A majority of minorities (pulling and polling together)

Despite fighting 7 elections over the last 18 years at local and national level ( Won 6 Lost 1) Last Thursday's win on Northamptonshire County Council is a contender for my most memorable and the most enjoyable.

Fighting the seat as an Independent, against the Labour Party was always going to be tricky, even with the Labour Party's current difficulties.

Castle Ward was arguably (until now) the safest Labour seat in the County and up until I won one of the two Borough Council seats in 2007 it had known nothing but success for the "peoples party", with many of it's ex councillors remaining my friends to this day, and ex council leader John Dickie proving once again to be a fine agent (apart form calling me a d*ckhead on Polling day, when the in car microphone and loudspeakers were still switched on)

But this time those lovely regional party officers in Nottingham did their very best to assist me in my campaign. First of all they imposed their candidate on the Ward (as they did in 2007) and then tried to run the campaign through their regional office, and it seems through the hapless stewardship of the absent parliamentary candidate Clyde Loakes.

Their campaign was lack lustre, their work ethic miserable and their message? Well I am still not sure what their message was other than "The Independent and the Lib Dems can't win in Castle Ward, A vote for the Independent or the Lib Dems simply lets the Tories in" hardly a vote winner and not even credible.

But it wasn't the Labour Party's regional office's incompetence which cheered me most, it was all those who came out and supported our campaign which made me smile.

In true Obama style, we won the election pure and simply on constructing a majority from minorities in Castle Ward who we have been working with over the last two years. For those of you not local we polled 760 votes against Labours 440, with the Tories on 361 and the Greens with a credible 201. The Lib Dems who in fairness did not really contest the seat came in 5th on 194 votes.

A low overall turnout in the ward was bolstered by a higher than usual turn out of minority groups willing to support a candidate who had supported them over a long time.

On election day the number of Women Muslim voters was a particular joy to see at each Polling Station, and our newest community in Northampton the Somalian community also came out in support and in force. In addition other interest groups in the area, our pensioners, our young and our gay community all equally helped out during the campaign and turned out in support on polling day. It was joy to behold and a ray of bright sunshine in a somewhat overcast election overshadowed by the BNP's successes in the Euro Vote.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every individual who lent their support or registered their vote last Thursday It proves beyond any doubt the old adage "United We Stand" and also shows that when we stick together and work for the common good that small communities with big hearts can win massive victories.

But my gold medal for loyalty and perseverance came from a tale relayed to me, related to our eve of poll leafleting team in Spring Boroughs. The team was made up of three pensioners, an 11 year old girl and a 14 year old boy, and they were faced with delivering 1000+ leaflets across a large area dominated by high rise flats. I told them to only do what they felt they could and not overdo it as we could finish off the task on Polling Day morning.

But when I rang for an update on the Wednesday evening I was told "it's all done" that in itself was a massive achievement, but on polling day I learnt a little more about their exploits. You see one of our tower blocks Barnabus House has no lift at present due to refurbishment works, so the task of carrying themselves and bundles of heavy leaflets up such a concrete mountain should have been enough to stop them in their tracks, so did it deter them? No, instead our eldest volunteer 87 climbed the stairs to the top floor, resting at each level whilst her accomplice a spring chicken at 76 waited at the bottom. once the summit was reached the 89 year old then lowered a rope to the bottom where the bags of leaflets were duly tied on ready for hauling up and stuffing through letterboxes.

Loyalty like that can never be bought, and it just goes to show what can be achieved if people work together and are given a reason to feel part of a much broader collective family. Across the patch similar things are happening, tenants are digging up unkempt council land outside their flats to grow vegetables and young and old working together on community projects, residents are adopting "potholes" in order to shame the authorities into action, leisure space is being reclaimed from the drug users and drinkers and used by families and dog walkers.

Not all of this can be connected with last weeks election, in fact much of it has its roots much deeper in Northampton's proud Independent past stretching from the Civil War through to Bradlaugh's election in the late 1800's. But it has me proud to be elected to serve the area and delighted to have such people in my Ward.

And who said Politics couldn't still be enjoyable?

