LIBERAL Democrat activists are due to sing songs mocking Charles Kennedy’s drinking problem just months after the former party leader’s death.
The newly-printed 2015 LibDem Glee club songbook includes a verse that talks of Mr Kennedy “downing bottles in a trice”. It goes on; “Oh hear us Charlie when we ask/ To share the contents of your flask”.
Another reads “Charles Kennedy must be added to the list/ A lovely little leader but a bugger when he’s p****d”.
Both songs are understood to have been originally performed in 2004.
But their inclusion in the revised and newly updated booklet, which includes pieces mentioning new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and is on sale for £5 to LibDem members, has angered experts who hit out at the idea of making fun of substance abuse problems.
The Liberal Democrat party annual conference in Bournemouth is due to pay tribute to Mr Kennedy later today.
His well-documented battle with alcohol was one of the factors that led to him standing down as LibDem leader in 2006.
The hugely popular politician died on June 1 at home in Fort William aged 55, after suffering a major haemorrhage linked to his drinking problem.
Mr Kennedy’s grieving partner Carole Macdonald has said that Westminster’s boozy culture was partly to blame for his death.
The Glee club is the traditional last-night of conference opportunity for LibDem members and politicians to blow off steam.
Lyrics, which are sung to the tune of popular songs by the likes of Oasis and The Doors, make fun of many leading LibDem figures and the predicaments that the party has found itself in over the years.
Dr Peter Rice, the chairman of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (Shaap), said of the songs mentioning Mr Kennedy’s drinking: “We are making a lot of good progress as a society in treating alcohol problems.
“Treating serious issues like this as a joke is not helpful.”
A source in LibDem leader Tim Farron’s team said that Glee club was not an official party event and was organised by activists.
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