10 March 2006
Now Blogging @
16 May 2005
Neo Labour - spin again!
The last week has been excellent - the pressure on the newly formed government is only coming from one place as the Bliarites try to spin an initiative to those who just want Respect!
The result in Cambridge was well below the target we had set our selves but we know the number is a little academic. People in Cambridge were given an opportunity to oust a Blairite war apologist and they did it. We ended up fighting for votes in one of the most highly contested Lib/Lab marginal, which was an experience. The newly elected Lib Dem had to talk up the social agenda and put out literature to explicitly counter any possible Respect Vote. In that sense we felt we influenced the debate and we can rest assured that the vote moved to the left of where it had been before. Of course the Liberal-Demercrats are trying to bullshit both sides at the same time. Having nicked a few Labour voters, they have realized that they have got to try and win a few Tory marginal next time, this will leave seats like Cambridge open. We will continue to hp;d the new MP to account and build on our possition.
We have picked up a lot of new members and contacts and are now growing far faster post election. The results elsewhere in the country have helped enormously and we are looking forward to building on the work we have done!
The discussions we are having with people are realy possitive and people who before the electons thought that we were just making a lot of noise about the war now see that we have a full platform that they can agree with.
If you have not joined yet you must - we need to build the party quickly - Click Here!
The result in Cambridge was well below the target we had set our selves but we know the number is a little academic. People in Cambridge were given an opportunity to oust a Blairite war apologist and they did it. We ended up fighting for votes in one of the most highly contested Lib/Lab marginal, which was an experience. The newly elected Lib Dem had to talk up the social agenda and put out literature to explicitly counter any possible Respect Vote. In that sense we felt we influenced the debate and we can rest assured that the vote moved to the left of where it had been before. Of course the Liberal-Demercrats are trying to bullshit both sides at the same time. Having nicked a few Labour voters, they have realized that they have got to try and win a few Tory marginal next time, this will leave seats like Cambridge open. We will continue to hp;d the new MP to account and build on our possition.
We have picked up a lot of new members and contacts and are now growing far faster post election. The results elsewhere in the country have helped enormously and we are looking forward to building on the work we have done!
The discussions we are having with people are realy possitive and people who before the electons thought that we were just making a lot of noise about the war now see that we have a full platform that they can agree with.
If you have not joined yet you must - we need to build the party quickly - Click Here!
05 May 2005
Red Tories, Yellow Torries and a hole in my shoe!
I can not believe it is polling day already. We feel like we are in a by-election here as the Lib Dems think they can turn around the Labour majority and so have been working overtime on leafleting. I have received seven or eight leaflets from them and often the same piece of literature. The quality of the publications are pretty shoddy. They have a standard pose for all of their photos, this involves said perspective member of parliament standing outside hospital, or station or something slightly linked to the story, pointing at official looking document or bus timetable. The same photo of the candidate posing and pointing with the children of a loyal LibDemer has featured on no fewer than 5 different leaflets. This kind of publication is about as imaginative as their input on the council!
The number of leaflets has a mixed effect on people. Most find it very annoying and many think it is wasteful. I know in some countries each party or candidate gets a small section in an election pamphlet and this might not be a bad idea. Of course if we had free internet access for everyone it would be much easier to run green campaigns without excluding people so much!
My shoes have now worn out because of the canvassing trail! I have a massive hole in the front of both. I am not sure if we are supposed to put them down as an election expenditure, which is not to exceed £10,000 or so and must include the use of all items rented or borrowed. I presume my shoes were being borroed by the campaign. The day after Charles Kennedy had been to town to do a rally I asked the Lib Dem candidate about how the declaration of expenditure worked! The roady who was packing up the stage gear the previous evening told me that the whole event would have far exceeded £10,000 and that the TV companies would have foot some of the bill anyway. Our candidate, realizing the complete lack of fairness in exposure and budget, sheepishly explained that this was a national campaign expense.
We know we have not knocked on enough doors, but we have spoken to a lot of people and raised our profile. The response has been excellent toward us and so many people agreed so openly with our policies and ideas. It highlights the lie and sham we are living in. The majority of the people feel completely trapped and pressured to vote tactically, even if they were adamant they were not. A good line I was using on the doorstep was “ are you voting with your conscience or tactically?”, there a considerable number of people who quite seriously said “oh both of course!”.