NO HAWKERS - NO SALESPERSONS - NO TIME WASTERS

We always seem to know when there is an unwelcome or unwanted caller at our door? Maybe it's the timing? early evening or Sunday mornings? Maybe we all have built in bullsh*t detectors warning us against peddlers.

But whatever the reason I am convinced (now more than ever) that election candidates are about as welcome on our doorsteps as Johava's Witnesses or those energy sales staff offering ever reduced tariffs.

It is for this reason that less of my campaigning these days is carried out in the old fashioned manner. Gone are the days of reading systems and canvass returns, in is the age of direct mail, readable leaflets, and e-campaigning.

But I still can't help but think that we are all still trying to sell a product that the public has long since got tired of buying.

Turnout at tomorrows Euro and Council elections is predicted to be as always at a "record low" (i.e. since the last election broke the last record low) and in many ways the furore over MP's expenses has simply legitimised the "I never bother voting anyway" camp

You see any contract between two people be they selling eggs or political promises has to be formed on the basis of both parties having either something to give or wanting something back in return.

So in this instance most candidates are saying " I have a bag full of promises to make to you to make your life better for you, I can also promise you that whilst now, at this minute my intentions maybe good that afterwards I reserve the right to change my mind and amend my promises as befits the needs of my Party.

The voter meanwhile pledges to "maybe go out and vote for you or your party on the basis that I think I trust that you will do what you say you will do, but I reserve the right to either not bother voting if I can't be bothered and also change my voting intentions in the future should a better offer come along and or the mood swings the other way"

It's hardly a match made in heaven is it? Years ago a persons political character was often set and known to them. They were Socialists who voted Labour or Capitalists who voted Tory or confused individuals in sandals and cardigans who couldn't make their mind up and voted Liberal.

But now it seems as if we don't need to hold any political ideals? and that you can change your party as often (if not more) than you change your wallpaper. Of course a lot of this is the fault of all of the three main parties wrestling for the same plot of centre ground Middle England turf and making their parties almost carbon copy's of each other.

So wheres the loyalty? wheres the honesty? and where is the delivery? Increasingly I believe that the public anger at the "expenses" scandal runs a far lot deeper than their distaste for the behaviour of our MP's. I believe that many have also lost all faith in the system itself and feel that "Politics" Local and National has little to offer to them.

Perhaps we are all to comfortable? or that those who are not and in need have lost hope of anyone speaking up for them?

The Labour Party was formed over 100 years ago as a partnership between the working men and women of Britain and their trade union memberships. It worked for a long period of time when rights at work and equality between rich and poor were still to be strived for. However despite many of these rights being currently eroded it seems as if most working people have abandoned the trade union movement in favour of the "no win no fee" culture.

Equally there has been an abandonment of the Labour Party, in fact an abandonment of all of the big three party's as 99% of the population chose not to be members of any of them.

But people are starting to organise again. In my own seat Castle Ward we have active community groups, forums and residents associations. We have volunteers willing to give their time to improve their locality. People are "Doing it for themselves" without the need for someone to sanction their activity through passing a motion at any party meeting, or even at the Council.

That is why more local candidates should be elected on Thursday, that is why more an more Independent candidates are being successful across the UK.

On June the 4th across Northamptonshire there are a eight Independent candidates standing for election together with a few local community minded candidates also standing under the grouping of Northampton Save our Services.

Each will be fighting to be elected with little outside support and without much media attention. If we want to change politics in our county for good and for the better, and send a message to all the main parties that we are through with their continued empty promises and deceit, then I hope those of you who have the chance to, will vote for candidates who will not be compromised by any political whip, nor tempted by any offer of party position.

I would also urge voters not to be taken in by the disgraceful and disturbing mantra peddled in the County by the far right BNP. Hopefully there continued exposure will be enough to warn people of their vile hidden agenda.

So If you want to hold up to the true radical traditions of independent thought and action by Northamptonshire's citizens that over the centuries has brought us real political change from backing Parliament in the civil war through to returning Bradlaugh to Parliament four times against the wishes of the establishment then I hope that this time you will consider, if you have the opportunity of doing so on June the 4th, of voting for an Independent Voice to represent you at County Hall.

