BMA secretary Jeremy Strachan threatened to sue the chairman of the representative body and members of the meeting's agenda committee during the association's annual meeting because, he claimed, the wording of one of the motions criticising him was libellous.
The motion, from the Eastern regional junior doctors' committee, criticised Mr Strachan for proposing to change the terms and conditions of staff, against the wishes of the 2002 annual meeting. It was due to be debated on the second afternoon of the meeting, but was withdrawn in the morning without an explanation.
Representatives at the meeting revealed what had happened when they were speaking to another motion, criticising the BMA for alienating grass root doctors by manipulating the meeting's agenda to ensure that contentious issues were not debated. The motion, from Buckinghamshire division, also said that the council and executive committees failed to act on policies not to their liking.
Speaking in favour of that motion, Dr Paddy Glackin, a GP who until recently was working abroad, told the meeting that Mr Strachan had threatened legal action against the chairman of the representative body and the agenda committee, if the motion from the junior doctors was not withdrawn.
Mr Paul Flynn, a consultant obstetrician from Swansea and a member of the agenda committee, confirmed that the agenda committee was only told that Mr Strachan was considering taking legal action the night before the motion was due to be debated. The committee itself then took legal advice and the motion was withdrawn. The agenda committee thought it had been subject to “inappropriate pressure.”
The meeting showed further support for BMA staff by criticising attempts by the association to introduce performance related pay for its staff, when it had resisted it for doctors.