Furnace Green & Tilgate- last minute leaflet

 

This is the last minute leaflet that has gone out in Furnace Green & Tilgate to support the Labour campaign. We are all aware that a low turnout in these elections could let in the extremist BNP and it is therefore important to urge people to vote to avoid such a catastrophe happening.

Ross Kemp, whom we all know as Eastenders’ Grant Mitchell, and who is a Labour Party member, has very kindly made available a letter which I have used to warn the voters of Furnace Green & Tilgate of the dangers inherent in a BNP candidature.

To do anything less would make me feel that I was standing idly by while the foundations of a monstrous evil of a new Third Reich were being laid.

Sadly, Duncan Crow, Tory candidate for Furnace Green & Tilgate does not seem to feel the same way and is busily trying to smear me on the Maidenbower forum.

Why, exactly, has he got so upset? Has this leaflet hit a nerve?

If he would care to reply to this post then I will publish what he says, even though I will inevitably disagree with every word.  

Ringing the MP’s office to complain really isn’t on.

Over to you, Duncan Crow.

West Sussex County Council elections- Furnace Green & Tilgate Tory candidate feels the pressure

Just when I thought this election was going to be the most tedious on record, and one where all the vital issues have been obscured by the MPs expenses scandal, the elections spark into life.

I have become the target of Tory ire, because of a leaflet which has been circulated in Maidenbower, which draws attention to the dismal record of councillor Henry Smith’s six years as Tory county council leader.

As my name, as election agent, appears at the bottom of the leaflet, various posts been made on the worthy Maidenbower forum, attacking me, especially, and other Labour election candidates.

In making the following statement, I fear that Mr Duncan Crow may have fallen victim to the same pressures which afflicted Susan Boyle after her six weeks in the limelight as ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ frontrunner.

Mr Crow says: This is one reason why I am personally aiming to deliver a crushing defeat to him (Ian Irvine) this coming Thursday in Tilgate and Furnace Green.
_________________

Well, if I don’t get elected in Furnace Green and Tilgate on Thursday, I am quite sure that it will be down to national factors like MP’s expenses and the general political situation rather than the personal qualities of the candidates. Only a megalomaniac would claim that they could personally deliver an election result.

And the shame is, that if the Tories do win on Thursday, the roads will still be potholed, children’s services will still be poor, vast amounts of taxpayers’ money will still be siphoned off into the county council’s press and publicity budget, to produce soundbites for Henry Smith, and the same old lame Tory excuses for abject failure will be trotted out.

Still, the voters of Tilgate and Furnace Green may yet demonstrate that if a blue sock puppet is put up for election it doesn’t necessarily follow that that sock puppet will be elected.

However, if Duncan Crow does get elected, it will be the clearest, but saddest, indicator that ‘Britain’s Got Absolutely No Talent Whatsoever’.

Norman Tebbit says ‘Don’t vote Tory’ !

OK, he’s saying don’t vote Labour or Liberal Democrat, either, but then he would, wouldn’t he?

But who would have ever  thought that Norman Tebbit, darling of the Tory right, would urge voters not to back his Party?

Strange days. 

‘And former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit urged voters to show their anger about the expenses scandal by not backing any of the major political parties in next month’s European elections.’

From the BBC website.

http://www.crawleyrose.co.uk/

Check out Crawley Labour Party’s new website!

http://www.crawleyrose.co.uk/

And congratulations to the Labour Party members who put in so many hours and so much effort to bring it into being.

Alistair’s budget soaks the rich?

Well, hardly, although to hear the squeals from the Tory right you’d think Denis Healey was Chancellor, ‘Squeezing the rich until the pips squeak’.

If the right are so against Alistair Darling’s budget, then it must be a good one. It’s bound to have an impact on the coming local elections, in which I am a candidate for the Tilgate and Furnace Green county council division.

I’d like to think that the election will be fought on local issues, like the Tory run county council squandering our money on trying to stop the South Downs National Park, and presiding over poor quality children’s services, risking another ‘Baby P’ scandal in West Sussex, and bankrolling local newspapers, with taxpayers’ money,  to produce Tory supporting propaganda,  and desperately sending road gangs around Crawley to do a shoddy job of patching up potholes (already a partial victory for Crawley Labour Party), and investing OUR money in dubious Icelandic banks ( we might get back 70%-80%), the list of Tory mismanagement goes on and on and on.