Shhh, Don't mention the election

A reporter from our local newspaper the Chronicle and Echo phoned me today to ask me for some information on a rather tame story to do with the Borough Council's Community Centre strategy. I got the phone call because the only answer they could get from the Council was that they "Couldn't comment due to election purdah" The Purdah is a period whereby no council officer or Councillor can say anything that in any shape or form can be seen by others to be political or preferring one party over another

Although the Borough Council has no elections it was felt that as some Councillors are members or candidates on both authorities then this ridiculous rule should apply to all it's officers and members.

Equally our local press are reluctant to publish "political" stories and as such we have to suffer a pretty lame month of "equal" coverage for the three main parties, it seems at times to the exclusion of anything else.

In essence what the establishment are saying (now backed up by the local press) is that the only time that local politicians cannot be political is at election times!

What a complete nonsense this purdah rule is. It wasn't always like this, and it shouldn't be like this now. Has Parliament closed for a month because we are in purdah? Did the Daily Telegraph think about "purdah" before starting it's current exposure of MP's abuses of their expenses?

How on earth can voters make informed choices if someone is "controlling" the political information they receive?

In my view this is just another example of how our local governance is being sanitized and made ineffective and remote from the masses. Turnout at local government elections is already at an all time low and whoever decided that this years "local government trend of the year" would be election purdah, needs their head testing.

Let parties and candidates say what they want, let the electorate see them warts and all. Let the press print (within the laws of decency) what they see fit to print. The public are not stupid, we can see through the spin, we don't need all our information censored by big brother, and if someone goes over the top then Councils and/or the police should take action against the offender rather than punishing everyone else who wishes to stand for election.

The press maybe have another, perhaps more understandable reason for their stance, perhaps by only concentrating on the "big three" then they can deny fascists like the BNP the oxygen of publicity? but why should I as an Independent candidate or the Green Party or some of the smaller local party's suffer in order to silence the unsavourable?

How will people know how ridiculous the BNP's policy's are unless they are allowed to judge for themselves? I as a political animal take an interest, I think it is laughable that the BNP have a leader who believes the holocaust did not happen, and have a policy to repatriate all non white Briton's (bang go our chances in the next World Cup if the fascists ever get in!)

So to hell with censorship I say, let them all do their worst and in doing so give the public some credit for being grown up enough to spot the difference between political spin and genuine intent.

After all at the moment the only people benefiting from election purdah seem to be the big three parties? Perhaps if they didn't get preferential treatment then they might all become the little three? and perhaps that's why they reinvented political purdah in the first place?

Localism is the key to cleaning up politics

Whenever I was asked as an MP if I would "do as I promised" or "Why should we trust you" I used to honestly answer by saying "I won't be an MP for ever you know, and when I am not I will still have to live in the same street, drink in the same pubs, eat in the same restaurants, Northampton is my home and if I don't keep my integrity and good name then I will have lost a damn sight more than a seat in Parliament"

When I was first elected to the Commons in 1997 it was of course as part of a massive Labour landslide and hidden amongst the celebration and false hope was a little written about added extra, that in winning well and going way beyond the '100 Key Seats' needed for a majority in the Commons, the party had returned to Parliament a number of additional MP's who in their plans, were really not meant to have been there.

Joining me in Parliament were people like Phil Sawford in Kettering, Andy King in Rugby, Ivan Henderson in Harwich all local constituency based candidates who had done their apprenticeships working hard in their local communities and on their respective local councils.

The 100 Key seats on the other hand were stacked full of careerist and opportunists who would have traveled anywhere, and said anything to land a prize of a seat in Parliament. People who lived in one place represented another and saw their constituencies as places to visit rather than places to live and bring up their children.

So if you have a few moments to spare dig up a copy of Labours 100 from 97 including all the Blair's babes and match it against the morally bankrupt individuals who have disgraced parliament over recent weeks with indefensible claims for adaptations, building works, furniture, gardening and luxury goods for their second homes.