I split the voters in to six categories.
1) Respect or Green Voters
2) Lefty and pissed of with all politicians
3) Lefty and so pissed of with New Labour will never vote for them again!
4) Lefty and very pissed of with Labour but so fearful of Tories!
5) Lib Dummer!
6) Tory
My scientific Study shows that four out of six people would vote Respect (or left of the three parties) if the Tories didn’t exist! We have had a very good response and some ‘gains’ in categories one, two and three and a few successes in category four and five! It is however very bizarre, not to mention frustrating that, due to the expected close battle between Red Tories and Yellow Torries in Cambridge, many of category four will vote Labour and many of category three will vote Lib Dem and, although they all have the same politics as us and each other, they will cancel each other out and decide the result - of which none will be satisfied!
The number of leaflets has a mixed effect on people. Most find it very annoying and many think it is wasteful. I know in some countries each party or candidate gets a small section in an election pamphlet and this might not be a bad idea. Of course if we had free internet access for everyone it would be much easier to run green campaigns without excluding people so much!
My shoes have now worn out because of the canvassing trail! I have a massive hole in the front of both. I am not sure if we are supposed to put them down as an election expenditure, which is not to exceed £10,000 or so and must include the use of all items rented or borrowed. I presume my shoes were being borroed by the campaign. The day after Charles Kennedy had been to town to do a rally I asked the Lib Dem candidate about how the declaration of expenditure worked! The roady who was packing up the stage gear the previous evening told me that the whole event would have far exceeded £10,000 and that the TV companies would have foot some of the bill anyway. Our candidate, realizing the complete lack of fairness in exposure and budget, sheepishly explained that this was a national campaign expense.
We know we have not knocked on enough doors, but we have spoken to a lot of people and raised our profile. The response has been excellent toward us and so many people agreed so openly with our policies and ideas. It highlights the lie and sham we are living in. The majority of the people feel completely trapped and pressured to vote tactically, even if they were adamant they were not. A good line I was using on the doorstep was “ are you voting with your conscience or tactically?”, there a considerable number of people who quite seriously said “oh both of course!”.
I split the voters in to six categories.
1) Respect or Green Voters
2) Lefty and pissed of with all politicians
3) Lefty and so pissed of with New Labour will never vote for them again!
4) Lefty and very pissed of with Labour but so fearful of Tories!
5) Lib Dummer!
6) Tory
My scientific Study shows that four out of six people would vote Respect (or left of the three parties) if the Tories didn’t exist! We have had a very good response and some ‘gains’ in categories one, two and three and a few successes in category four and five! It is however very bizarre, not to mention frustrating that, due to the expected close battle between Red Tories and Yellow Torries in Cambridge, many of category four will vote Labour and many of category three will vote Lib Dem and, although they all have the same politics as us and each other, they will cancel each other out and decide the result - of which none will be satisfied!
30 April 2005
Hard work paying off!
Our hard work is beginning to show. We went to the mosque yesterday lunchtime, where we received an excellent reception. One guy came and gave us money for the campaign and lots of others signed up on or contacts list. There is a small section of people who are not going to vote, but we had a good chat with them and thrashed out a few issues, We then went to a local primary school and lots of people knew that I was the candidate and gave us a warm reception. Plenty of people took window posters and wanted to get involved. We went with our battle bike, into the town centre and gave out postcards and stickers. Quite a few people came and wanted to know how they could be more involved. Some had heard about us from people we had canvassed. I think the key aim for our campaign is to get quality contacts, people who will be active in building the movement in their part of town as well as letting people know who we are. We have really gone a long way to achieve this!
I went and visited a boxing gym in early evening. We discussed the lack of sporting facilities and had photos taken. Following that we went into the town centre and spoke to people out for the evening. This was varying in is success; depending on the amount the voter had had to drink.
We had local stalls today and spent time in some key areas and again it proved much easier to engage with the growing number of people who now know who we are!
I went and visited a boxing gym in early evening. We discussed the lack of sporting facilities and had photos taken. Following that we went into the town centre and spoke to people out for the evening. This was varying in is success; depending on the amount the voter had had to drink.
We had local stalls today and spent time in some key areas and again it proved much easier to engage with the growing number of people who now know who we are!
