fundamental to good government, fundamental to honest government, fundamental to our trust in government. That is the law.

Openness requires straight answers to straight questions. Guildford Borough Council and its leader must show they properly understand this.

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