Surprise Surprise, the two lists are well matched.

It's not just the Labour Party though, the Tories and the Lib Dem's all have favoured lists of placed candidates parachuted into constituencies at their Party's behest. And in return they get pliant, obedient, voting fodder to do their bidding and sell their policy wares in the House and to the wider electorate.

Local candidates on the other hand are less likely to simply go along with the Party flow, more likely to stand up for what is right for their localities and their constituents, and are bad news for the whips. Mp's should represent their constituencies views in Parliament, not represent the views of their Parties within their constituencies.

So in essence we have the Parliament we deserve, stacked to the brim with individuals with little loyalty to the town's and cities they represent and whose priority in life is the advancement of themselves first and foremost and the needs of their constituencies are way down their list.

So when all the Parties are through with their Star Courts and Chambers, and they have culled their ranks of the greedy and corrupt, then they would do well to thinking about some form of proven local connection when choosing replacement candidates. We have had all women shortlists and secured positions on shortlists for black and minority ethnic candidates, so perhaps it's now time for system that concentrates the mind and the vote on people who truly represent their seats because they know the people who live there and want to improve their own own areas not just see it as the place where their fees office paid for property portfolio is based.

Add in a dash of Single Transferable Vote and a generous sprinkling of transparency and we might just have a recipe for real change.

In the meantime though I will steer clear of the lot of them, and the only way I see a lot of constituencies getting proper representation is through them electing Independent candidates into office as Local Government and at a National level.

A Plague on all your houses

In 2002 I agreed to be interviewed by the lovely Kate Sanderson (now Kate Gerbeau) from the BBC's "Watchdog" programme. You may remember Kate and her penchance for black leather trousers, if you don't I certainly do, (but don't tell the wife). Anyway Kate came to my London flat to talk to me as part of a BBC Watchdog inquiry into MP's expenses.

Given the current, public uproar over the scandalous abuse of the system you will be pleased to learn that my part in the programme was to be held up as a paragon of good practice. At the time I was one of a very few, if not the only Member of Parliament who openly published their expenses within my annual report. My wages, my additional cost allowance, (for living p/t in London) and my office cost allowances were broken down, line by line for everyone to see where the cash went and on what it was spent.

£60,000 a year salary was more than enough as far as I was concerned to recompense me for doing a job I had always wanted to do. And the fact that Parliament would pay for the rent on a London base for me to use when in the Commons was a huge help and a privilege, that should never be abused. No members of my family worked in my office, and every penny spent was accounted for and spent well. After all it wasn't my money, it was yours ! and as a consequence telling you where it went was part of my job, I thought I was there not only to represent the electorate but also to give them good value for money.

Myself and two other parliamentary colleagues shared taxi's home at night to save on cost's, and despite "the rules" allowing us to claim for a wide variety of "essential items" I and they always thought it churlish and inappropriate to claim for personal costs that I would have still incurred even if I had been at home in Northampton.

I said to Kate at the time that the whole system was open to abuse and that unless Parliament got a grip of the system, then in the future difficult questions would be asked of individuals and of the institution itself.

It therefore gives me little satisfaction to be proved right, but I was surprised to be asked this week by the local press as whether or not I thought the "Government" could recover from the public outrage that has followed the story so far.

I pointed out that whilst the initial focus had been on government ministers, that in fact MP's from all the three main parties were equally guilty and equally should be shamed. This is a plague on all their houses, and yet another example of how low in moral malaise our democracy has fallen.

The parliamentary expenses system needs a total overhaul, and the most urgent focus of that overhaul has to be the use of the additional cost allowance which should have been used (but clearly has not been by some) to reimburse to a member the cost of staying in London to perform their duty in the House. I said when in parliament that we should move towards a system of furnished apartments owned by the state and paid for by the state, to made available to individual members whilst they are in office. They provide MP's with offices already so why not a place to rest their heads?

Any MP not willing to take up the offer could be given a reduced amount (say £8,000 a year to sort out their own arrangements in hotels or as part of a private arrangement payable only upon receipt of clear invoices. All payments should be made publicly available for scrutiny and MP's should be forced to publish their accounts in their annual reports to electors as a condition of their service.