28 April 2005
Don't Hold Your Nose!
Sorry about the short gap in transition, my feet have not touched the ground since Sunday! I have been at six hustings, addressed two other meetings and still been holding down my teaching job! Anne Campbell finally turned up to sit on a panel at Anglia Polytechnic University. She and David Howarth (Lib Dem) almost threw their toys out of the pram arguing over the small reactionary policies the council had Labour or Lib Dem council had made. They both sounded like they were better suited to the village council. It is a disgrace that the Labour party could not get are representative to the Make Poverty History hustings at which those protecting liberal market economies found it very difficult to justify their position. It was a frustrating event as most of the debate kept being drawn away from the economy that produces poverty and war. The Lib Dem has found it more and more difficult to balance his argument as the week has gone on. He has had to talk up foe left credentials, whilst not agreeing to much with everything that Martin from the Green party and I say! I hope our productive dialogue with the Greens can continue after the election as although we don’t agree on everything our outlook is to similar to continue apart!
Yesterday was manic. The students are back from Easter and I had a good interview with both student papers as well as a slot on Cambridge Community Radio. We have a good team of activists in the university and they are now managing to cover the campuses.
The contacts we have in the FBU are being supportive and the pensions action group I have been involved in building through the trades council held a packed hustings last night. The Lib Dem, when pressed on the retirement age, exposed himself to be pretty much in line with the government.
We are ahead in the pole on the Cambridge Muslims online website and are receiving a lot of encouraging support from a wide range of different communities. We feel we could decide be the deciding factor in who wins this seat and although this is not our long term political goal it is a helpful reminder to the many voters whom are not going to vote or willl be holding their noses. The contacts we have in the FBU are being supportive and the pensions action group I have been involved in building through the trades council held a packed hustings last night. The Lib Dem, when pressed on the retirement age, exposed himself to be pretty much in line with the government.
Our postal leaflet is getting out and we have had good feedback about it. We have also received more coverage in the local paper. We are now gearing up for the final push! Several Cambridge members have been through East London or live or have relatives their and the positive reports are keeping us inspired. Good luck to all of those working on the other campaigns!
Yesterday was manic. The students are back from Easter and I had a good interview with both student papers as well as a slot on Cambridge Community Radio. We have a good team of activists in the university and they are now managing to cover the campuses.
The contacts we have in the FBU are being supportive and the pensions action group I have been involved in building through the trades council held a packed hustings last night. The Lib Dem, when pressed on the retirement age, exposed himself to be pretty much in line with the government.
We are ahead in the pole on the Cambridge Muslims online website and are receiving a lot of encouraging support from a wide range of different communities. We feel we could decide be the deciding factor in who wins this seat and although this is not our long term political goal it is a helpful reminder to the many voters whom are not going to vote or willl be holding their noses. The contacts we have in the FBU are being supportive and the pensions action group I have been involved in building through the trades council held a packed hustings last night. The Lib Dem, when pressed on the retirement age, exposed himself to be pretty much in line with the government.
Our postal leaflet is getting out and we have had good feedback about it. We have also received more coverage in the local paper. We are now gearing up for the final push! Several Cambridge members have been through East London or live or have relatives their and the positive reports are keeping us inspired. Good luck to all of those working on the other campaigns!
24 April 2005
Football , asylum and religious gatherings!
Its been another busy weekend. Saturday morning was local stalls, Unite against fascism and more leafleting and door knocking. The afternoon we got a very good response at the football. We distributed a special leaflet. Cambridge drew, which saw us relegated. The fans staged a sit in and I ended up having a discussion with the chairman and sky TV and lots of upset and messed about football supporters.
I went up to Peterborough with a translator on Saturday night to talk to several Turkish Kurdish families who are experiencing appalling conditions. Part of the work we are doing in Cambridge is o try and build Respect in areas were we have not got a strong active base. Peterborough needs Respect so much and although we have some excellent people there (like Adrian Clarke who has been a voice of clarity inside and out of the FBU) and got an excellent vote in the european elections, we are short of organisers. Please get in contact if you can help. The translator works at the immigration reception centre and I am not easily shocked but we spent most of the journey back in silence, upset by how let down so many are by the systems we have in place (or don’t). We were cooked for and made so welcome. We listened as a catalogue of events from harassment and abuse, threats and fear were relayed to us. Many asylum seekers are dumped in Peterborough in inadequate housing and with very little support, they are almost prisoners in their own homes. The police don’t or won’t get translators, the government fails to keep them informed about their cases or status and their mental and physical health is in constant jeopardy through stress and inactivity. We are trying to set up a support group and I have already managed to make some good contact in the area through people in Cambridge and from the team of Unite Against Fascism activists who spent the Saturday morning in Peterborough town centre.
