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Title: Family values? You've caused my children decades of pain
Source:
London Telegraph
URL Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai ... /news/2006/09/22/naffair22.xml
Published: Sep 22, 2006
Author: Richard Savill
Post Date: 2006-09-22 20:26:08 by Peetie Wheatstraw
Keywords: None
Views: 130
Comments: 5
The barrister whose wife has conducted a 19-month affair with a Tory MP has made a bitter attack on him, accusing him of wrecking family life and causing pain and suffering that would continue "for decades". Rupert Mayo spoke out a week after it was disclosed that Philippa Mayo, his wife and the mother of their three children, was leaving him to pursue her relationship with James Gray, the MP for North Wiltshire. Mr Mayo said: "The irony is that I will not reap the benefits of David Cameron's excellent family-based policy proposals because one of his own MPs has ripped my own family apart." Mr Gray, 51, who is also a father of three, has admitted conducting his affair with Mrs Mayo, 44, a countryside campaigner, while his wife, Sarah, was recovering from breast cancer. He said he hoped to marry his mistress. Yesterday, Mr Mayo, 43, who is a part-time judge and chairman of the Cottesmore Hunt in Leicestershire, made his public attack in response to the MP's attempts to justify his conduct. He accused Mr Gray of serving up "sanctimonious, self-serving drivel" and he urged the MP's constituency association to take "deep soundings" before putting him forward at the next general election. In a 400-word letter to The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, one of Mr Gray's local newspapers, Mr Mayo, whose three children are aged 14, 12, and nine, said the MP's comments in the newspaper a week ago demanded a response. Mr Mayo wrote: "First, Mr Gray says that he deeply regrets 'the pain and suffering I have caused'. "This pain and suffering will continue for decades as my children adjust to having parents 125 miles apart. "If this is a genuine sentiment, why did the man not make any effort to terminate the relationship during its 19-month course? "Many of us have to make difficult choices which do not always suit our own selfish ends. "Second, he seeks to blame the 'pressures of parliamentary life' for conducting an extra-marital relationship. "Many hard-working spouses are always away from home for long periods. A significant number travel abroad weekly. "Such people manage to resist the temptation to flash their parliamentary passes or make passes at attractive women. "In my view, this clichéd excuse is overused and totally meaningless. "It suggests that there is one moral code for members of Parliament and another for the rest of us. "Third, he pompously says that 'some political opponents may call on me to resign but that is to seek to take party political advantage out of somebody else's private life'. In 18 years at the criminal Bar, I have never read such sanctimonious, self-serving drivel. To call it spin is to insult even Peter Mandelson. "Given Mr Gray's treatment of his own locally-popular wife (let alone my family) there must be a large body of staunch Conservative voters who would love to be able to vote for a decent and faithful candidate, rather than the one they have got. "In other words, many calls for him to resign may well emanate from his own party and not from political opponents." Mrs Gray has returned this week from a holiday in Morocco and said she would not be leaving the family house in Wiltshire. She was photographed still wearing her wedding ring. In a statement to his local newspaper, Mr Gray said he would continue his duties as normal. He held his usual constituency surgery on Saturday and was at Redland School in Chippenham, Wilts, on Tuesday to sample the school's new healthy lunch menu. "Whatever has happened in my private life has nothing to do with my duties as an MP and the people of North Wiltshire would not expect me to stop carrying out those duties," he said. Last week Mr Gray said: "I am not proud of myself but I hope that now we can plan our futures. I deeply regret the pain and suffering I have caused my family and the disappointment it may have brought to my constituents." Mrs Mayo, a campaigns officer for the Countryside Alliance, and her husband lived with their children in Leicestershire. Mr Mayo was reported to have moved out.
Poster Comment: Horse and horse's arse: home-wrecking MP James Gray à cheval 
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#1. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#0)
Why are tawdry British scandals more fun to read about than our own?
#2. To: robin (#1)
It's the accent...The thought of those folks with the prim, plummy speech getting caught without their knickers on... :P
Because we have nothing at stake.
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Replies to Comment # 1. Why are tawdry British scandals more fun to read about than our own?
#4. To: robin (#1)
Why are tawdry British scandals more fun to read about than our own?
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