One final point, the focus has so far been on those MP's from all three parties who have disgraced themselves and the office they serve, but hidden deep down out of sight are an unfortunately small minority who have not and would not as a matter of principle take a penny more than is due to them. As we approach a general election that could see sitting MP's punished for the sins of the collective whole, I hope that the good as well as the bad and the down right ugly are equally brought into public focus.

Que Sera Sera

Whilst not an original chant, I had to admire the vocal courage of the travelling hordes of Cobblers fans who took the long trek up to the relegation gallows at Leeds yesterday in singing out the season.

As events unfolded elsewhere (Carlisle and Brighton, who were also both threatened with the drop) and on the pitch in front of us the possible became inevitable and then became a stark reality.

So the Cobblers faithful decided to answer the chants from "play off bound" Leeds fans of "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, were going to Wembley" with their own version of "Were going to Shrewsbury" and not just Shrewsbury, you can also add Dagenham and Redbridge and Burton Albion and Morecombe and Accrington Stanley to the list of clubs we will be visiting in League 2 next season. A long way away from the expectation of visits to and from Southampton, Charlton, Norwich and possibly Leeds again?



And so it was a most disastrous season ended in relegation and a 3-0 drubbing by Leeds United in front of a crowd 34,000 where as next season we will probably start the season away at Bury in front of a crowd of 3400. That's the game, that's how unfair and cruel life as a football supporter can be.

And so it is today that despite the inevitable comments from some saying "It's only a game" I find myself wrapped deep in depression, unable to watch any football on the TV, unwilling to go out and face a world that seems not to care about the plight of us obsessive football fans. My therapy is to write this blog entry and get off my chest all of my feelings and forebodings.

First of all though well done to Brighton and Carlisle, you both really had to win to have any chance of surviving, and then also look to others (us) to foul up. We did, you didn't. You did the job asked of you, we didn't. You deserve to stay in League one, we don't.

Secondly, in speaking to just a few similarly afflicted souls such as myself I detect a stirring of "no one likes us we don't care" about our mood.

In a season when the Council couldn't be arsed to get behind us when it really mattered most, and when you felt that some in the town (thankfully not too many) almost seemed to take some satisfaction at our ongoing plight, the fan base seem to have formed an opinion of robust indifference, saying "think what you like, do your worst, we are here to stay and we are not going away and we are never, ever, giving up on our dream.

Last Thursday we met with the Council about our much revised plans, it was a good meeting, at the same time the Saints plans have really thrown a hand grenade into the planning arena just as I am sure Keith Barwell expected them to. We can only but wait for the views of the politicians at the Guildhall who I have to say have so far been less quick off the mark with their opinions than they were when the football club announced their own plans. Time will tell.

But all this means that we will be having the debate against a background I hope of acceptance from some that we won't give up on our ambition off the pitch any more than we will relinquish our hope of future success on it.

A creature is at it's most dangerous when backed into a corner and when it is feeling under threat from all those around. So beware, the pain of relegation today stings, our wounds are open, and some will be quick to rub salt into them, but we will rise again.

Now what price will Ladbrookes give me on us being champions of League Two next season?

International Workers Day

It is resolved that: "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1st 1886 and that we recommend to labor organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named".

And so it was that the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada (FOTLU) having passed it's historic resolution in Chicago sparked a General Strike across AmericaThere were an estimated 10,000 demonstrators in New York and 11,000 in Detroit In other cities throughout the United States, smaller gatherings were made unique by the unity of black and white workers marching side by side.

In Chicago the press made much mischief as to the intentions of the Strikers and warned readers that

"There are two dangerous ruffians at large in this city. One of them is named Parsons. The other is named Spies. Mark them for today. Keep them in view. Hold them personally responsible for any trouble that occurs. Make an example of them if trouble does occur." Trouble did occur but not through the actions of the Strikers On Monday May 3rd the police opened fire into an innocent crowd with gattling guns and rifles, six were killed. The next day at a protest at the killings, a bomb was thrown into the ranks of the assembled police officers, killing one immediately and wounding 65 others, seven of whom later died of their injuries. The remaining police officers drew their revolvers and fired into the crowd, wounding 200 and killing an unknown number.

