Perth and North Perthshire Tory candidate Peter Lyburn met members of the business community he offended previously at the first of The Courier”s general election hustings events.
The Conservative Westminster hopeful angered a number of people by putting their names to an open letter to the press. The letter criticised Labour’s planned 1% rise in National Insurance and implied support for his party’s plans to thwart it.
One of those was Perthshire Chamber of Commerce president Paul Shields, who said he knew nothing about the letter and felt “used.”
Mr Shields opened up the Chamber-run hustings, which allowed delegates at Perth Concert Hall to question the candidates for the two local constituencies: Perth and North Perthshire, and Ochil and South Perthshire.
Mr Lyburn was put on the spot when Pauline Alexander, owner of the Algo Business Centre, asked, “Was it party pressure or naivete which resulted in Peter Lyburn misrepresenting the business community?”
“It was neither,” Mr Lyburn said. “It was a mistake on my behalf.
“There was confusion between myself and these businesses, a lot of whom are family friends. They wanted to show support for the policy but weren’t willing to have their name in lights.
“I have apologised to the business people who have been angry about it. I’ve accepted I made a mistake. I’ve said sorry and I now think we can move on and debate the issues.”
Mr Lyburn made no such admission or apology when The Courier first broke the news, and his Liberal Democrat rival, Peter Barrett, felt the climbdown was “too little too late.”
He called on the 26-year-old to withdraw from the election.
“I’m afraid I don’t accept that apology,” he said. “It wasn’t forthcoming when the matter was first raised.
“He tried to defend what he did. The apology was neither immediate nor wholehearted…
“This is too little too late. He has got until 4 o’clock to withdraw and I hope that is what he does.”
This drew applause from a large section of the Concert Hall audience.’Disgrace’SNP candidate Pete Wishart stopped short of calling on Mr Lyburn to pull out but was equally critical of his campaign conduct.
He said, “In my 10 years of being involved in politics in Perthshire, I have never seen anything like this. It was a disgrace.
“I’m glad he has apologised and I accept it, but what we’re deciding is who is most fit to be an MP for this constituency.”
Mr Lyburn said he was “sorry to disappoint” Mr Barrett but he would not bow out.
Later, Ms Alexander said he had appeared “sincere” with his apology. However, she predicted the incident could cost Mr Lyburn at the ballot box.
“I think I would like to believe what Mr Lyburn said and accept his apology,” she said.
“I really wanted to give him an opportunity to explain himself as I know a lot of people in the business community were very unhappy about what happened.
“To be fair, I accept his apology. I think he was very sincere and it appeared to be genuine.”
Ms Alexander’s name was not added to the document but she said it was the talk of the business community.
“It did cause a lot of concern people were upset that their names had been used in this way,” she added.
The Chamber of Commerce members also quizzed the candidates other election issues, including immigration, the property market, the possibility of an English parliament and how best to support the local economy.