The Rules - and how to misuse them

Fylde Ex-Service Liaison Committee

Standing orders and Constitution

14. Convening of Special Meetings. At the request in writing of three organisations who are members of the Committee, a Special Meeting shall be called of the Committee within the ensuing fourteen days, and, as far as practicable, the notice calling such business to be transacted, and no business other than that specified shall be transacted at such Special Meeting.

9. Voting. Voting, except for office, shall be by show of hands. On the application of three delegates, names of those voting shall be recorded in the Minutes. The quorum for transacting business shall be six delegates

I have placed them in this order to illustrate how procedures can be manipulated if the MEMBERS allow.

With the entire furore about recent revelations indicating that matters were/are not as they seemed, the Chairman of the COMMITTEE has taken upon himself – on legal advice as he wrote – to construct the intention of the Constitution for his own means. He has bypassed the Secretary, a man not under investigation, and issued an edict by private letter to a small and unnamed group of members to “discuss” this situation.

Nowhere in the Constitution does he have that right or that power. Any three independent associations can instruct their representatives to test the waters and singly apply for a Special Meeting, but that generally goes through the secretary as any true member of a service will vouch. If any member or officer is implicated, he will absence himself from the meeting or abstain. It is not for any single officer to prejudge a meeting irrespective of the contents of the business. As there is disquiet about matters in articles in the local newspaper, and as it is known to have resulted in CRIMINAL investigations by local police, it is not correct that any Officer takes this special meeting but leaves it to the MEMBERSHIP on instructions from their Associations. All delegates must make a solemn declaration that they have no association or interests in events that have led to this situation.

As with the rules, once the meeting has been called by three separate MEMBERs, there could evolve a conflict within the rules. What my organisation would be asking would be for all officers to remove themselves from that MEETING because they are, like it or lump it, implicated. So that also means that there will have to be more than one topic on the agenda because the concerned former servicemen would like independent statements from the Chair as to his involvement in the CIC and the taking on of staff under the umbrella of the FESLC. It is not unreasonable to assume that the Chair was compliant with this process, plus the treasurer. The Rules then make it impossible for the quorum to remove the Officers there and then, because that spills over into other business.

My fellow members want answers and this is illustrative of why we refused to affiliate. Any reasonable Chairperson would have written to all the Associations making him available for ‘comments only’ to the membership putting himself at their disposal and leaving the proceedings to others. In any communique with the separate organisations I would have instructed them such and asked that they organised a separate set of officers. Better still, I would have resigned until after the police investigation into the alleged impropriety.

What is annoying is that the greater number of former servicemen and women do not belong to this organisation, but they do these thing in our name. I wonder if the Chair will deny himself legal representation or advise as he did with Steve Flanigan at his kangaroo court? And I wonder if the Associations will have given their representative strict instructions on what questions they want answered? There is enough doubt and stinking material for there to be Special Meetings every night from now to Remembrance Day.

I have a sneaking feeling that this meeting will be cancelled or that certain organisations denied access to the meeting. After all, it becomes obvious from the secret letter circulating that some Officers have decided that the Secretary is the villain for doing what secretaries are supposed to do, eventually. Tell the truth.

It says in the letter “participation will be restricted to named members only”. That is unconstitutional according to these rules.

For the purpose of clarity, Committee means a gathering of delegates from the affiliated associations. It is the Committee that weal the whip and not the officers.