We showed ‘The Yes Men’ documentary this morning as a fundraiser, which is an excellent film and is a must see in the run up to the G8 summit. We worked one of the ward this afternoon that has been a strong Labour seat for a long time. We bumped in to the councilor there who is up for re-election. He is a good, old Labour, man and still has some support. He is obviously uncomfortable with the state of the party and it is clear that it is people like him who are holding up a rapidly declining party. This evening I attended a hustings put on by the combined churches. It was a funny affair as the questions were set in advance. The candidate from the three main parties gave a superb display of how to spit lies through there teeth of which bare no resemblance to their party line or their actions in the house. I challenged Anne Campbell on her lack of willingness to attend proper hustings, where questions could be put from the audience, to which I got a hearty round of applause! She claimed she was free, although we know full well she has been asked and declined to attend. I know several of long time Labour party members who were there, some have handed their card back and many were openly shaking their heads in disgust as she spoke. The Green Candidate is genuinely a good bloke. I hope he does well as I will be counting the vote left of the main parties as Im sure they will. British politics has started I transition, I hope we can make it a speedy one!
I went up to Peterborough with a translator on Saturday night to talk to several Turkish Kurdish families who are experiencing appalling conditions. Part of the work we are doing in Cambridge is o try and build Respect in areas were we have not got a strong active base. Peterborough needs Respect so much and although we have some excellent people there (like Adrian Clarke who has been a voice of clarity inside and out of the FBU) and got an excellent vote in the european elections, we are short of organisers. Please get in contact if you can help. The translator works at the immigration reception centre and I am not easily shocked but we spent most of the journey back in silence, upset by how let down so many are by the systems we have in place (or don’t). We were cooked for and made so welcome. We listened as a catalogue of events from harassment and abuse, threats and fear were relayed to us. Many asylum seekers are dumped in Peterborough in inadequate housing and with very little support, they are almost prisoners in their own homes. The police don’t or won’t get translators, the government fails to keep them informed about their cases or status and their mental and physical health is in constant jeopardy through stress and inactivity. We are trying to set up a support group and I have already managed to make some good contact in the area through people in Cambridge and from the team of Unite Against Fascism activists who spent the Saturday morning in Peterborough town centre.
We showed ‘The Yes Men’ documentary this morning as a fundraiser, which is an excellent film and is a must see in the run up to the G8 summit. We worked one of the ward this afternoon that has been a strong Labour seat for a long time. We bumped in to the councilor there who is up for re-election. He is a good, old Labour, man and still has some support. He is obviously uncomfortable with the state of the party and it is clear that it is people like him who are holding up a rapidly declining party. This evening I attended a hustings put on by the combined churches. It was a funny affair as the questions were set in advance. The candidate from the three main parties gave a superb display of how to spit lies through there teeth of which bare no resemblance to their party line or their actions in the house. I challenged Anne Campbell on her lack of willingness to attend proper hustings, where questions could be put from the audience, to which I got a hearty round of applause! She claimed she was free, although we know full well she has been asked and declined to attend. I know several of long time Labour party members who were there, some have handed their card back and many were openly shaking their heads in disgust as she spoke. The Green Candidate is genuinely a good bloke. I hope he does well as I will be counting the vote left of the main parties as Im sure they will. British politics has started I transition, I hope we can make it a speedy one!
22 April 2005
Home time
We made Anne Campbell's day again yesterday. We dropped by another school at home time and low and behold she was there with her minders. I was very polite and joked we should have co-coordinated on our timetables! She arrogantly thought we had heard the radio and were stalking her. we are far to busy talking to people about their real concerns like housing and transport to worry about where she is going, especially because the people I have spoken to are not to happy to see her anyway. Keep up the good work Anne!