Several witnesses identified Rudolph Schnaubelt as the man who threw the bomb. Schnaubelt was arrested, but was later released without being charged with any crime. There was, and still is, some question as to whether or not Schnaubelt was an agent provocateur hired by either the police department or the industrialists of Chicago.

Within days seven labor leaders were arrested for the murder of Mathias J Degan, the police officer who died at Haymarket Square. Those arrested were August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg andOscar Neebe. Albert Parsons, who was also indicted, avoided arrest until the first day of the trial, when he walked into the courtroom and announced 'I have come to stand trial, your Honor, with my innocent comrades.'

At the trial itself, the prosecutors made no attempt to prove that any of the defendants threw the bomb or conspired to throw the bomb. Instead, they set about trying to prove that the bomb was thrown by an unknown person motivated by the ideals held by the defendants. Prosecuting Attorney Julius Grinnel, in his closing remarks, stated that:

Law is upon trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they were leaders. They are no more guilty than the thousands that follow them. ... Convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and save our institutions, our society.

In his final comments to the court, August Spies said

If you think by hanging us you can stamp out the labor movement... if this is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread upon a spark, but there and there, behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out.

And now these are my ideas. They constitute a part of myself. I cannot divest myself of them, nor would I, if I could. And if you think you can crush out these ideas that are gaining ground more and more every day, if you think you can crush them out by sending us to the gallows... if you would once more have people suffer the penalty of death because they have dared to tell the truth... then I will proudly and defiantly pay the costly price! Call your hangman! Truth crucified in Socrates, in Christ, in Giordano Bruno, in Huss, in Galileo still lives - they and others whose number is legion have preceded us on this path. We are ready to follow!

All of the defendants were convicted. With the sole exception of Oscar Neebe, all of the defendants were sentenced to death. Neebe was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He asked that he also be condemned to death, because he was no more innocent than the other defendants.

Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab petitioned for clemency and had their sentences commuted to life in prison. Louis Lingg avoided hanging by committing suicide. Some reports say that he accomplished his own death by biting a percussion cap. Others say that he exploded a stick of dynamite in his mouth. On 11 November, 1887, the other defendants were hanged.

In the UK in 1884, Tom Mann had joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and published a pamphlet calling for the working day to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organization, the Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the Trades Union Congress to adopt the eight-hour day as a key goal.

In 1889, at the Marxist International Socialist Congress in Paris, a resolution was passed calling for a 'great international demonstration' for the eight hour day to take place on 1 May, 1890. On that date, there were May Day demonstrations in the United States and many European countries, as well as in Chile, Peru and Cuba.

In 1891, May Day was celebrated in Russia, Brazil and Ireland. China first celebrated May Day in 1920. In 1927, the holiday had spread to India, where there were demonstrations in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay (Mumbai)

As May Day was becoming a worldwide holiday, with the date having been chosen to commemorate the union fight for the eight-hour work day in the United States, within the United States itself the mainstream labour movement, now represented by the American Federation of Labor, was becoming more conservative. That organisation chose to support the first Monday in September as Labor Day. In 1894, federal legislation designating the September Labor Day holiday was passed and signed into law by the then-United States President, Grover Cleveland.

America and the World were made to wait a while after that protest in 1886 for their * hour day, and many today will wonder if it has now been conceded again.

But in memory of the Haymarket Martyrs, and all good honest working men and women across the globe who fight against the injustices of those who seek to enslave them I wish you all well on this International Workers Day.

Perhaps also we should pay tribute on this year anniversary to our recently departed Comrade Jack Jones, Trade Union Giant, Spanish Civil War Hero, Workers friend, and an Internationalist of the highest order.

Sleep Well Comrade

"Hope not Hate" is the real winner

Last night my team Northampton Town (The Cobblers) went down 0-1 in a local derby against the franchised, Milton Keynes Dons. The defeat means we go into the final game of the season away at Leeds United on Saturday needing a point (or others to not succeed) in order to retain our League One status.