So I hope all this won’t be forgotten  when voters cast their votes on June 4th. But I have a feeling that the budget may play a significant part in the voter’s choice. It is possible, just possible, that many voters in Tilgate and Furnace Green might, by the time June comes, be feeling a little bit better off. The combination of cheap credit, mortgage rates at a historic low, and inflation down, could just weigh in voters minds- ‘hey, this is what a Labour government can bring, why on earth risk it by voting Conservative?’

So far we have been fairly fortunate in Crawley in that unemployment is nothing like the levels in the North and the Midlands, but we cannot be complacent. Which is why I think it is a shame that county council jobs were devolved to Horsham, but nothing to Crawley, and neither Crawley Borough Council or West Sussex County Council raised a squeak of protest.

And in my view Tilgate and Furnace Green needs a county councillor who is prepared to ask awkward questions of the county council, and who is prepared to get stuck in and involved with the issues that matter to the voters of Tilgate and Furnace Green. Someone who’s awake, not asleep on the  job at County Hall.

Oh, all right, yes, I mean ME, of course!

 

TILGATE AND FURNACE GREEN RESIDENTS, ON JUNE 4TH-

 

VOTE LABOUR, VOTE IRVINE!        

Daniel Hannan- Charge of the Right Brigade

A reader asks- ‘Who is Daniel Hannan?’ broadfield1 replies- ‘a very good question, and one which I wouldn’t have been able to answer until this week.’

It transpires that Mr Hannan is an obscure Tory Euro MEP, who unfortunately ‘represents’ us in the South East, and whose claim to fame is that he made an embarrassing exhibition (or what my granny would have better described as ‘a complete a**e’) of himself in the European parliament. His performance ended up being looked at many times on YouTube, where for some reason his rant was posted for posterity and the amusement of the wider world. The target of Mr Hannan’s rhetoric was Gordon Brown, towards whom the Tory right displays an almost fascistic hatred. If tomorrow belongs to Mr Hannan and his followers, I sincerely hope I’m not around.

I had a quick look at the YouTube post, but, even though I have a strong constitution, I could not bear to look at it for long. It seemed to be Mr Hannan conducting some sort of denunciation of Mr Brown, which seems a bit rich coming from someone who has never implemented a political policy in his life, compared with the Prime Minister, who is wrestling with huge economic problems and decisions every day. Which links back to my previous post- what WOULD the Tories do?

The question now is- what sparked Mr Hannan’s outburst? I think the answer lies in recent events, and is an attempt to rally the Tory right. I am sure that many right wing Tory activists are extremely unhappy at the re-emergence of Kenneth Clarke, a very pro-European Tory, now shadow business secretary. You may remember the recent Tory wobble, on   raising the inheritance tax threshold to £1,000,000, a policy which Mr Clarke described as an ‘aspiration’, not a ‘commitment’. Could it be that the right wing of the Tory party is readying itself, because it is not happy with the direction of Mr Cameron’s leadership?

Whatever, the sight of the Tory right in full cry is not a pleasant spectacle, and given the way that the sitting county councillor for Tilgate & Furnace Green has eulogised over Mr Hannan’s speech, I worry that, if the BNP stand, there will be two parties vying for the far right mantle in the coming election, not something the voters of Tilgate & Furnace Green deserve.   

If this is the Charge of the Right Brigade, they might do well to reflect on the outcome of a similarly named Charge during the Crimean War. It was not a happy outcome for those who took part.  

      

What WOULD the Tories do?

We’ve been hearing a lot of criticism from the Tories lately, aimed at undermining what the government is doing to revive the economy and stave off the worst effects of recession.

It’s certainly hard to keep up with it all- bank bailouts, quantitive easing, gilt auctions etc etc. It is difficult to remember a time when a government has been so actively interventionist. We’ll never know if the measures taken have stopped things being even worse than they are, and what life would be like if those steps hadn’t been taken. But we are not alone in this, and other governments, including that of the USA, the biggest economy of them all, are doing similar things.

David Cameron modelled himself on being Blair-lite; if what Gordon Brown has done is seen as successful, will Mr Cameron start imitating Gordon Brown?

Leaving that aside, what have the Tories said that they would do differently?

