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Head Office has just emailed you pdf versions of both leaflets.
Last time, in 2014, we got 5,454 votes. That’s the figure to beat. But of course we not contesting just to measure support for socialism. It’s also to publicise the case for socialism. On that level, it has already been a success.
Done all mine too. Drove a couple of miles to cross the border into Surrey, to Long Ditton which is in Elmbridge where the MP is slimy Tory Brexiteer (despite the area voting Remain) and would-be Prime Minister, Dominic Raab. I too saw some UKIP leaflets and took one for my collection. I bought a couple of local papers to see what they had to say about the election. The Surrey Comet, which used to be alright but is now a complete rag, had nothing. The Guildford-based Surrey Advertiser had this to say about us:
“Socialist Party of Great Britain pushing for ‘Lexit’ – a “pro-worker EU exit” – its lead candidate in the South East is Mandy Bruce.”
They are mixing us with someone else of course, but lazy journalism as they were sent a link to our manifesto. (And Mandy is only first on our list as it’s in alphabetical order and her surname begins with a B). Still, they will have to publish a correction, giving us a second bite of the cherry.
Actually, we had got our revenge in first as when we are in Southampton we deliberately leafletted a ward where SPEW, under its registered name of “Socialist Alternative”, had stood a candidate in the local elections earlier this month. If they want confusion they can have it.
Replies so far to leaflets delivered by Royal Mail and from the insert in the i paper on Wednesday: 65.
Most are by letter from the insert including some negative ones who think we are the party led by their named bugbears Jeremy Corbett and Diane Abbott.
More to come no doubt in tomorrow’s post.
Here’s the candidates’ one minute opening speeches at the Chesham hustings (we are about 5 minutes in):
For those who can’t access YouTube here’s a transcript:
“The way people are going on about it you would think Brexit was the only issue. But what about global warming, wars and the threat of war, mass population movements and, nearer home, growing inequalities, unaffordable housing and a crumbling heath service? These problems arise from the capitalist system of ownership by the few and production for profit. Capitalism exists in the EU and would still exist in a Brexit Britain. So, as far as most people are concerned, it doesn’t matter either way [heckle]. In or Out, the same problems are going to continue. The way-out is not some change — or not — in Britain’s trading arrangements but in replacing capitalism with common ownership, democratic control and production to satisfy people’s needs not profit.”
In Chesham the Green candidate criticised the Libels for imposing austerity when in coalition with the Tories. But you are right their pie in the sky reformist promises are indistinguishable.
The duo of outgoing MEPs, Howarth (Labour) and Ashworth (ex-Tory, now Gang of Independent Renegades) were also at Chesham and are due to speak at Oxford this evening, so by the end of the week they will know what the Party case is even if they don’t agree with it. I clashed with them over the powers of the European Parliament. I said it wasn’t a proper law-making body as this was the Council of Ministers of the Member States. They both protested but afterwards Ashworth partially conceded that I had been right. In fact these elections should see the demise of the so-called “Change UK” party. Good riddance. One less reformist party.
Also at Chesham was the squabbling between the Greens and the LibDems. They needn’t worry. They’ll both get elected. Ashworth is the one who should be (and presumably is) worried as he’s very likely to lose his seat.
Apologies for this bourgeois politics trainspotting.
Well over 100 people at the hustings in Chesham (Bucks) yesterday evening. Like the others (except the one tonight at a university in Canterbury) it was organised by a pro-Remain group, seemingly with the purpose of allowing Remain supporters to decide which of the Remain party lists to vote for, with the Labour candidate (an outgoing MEP) saying that he too was a Remainer and favoured a second referendum. This made the Tories and us outsiders and may be why the Brexit Party candidate withdrew at the last moment. As Mike reported for Banbury, all six parties, including us, were given strictly equal time (as it should be).
The audience gave the Tory representative a hard time and even we were heckled for saying that Brexit wasn’t that worth getting worked up about since, if it happened, it wouldn’t make much difference to people’s everyday life (a bit provocative, I know, given the nature of the audience) as capitalism would continue. Still, it was a chance to put the case against capitalism and for socialism and our views on climate change and mass population movements.
It was chaired by a journalist from BBC Three Counties Radio who also interviewed me. Two of the counties (Beds and Herts) are outside the South East Election Region, not that that matters. Far from it, as it spreads our views wider than we anticipated. I also distributed a few leaflets door-to-door. Chesham wasn’t what I expected (a country town) as where I was leafletting there was a huge mosque, so there’ll be plenty of poor people around doing shitty local jobs rather than commuting to work in London.
Yesterday was also the day that the 185,000 inserts were to go into the South edition of the i paper. We know they did (even if upside down and back to front) as we received a couple of emails at Head Office. Also, confirmation from the paper bought in various parts of the South East Region. It was also in copies sold in the South West.
Banbury is ok as the Party activist there will be leafletting an area in a different district council in Oxfordshire (as he’ll be counting the votes in Banbury). So there’s no danger of double-leafletting.
Here is James Heartfield’s defence of standing for the Brexit Party and calling for a vote for it. He doesn’t seem to realise that he is being used by those capitalists who financed the Leave campaign and are financing the Brexit Party and who want to escape completely from EU regulation of their financial dealings (and want the UK to align with US regulatory conditions rather than EU ones). They want every vote they can get even those of naïve Lexiteers.
It’s the same with the Greens. All their leaflets feature Caroline Lucas prominently. Another cult of the personality but then people can list less Green Party politicians than they can famous Belgians.
Anton Pruden, another of our candidates, was interviewed, also briefly, this afternoon in Brighton for BBC East TV. East, you ask? It’s because, for the BBC, Milton Keynes is in their East region. It will be broadcast next Sunday after the Andrew Marr show on “Look East. Politics on Sunday”. Unless you are in that region (East Anglia, Cambridge, etc) I don’t think you will be able to see it (you’ll get some other local politics programme) but you can, apparently, via the internet. Don’t ask me how, perhaps someone here can explain what you have to do.
PoliQuads, an online magazine, has published an issue on UBI with contributions from two comrades, one from the Indian party. It is here:
https://www.poliquads.com/articles/categories/universal-basic-income
You have to sign up to read it, but don’t have to pay.
Incidentally, comrades have also contributed to previous issues, on cannabis legalisation, anti-fascism and China.
As arranged, the election communications were delivered to the 3 Royal Mail postal centres concerned this morning. Delivery to households in the six constituencies will start from tomorrow. Only hiccup was that the printers delivered 500 short for Canterbury and 200 short for Dover. So that’s still 314,300 of the intended 315,000.
The areas where the election communications will be delivered are the Westminster constituencies of:
Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, Maidstone & the Weald, Brighton Pavilion, and Oxford East.
If you live in any of these areas look out for them and let us know that you got one.