It was a miserable night, and the mood at the club this morning is dark, but we will pick ourselves up dust ourselves down etc and move on.

But last night also had a bright side. The Cobblers lent their support to the "Hope not Hate" campaign with write ups in the programme, and both sides wearing hope not hate t-shirts whilst they warmed up as substitutes in front of the main stand. Anjona Roy CEO of Northamptonshire Race Equality Council and Kathy Smith from the local Hope not Hate campaign attended the game to help spread the message. And the message was clear "Don't vote for the BNP"

As we approach the Euro and local elections on June the 4th we should all be concerned that for a whole host of reasons that the BNP expect to do well at the polls and that Britain will probably be shamed in having it's first fascist Euro MEP's elected to Brussells.

Our job between now and June 4th is to expose the BNP for what they really are, nasty right wing fascists filled with hatred, and in denial about the future of multi cultural Britain. So if you want to know the truth about Britain's Nasty Party then click on the link below.

For instance could anyone really vote for someone who said the following?

"I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the Earth was flat … I have reached the conclusion that the 'extermination' tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria"

If not then what is Party Leader Nick Griffin who uttered the above rubbish in a courtroom in 1998 doing on the ballot paper?

On Multi cultural Britain he offers us the following advice:

"Without the White race, nothing matters. [Other right-wing parties] believe that the answer to the race question is integration and a futile attempt to create 'Black Britons', while we affirm that non-Whites have no place here at all and will not rest until every last one has left our land"

The British National Party is becoming a household name. In the process it is trying to appear more moderate and respectable. But it is not. Scratch the surface and you find the same old racists lurking . It is run by hardline nazis who as you see above believe that the Holocaust did not happen. Its rule book remains firmly entrenched in the principles of racial superiority and the banning of racial integration.

The BNP may have got cleverer but its real politics remain the same.

So if Northampton Town last night did it's bit in support of it's opponents then perhaps is wasn't so bad a night after all?

"What a Jerk"

I promised myself I would avoid any more story's about Clyde Loake's activities, mostly because he gets more press on my blogspot, than he been able to achieve in total elsewhere in his so far lack lustre campaign for the Northampton South seat. But his latest antics are just too bizarre to be passed over without comment.

I am sure you may have read elsewhere that last week Clyde "went national" in the press to defend the stance of his council as they "raided" an Afro Caribbean restaurant, the "Bamboo Joint"in Leytonstone High Street.

7 Police officers in stab vests and 3 councils officials paid an early morning visit to this most dangerous of establishments and ordered it's owners to close within three days.

Their crime? well having reapplied for planning permission after a refit and despite having already traded for 3 years in the premises, they fell foul of the Councils new by law of selling "junk food" within 400 metres of a school or 200 metres of a park. The "junk food" they sell includes stewed cabbage, spinach, aki and salt fish, steamed fish, ox tail, soups, rice and peas, yam and bananas, curried goat and curried chicken and of course jerk chicken. Nothing is deep fried.

As part of the councils war on child obesity this "big brother" attitude towards local families means that the restaurant will now close , it's staff will be made redundant and it's owners business will go to the wall. . So whats Clyde's view? any chance of a change of heart or an acknowledgement that in a time of recession local jobs might be worth protecting? No chance, he just told the news crews that" 'This fast food outlet has not got planning permission and has absolutely no chance of getting it, because of its proximity to a park and a school, so we're closing it down." What a hero, I hope he is thoroughly proud of himself.

The restaurant has had problems in the past with it's Hygiene certificate, however the recent refit brought the standard up to the Councils requirements, So for them to sit back and allow the owners to invest in bringing the restuarant up to standard and then close it under this ridiculous bylaw is just cruel and unnecasary.

So will the children of Waltham Forest be any safer or healthier? No of course not. The primary school children Clyde is so keen to protect are not allowed out at Lunchtimes anyway, but can still buy full fat ice cream from the van outside the school gates at hometime, or crisps and chocalate bars from the local shops.