Actually, they haven’t  said anything about what they WOULD do, preferring instead to complain about what IS being done. It’s almost as if they don’t want the government to be successful in handling this crisis, because they believe that a Labour failure would make it more likely for the Tory party to win an election. If that’s true, then it says a lot about the Tories’ claims to patriotism and caring for the country and its citizens. I wouldn’t say that the Tories are displaying cynical opportunism, because that would be too mild, but it would be worrying if that was what their election campaign was based on.

Even more worrying would be if they won and formed a government. While they are not saying much now, the way they handled recessions when they were in government was by slashing public spending and hiking up interest rates. Result- massive unemployment, large numbers of homes repossessed and whole communities blighted. My guess is that they would behave in exactly the same way, because if they reject Brown’s way, then there is no other way for them to act. As Michael Heseltine almost said, they would march RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT.

Not for a long time have the differences between the Labour Party and the Tory Party been so marked, and I think this will show at the elections in June, in which I shall be a candidate for the Tilgate& Furnace Green county council division.

Which brings us to a matter of Tory-led West Sussex County Council and the not so small matter of the £12.9 million which the county council holds in an Icelandic bank. Writing on the Maidenbower forum, council leader Henry Smith says that this money is ‘frozen’. What exactly does this mean? Is it not earning interest? Is the county council unable to spend this money? What steps are the council taking to recover the money, or is it another case of the Tories doing nothing?

One things for sure, £12.9 million would fill a lot of potholes and pay for better adult social services and better children’s services, something I’m sure the voting public will bear in mind.

Crawley Times/West Sussex County Council-connections!

It’s strange how things connect sometimes.

The other day I wrote about the Crawley Times, and included a dig about ‘Sir’ Freddie Goodwin. Avid local newspaper readers (yes, there are some) will be aware that the owner of the Crawley Times is Johnston Press- also owner of prestigious voice of the tartan Establishment ‘The Scotsman’. Johnston Press is a company which looks like it is in serious financial trouble. Indeed, some experts believe that the future viability of the company is in serious doubt. Its market capitalisation is around £48,000,000, it has debts of around £471,000,000 and bad debt write offs of around the same  amount.

And which bank is the principal banker to Johnston Press? Who has supplied this enormous debt mountain, most of which will probably never be repaid?

Why Royal Bank of Scotland, of course, which was, until recently, led by ‘Sir’ Freddie Goodwin. Some connection!

And then, just when I think I’m shouting into a void, along comes an opinion which seems to back up everything that I, and Richard Symonds, and a few others, have been saying about the dodgy relationship between Johnston Press and West Sussex local government, in particular the County Council.

So it was good to read a piece by Ian Jack in yesterday’s Guardian about local newspapers. Entitled ‘Who will protect the vital habits of democracy?’, it is an excellent article arguing that a healthily independent local press is an essential cornerstone of our democracy.

However, the article also states that

‘The average starting salary in what has become a graduate profession is about £15,000. A job in public relations for a local authority pays far more & has a far more certain future…..What happens next is more interesting, and well described in a piece by Jon Slattery for the National Union of Journalists’ paper, the Journalist. Local newspapers often reproduce the press releases of local authorities unchecked and unchallenged as the cheapest way to acknowledge new information; written by former local journalists, its style fits perfectly with the paper’s.  Journalism is quietly migrating with journalists to the public sector, enabling newspaper owners to make even bigger cuts. Slattery quotes an NUJ official, Miles Barter, wondering why ”the poor council taxpayers of Burnley and Accrington” should subsidise the shareholders of newspaper chains such as Johnston Press and Newsquest.’

Exactly. Dead on. This has been the bone of contention with the Crawley Times- why should the poor, and not so poor, or indeed, any council taxpayer in Broadfield, Tilgate, Furnace Green, or anywhere else in Crawley or West Sussex, have to contribute council tax money, to pay for local government advertising, which props up a paper whose main purposes are  to act as a propaganda sheet for West Sussex County Council  and its front man, Councillor Henry Smith, who, of course, has ambitions to become Crawley’s next MP.

I have submitted some questions to the County Council, under the Freedom of Information Act, which will, when answered, will add some weight to my arguments (or not, maybe!- Ed.). I’ll publish them on this blog when I get them.

