14 April 2005
Please Mr Postman
The judge in the Birmingham postal ballot fraud case said that the antics there were worthy of a banana republic. In Blair's banana republic it appears it is at present quite legal for political parties to send out forms for a postal vote to potential voters and ask them to be returned to the party headquarters.
Two questions immediately arise in my mind about this: why is this legal and why do the parties want to do it?
Even attributing the most altruistic motives to the political parties here (and three weeks before an election that's hard to do) why would they want to do a job in their busiest time which didn't benefit them? Think about it.
We raised this question at a press conference on Tuesday because we discovered Oona King (yes Oona again) had been sending out forms in Bethnal Green asking for these forms to be returned to her office. Following that story the Guardian lead the following day reported that the Electoral Commission was extremely worried about these and other practices to do with postal voting.
Isn't it incredible that the official body monitoring elections doesn't feel happy with the present system but the parties go ahead anyway. Postal voting should be suspended for this election until these problems are ironed out _ and in my view should not be particularly encouraged as a substitute for going to a polling station and putting your ballot paper in the box.
Met my opponents in the West Ham election on Tuesday for the first time at a hustings organised by the Healthy Living Network. It was a large audience for mainly older people and we all had to do a presentation on our policies which would benefit them. Labour was represented by my opponent Lyn Brown, the Newham councillor standing in West Ham, and the East Ham MP Stephen Timms.
Labour's strategy seems to be to dig in, blind everyone with statistics about how wonderful their lives have become under Labour, pretend that the main debate in Newham is with the Tories, and to try to ignore Respect (although to be fair they were polite enough but did not engage with any of our points). Let's see how long they keep that up.
Wednesday morning off to meet some people at a Bangladeshi welfare association in Canning Town _actually in the Poplar and Canning Town constituency but close to the edge of West Ham_where I was warmly received although very late. Offers of help and support, photos taken, and orange juice and Bombay mix for refreshment. Very nice.
I couldn't help noticing that the parade of shops nearby consisted of a bookies, an off licence, a laundrette and not much else. Don't suppose the residents of the expensive flats near Canning Town tube will be shopping there then.
Rest of the day passed in a rush with a trade union hustings where no other candidates turned up (!) so we agreed to reschedule and had a Q&A, and a small party in one street to introduce me to supporters. Home late to watch the news and ok a press release.
Evening Standard carries news that Cherie Blair spoke at a Brick Lane fundraiser for Oona and became increasingly strident in her denunciations of George and Respect. Can anything help them now?
Two questions immediately arise in my mind about this: why is this legal and why do the parties want to do it?
Even attributing the most altruistic motives to the political parties here (and three weeks before an election that's hard to do) why would they want to do a job in their busiest time which didn't benefit them? Think about it.
We raised this question at a press conference on Tuesday because we discovered Oona King (yes Oona again) had been sending out forms in Bethnal Green asking for these forms to be returned to her office. Following that story the Guardian lead the following day reported that the Electoral Commission was extremely worried about these and other practices to do with postal voting.
Isn't it incredible that the official body monitoring elections doesn't feel happy with the present system but the parties go ahead anyway. Postal voting should be suspended for this election until these problems are ironed out _ and in my view should not be particularly encouraged as a substitute for going to a polling station and putting your ballot paper in the box.
Met my opponents in the West Ham election on Tuesday for the first time at a hustings organised by the Healthy Living Network. It was a large audience for mainly older people and we all had to do a presentation on our policies which would benefit them. Labour was represented by my opponent Lyn Brown, the Newham councillor standing in West Ham, and the East Ham MP Stephen Timms.
Labour's strategy seems to be to dig in, blind everyone with statistics about how wonderful their lives have become under Labour, pretend that the main debate in Newham is with the Tories, and to try to ignore Respect (although to be fair they were polite enough but did not engage with any of our points). Let's see how long they keep that up.
Wednesday morning off to meet some people at a Bangladeshi welfare association in Canning Town _actually in the Poplar and Canning Town constituency but close to the edge of West Ham_where I was warmly received although very late. Offers of help and support, photos taken, and orange juice and Bombay mix for refreshment. Very nice.
I couldn't help noticing that the parade of shops nearby consisted of a bookies, an off licence, a laundrette and not much else. Don't suppose the residents of the expensive flats near Canning Town tube will be shopping there then.
Rest of the day passed in a rush with a trade union hustings where no other candidates turned up (!) so we agreed to reschedule and had a Q&A, and a small party in one street to introduce me to supporters. Home late to watch the news and ok a press release.
Evening Standard carries news that Cherie Blair spoke at a Brick Lane fundraiser for Oona and became increasingly strident in her denunciations of George and Respect. Can anything help them now?