Like children all over Britain their obesity risk has more to do with the fats in processed foods eaten at home, and maybe a lack of exercise than it does in sourcing illicit rice and peas from the Bamboo Joint. And considering the closed down restaurant is surrounded by Pizza Parlours, Burger joints and Fish and Chip Shops the Council's policy is pointless.

Furthermore it is damaging the reputation of Local Government, which should be there to educate and provide for local communities, before turning to it's regulatory powers and authority to penalise.

But this story is growing and growing, and so is the resistance. The local Afro Caribbean community are, as you would expect, outraged at this attack on their culture and on a fellow member of the community. They have campaigned outside the store as well as recording "You Tube" protest videos against the Council such as the one below. They also believe their community has been victimised and have wondered if the Council would have acted in the same heavy handed way if the shop was owned by MacDonald's or one of the other multi national chains? They describe our Clyde as an opportunist, who is out of touch with the community, and who could argue?

So what next? Well I for one will be making sure that every restaurant owner in Northampton knows exactly where Mr Loake's stands in respect of supporting local business, just in case he trys to promote his Barmy scheme here. And considering that Northampton has more Parks and Open Spaces than any other District Council area and that most of the restaurants and take aways on the town's arterial routes are within 400m of a local school or park then he will be a busy man.

But one last thought on this whole sorry affair, who gave the permission for seven police officers to be involved in this over the top reactionary farce in the first place? and was it a good use of their time? It reminds me of the time I got stopped at Chigao airport and searched and cautioned by the USA national fruit police for carrying an unlicenced apple!

Watch out Northampton, Big Brother has his eye on you, and no Balti Hut is safe.

What value has rememberence, without Justice?

My heart goes out to the families of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough Disaster who lives were unnecessarily taken from them 20 years ago today. Those of us involved in Football will never forget the feelings of sickness and helplessness we felt watching those scenes unfold on the pitch. Young People laying on the ground with the life squeezed from them, parents frantically looking for their children.

We will also never forget the sight of other supporters coming to their aid whilst ambulances were kept away because they were told it was a "hooliganism" incident rather than a tragedy. We will never forget the sickness of the Sun newspaper trying to blame and defame other supporters by saying that they were at fault and suggested the most heinous of crimes being committed against the dead.


We also will not forget the inadequacy of the subsequent inquiry, or that no Senior Officer from South Yorkshire Police was ever held accountable. We will not forget that CCTV tapes under the guard of the Police went missing and have not been recovered to this day. Lord Taylor's report into the disaster criticised the senior officers on duty for a "failure to control" but an inquest two years later ruled the deaths were "accidental" an prosecutions were ever brought.

We will remember that proper crowd control outside of the ground and people inside the ground assisting people to find empty space rather than a packed terrace could have prevented those 96 lives being lost.We will wonder at how the police were allowed to Shepherd people like like sheep and treat all as trouble makers rather than treat them as human and as individuals.

We will never forgive Chief Superintendent David Duckinfield for deceitfully and dishonestly" telling senior FA officials that the supporters had forced the gate open themselves, only to have to retract his words in court when he was later found out to have lied. We will wonder why he gave that order to open the gates without any control arranged for those who then entered the stadium and added to the crush. Nor can we forgive the coroner for deciding that anything that happened after 3.15pm on that day was not worthy of his investigation.

But above all today, and until the truth is revealed we will remember that the families of the 96 victims got no justice then, and as a result continue to suffer to this day. Trevor Hicks lost his two young daughters Sarah and Victoria that day he has been campaigning for justice ever since through the Hillsborough Family Support Group

http://www.hfsg.co.uk/1.html

he said

"We're sick of it, we wish it had never happened. Similarly, we're sick of all the backsliding, we're sick of all the lying and cheating, the unfulfilled promises from politicians, from organisations.

"And really we have no option but to keep on doing what we're doing, because quite frankly a lot of people don't listen to us."

If the authorities had any decency they would finally admit their faults now and bring those responsible to justice to help the families move on.

If not, then what value do we apply to our remembrance now in the abscence of the Justice which should have followed at the time of the event?