I still think these elections will be about potholed roads, poor County Council services and so on, but added to that list should be the relationship between West Sussex local government and the press, because it is symptomatic of the way the County Council is run. Henry Smith is very obviously a product of what the Tories THINK New Labour was about- spin, smiles and bland soundbites. But attempts to imitate something like the alleged New Labour style without actually being part of it are doomed to failure- eventually the wheels come off and the true nature of the Tory Party is revealed. 

‘Old Irvine’s Almanack’ confidently predicts that the Crawley Times will not last beyond the next general election.

Time to do some gardening.

another Tilgate & Furnace Green blogger?

It was exciting to be chosen by the Labour Party to stand for the Tilgate & Furnace Green County Council election, which takes place on June 4th. I also felt honoured, and a little daunted by the responsibility the Labour Party has placed on me to try to overturn a Tory majority of around 120.

The election themes seem to me to be well marked out.

First, there is the performance of the Tory County Council. We have all seen, and felt, the potholes in our roads, but some parts of town are worse than others. I was truly shocked by the state of the roads in Tilgate and Furnace Green. It will take a great deal of time and money to repair these roads, and as all County Council watchers know, the Tories would rather spend money on publicity, spin doctors, and trying to hold up the creation of the South Downs National Park than on Crawley’s roads. Then they have the nerve to blame the potholes on the government! 

Then there is the ‘inadequate’ state of the Council’s children’s services- described as such by Ofsted, and the inadequacies in adult social services. Potholes are the visible symptoms of Council mismanagement- how many other services have holes that we cannot see?   

Broken promises? How about the aborted plan to open Crawley library on Sundays? If the County Council leader cannot deliver on this, how on earth can we have faith that he can deliver a new hospital?

No doubt the elections could be overshadowed and influenced by national and international events. Europe will loom large, as the European elections are on the same day. What Gordon Brown and the government has done in order to kick start the economy will be a big factor. Interesting, isn’t it, that during the last recession mortgage rates rocketed, while during this one, rates are at historic lows. It’s safe to assume, then, that if the Tories were running the country we would be paying a great deal more for our home loans.

I fully support the steps our Labour government has taken to revive our economy and avoid financial disaster- the Tories would have done nothing.      

The  wild card in this election could well be the intervention of the BNP. Already, their ‘Truth Bus’ (sic) has visited Crawley and no doubt they will be pushing for votes here as they seek a European seat. What on earth they would do if they were successful is anyone’s guess. I sincerely hope that they won’t be successful, and I will be doing what I can, and urging others likewise, to prevent them realising their goal. Underneath the suits, it’s the same old racism and xenophobia at work, and I hope that my Conservative opponent, if he stands, can find the words to condemn them as forthrightly as Nicholas Soames has.

Last year I stood for Broadfield South in the Crawley Borough Council elections, and came second. OK, there were only two candidates, but I was very pleased to receive the endorsement of the former Tory turned Liberal Democrat councillor. Thank you, Marcella!

That election ended up getting quite lively towards the end, but even so, what struck me was the warmth and friendliness of all the people I spoke to. Usually, you can expect some heated exchanges on the doorstep, but there was nothing like that at all.

I hope the Tilgate& Furnace Green election will be similarly friendly, and I’ve no reason to doubt that it will be anything other. One thing’s for sure- win or lose, I am really looking forward to the coming campaign, and talking to the voters about their concerns.

Reasons to be cheerful

1. Barack Obama is President Elect.

2. Michelle Obama will be First Lady.

3. Sarah Palin has gone back to Alaska (and eternal obscurity, we hope).

4. Labour won the Glenrothes by-election (confounding the predictions)

5. Interest rates have fallen dramatically (so many people in Crawley must be feeling a sense of relief).

6. Gordon Brown is Prime Minister.

Yes, it’s been a rocky old year for those of us on the democratic Left. A terrible set of local election results in May. Ken Livingstone voted out of the London Mayoralty. The Crewe by-election lost. The Glasgow East by-election lost, despite an excellent Labour candidate in Margaret Curran. Opinion polls showing Labour support at record lows.

So this week has been a real boost to morale. It seems the world is giving up on that horrible illusion that is the ‘free market’ and turning back to the old concepts of interventionism and activist government. The idea that you can win elections through soundbites and the wearing of Bermuda shorts is dead, although if David Cameron wishes to keep it going then he’s welcome.

And if I were a betting man, which I’m not, I certainly wouldn’t be having a flutter on the Tories winning the next election.