08 April 2005
The first post
So it's the election at last. No surprise there then, despite the announcement being postponed for a day by the pope's death. May 5th 2005 has been in Tony Blair's diary for a very long time - all planned to go according to the wishes of the spin doctors, the campaign managers and the politicians themselves.
Funny then that things aren't quite going to plan. Firstly the war wasn't supposed to be an election issue. Except it is. Everywhere. Blair is hated because of the war, people are refusing to vote for him because of the war, and now a parliamentary committee has found that nearly all the intelligence on the war was wrong.
If you can believe Blair's henchman John Reid (sorry, Dr John Reid) then the government's strategy is to tut impatiently when this inconvenient question is raised, and just keep talking about the NHS and the economy in a very loud voice. Except in this booming economy people have record debt, can't afford the smallest house in London if they are first time buyers, work longer and longer hours, and are insecure about their future.
And today they announced MG Rover is going into receivership, with thousands of jobs at stake. Not good news weeks before an election and no doubt not in the new labour campaign schedule. But Blair would rather have this than buck his beloved market and bail out the company _ still less take back some of the millions made by the company's directors from what was once a publicly owned company.
I would say the voters of West Ham are pretty fed up with new Labour. In fact in this supposedly safe seat it is hard to find anyone who will speak up for Labour. Far more common when you try to give someone a newsletter or leaflet is the reply 'that's not supporting Tony Blair is it' and only when they are assured not is the material taken.
We are in with a fighting chance to win in both Newham seats, having come second to Labour last June and with the other parties a long way behind. Our launch rally for Respect in east London, headed up by George Galloway, attracted 700 people who filled two packed halls. The atmosphere was electric and we have hundreds of volunteers to help us.
Our appeal is about the content of our politics, but also our form: public meetings, mass organising of volunteers, an absence of glossy ads and spin doctors, enthusiasm, commitment and principles. We say what we mean and mean what we say. What a change that makes. And in the next month we can begin to change history.
Funny then that things aren't quite going to plan. Firstly the war wasn't supposed to be an election issue. Except it is. Everywhere. Blair is hated because of the war, people are refusing to vote for him because of the war, and now a parliamentary committee has found that nearly all the intelligence on the war was wrong.
If you can believe Blair's henchman John Reid (sorry, Dr John Reid) then the government's strategy is to tut impatiently when this inconvenient question is raised, and just keep talking about the NHS and the economy in a very loud voice. Except in this booming economy people have record debt, can't afford the smallest house in London if they are first time buyers, work longer and longer hours, and are insecure about their future.
And today they announced MG Rover is going into receivership, with thousands of jobs at stake. Not good news weeks before an election and no doubt not in the new labour campaign schedule. But Blair would rather have this than buck his beloved market and bail out the company _ still less take back some of the millions made by the company's directors from what was once a publicly owned company.
I would say the voters of West Ham are pretty fed up with new Labour. In fact in this supposedly safe seat it is hard to find anyone who will speak up for Labour. Far more common when you try to give someone a newsletter or leaflet is the reply 'that's not supporting Tony Blair is it' and only when they are assured not is the material taken.
We are in with a fighting chance to win in both Newham seats, having come second to Labour last June and with the other parties a long way behind. Our launch rally for Respect in east London, headed up by George Galloway, attracted 700 people who filled two packed halls. The atmosphere was electric and we have hundreds of volunteers to help us.
Our appeal is about the content of our politics, but also our form: public meetings, mass organising of volunteers, an absence of glossy ads and spin doctors, enthusiasm, commitment and principles. We say what we mean and mean what we say. What a change that makes. And in the next month we can begin to change history.
