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The "Fallback" fallacy
Shortly after it was realised that the "Position Paper following the second Apostles' Group Meeting (16-10-05)" had been leaked despite "the ongoing need for the tightest security about this project", the Cuckoo Cabinet started to proclaim:
They continue to allege that this is the situation, repeating this at the meeting of the Executive Board of General Council on 11th May.
What is the truth about this? Quite simply, they are lying. Just as they lied at the Durham AGM, either directly or by staying silent as they listened to their colleagues lying about the false accounts they presented, they are lying now. Their own words convict them.
Let us look again at what Mr Bastable, the ICUS Marketing and Promotions Director, had to say in his carefully drafted "Renaissance" document.
"We have stated repeatedly that we are categorically not a 'breakaway' or 'splinter group' trying to 'take over' the Association"....."We passionately believe that this document describes nothing less than the renaissance of the principles and original purposes of the ACU&S, as originally conceived by Tom Smith, albeit under a slightly different name and with a different structure."
It is that "with a different structure" that gives it away. What is the difference between a breakaway or splinter group, and a group of self-appointed directors who cannot be voted out by members? That is definitely not a rebirth of the principles and original purposes of ACU&S. And that "different structure", with Barrie Stuart-King as the main director of the holding company - the company which controls the others - is no more than the re-coronation of the man who brought ACU&S to its knees financially by his folly and self-aggrandisement, and whom the members chose wisely to vote out.
The secretive 'Position Paper' of October 2005 told us exactly why the so-called "Apostles" group chose not to work on the salvation of ACU&S within the normal General Council structure. They intended to pull the rug from under ACU&S and the untidy inconvenience of its elected administration once they were ready. They had a logical launch date planned for six months ahead and, since they were in an ideal position to know - Peter Freeman and Chris Rawson being clan members - were fairly sure that ACU&S would be pretty much defunct by then. What went wrong for them was that their plans were revealed before they were ready. And, of course, ACU&S has not been ready to roll over and die as they hoped.
Meanwhile, we wait with bated breath for the announcement of Mr Stuart-King's latest sponsor/JVP or whatever because, without one, ICUS is in even worse straits than ACU&S. Fallback? Downfall, more like.