Thursday, March 18, 2010

Jim Fitzpatrick MP: West Ham Labour Guest Speaker

Last night Jim was the guest speaker at our monthly West Ham Labour Party General Committee meeting. The Former fire-fighter and trade union activist will be the Labour Party Parliamentary candidate for the new seat of Poplar and Limehouse in our sister borough of Tower Hamlets. Due to boundary changes and gentrification Jim is facing a very strong challenge from a Tory Merchant Banker and of course the loathsome opportunist Gorgeous “George Galloway

Jim came over really well. Despite the enormous pressure he must be under he was relaxed, articulate and self confident.

He explained clearly what are the political problems he and the local Party are facing, why this has come about and what he is doing about it.

Our GC delegates of Bangladeshi origin were the first to congratulate Jim on his speech and to support him and his comments about those who try their best to divide our communities and whip up hate and mistrust.

I thought he went down really well and in the post GC analysis in the pub - some West Ham GC delegates - who have let us say not always been amongst his greatest fans in the past were impressed with his speech and have offered to help him and his CLP out in the forthcoming election.

By co-incidence last week after the House of Commons UNISON Labour Link Housing Association meeting with Minister John Healy MP we bumped into Jim on the way out in the central Lobby. One of the UNISON members with me was a constituent of Jim, who despite being a little bit shy, made me stop everyone so I can introduce her to him so she could thank him personally for the work he had done as her MP to help out her local organisation.

Good bloke. Nuf said.

Must lobby him personally on the "Campaign for Dignity and Respect" for workers in Notting Hill Housing Trust.

I will be helping out Tower Hamlets TULO with organising local Labour Party supporting trade union canvass and leafleting teams in Limehouse & Poplar as well as Bethnal Green & Bow.

(Picture of Jim supporting UNISON Workers Memorial Day ceremony outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall)

16 comments:

Dave said...

Hi John,

I think describing him as a 'loathsome opportunist' is going easy on 'Gorgeous.' But I understand your problem. There are not enough adjectives in the English language to describe the nasty no-mark.

Dave Draycott

SCAM said...

Poor Jim.
Im sure he will get a job from BAA - after all those secret meeting as Aviation minister must come to something surely.

Anonymous said...

I remember the days we use to have meetings in the Pub with a local MP or councilor coming to speak, I use to enjoy those. They died out a long long time ago, does not help our MP lives in London either.

Anonymous said...

Comparing Jim Fitzpatrick and Galloway makes you wonder who might be the more loathsome or the more opportunist. I was appalled by Fitzpatrick's reported behaviour in walking out of a wedding - and then talking to the press about it.

In what way Galloway can be seen as an opportunist I can't quite see. If he were really an opportunist he would no doubt have a seat in the cabinet or at least be in the government, like our Jim. Galloway was a talent thrown away by our party. I'm no fan really and he is clearly an egotist (Westminster has no shortage of egotists) but he appears consistently to have acted on principle.

He was thrown out of the Party, quite wrongly in my view, for his opposition to the abominable Iraq war - a war that has cost at least two thirds of a million Iraqi lives. It's Blair who should have been thrown out.

John Gray said...

Hi Dave
Yes, you are so, so right. And “No mark” fits perfectly

Hi SCAM (airport anon)
Don’t be a dipstick all your life! We also have a Green “No mark”. Attack the politics not the man.

Hi anon 12.12
Our GC usually has guest speakers and it is really good thing. You don’t need MP’s (although it helps) but anyone can start a useful 20 minute debate at the end of meeting. Ask your wards and sister CLPs for anyone willing to speak on anything vaguely sensibly with Q&A at end

The post GC pub/Coffee cafe analysis should I think be part of every GC agenda (after AOB) in my view...

Hi anon 12.36
The first issue is “reported behaviour” hmmm - don’t believe the fairy stories told about Jim about this.

Now completely ignoring my response to airport anon above (with GG it’s different) There is never any chance what so ever that an unprincipled self interested maverick such as GG would have any role in any government. He may have a big gob and high opinion of himself but that’s about it. He doesn’t give a damn about anyone but his “gorgeous oneness”.

Galloway was quite rightly thrown out of the Labour Party not for any opposition to the Iraq war but because he attacked ordinary working class British soldiers e.g calling them “wolves”.

Anonymous said...

John

You will find I think that you are quite wrong in your accusation on Galloway. Where is your evidence that he 'attacked ordinary working class British soldiers e.g calling them “wolves”.'

In fact (you will doubtless recall it) his reference was to Bush and Blair - see the BBC report at the time:

'He faced five charges relating to a number of television interviews, including one during the war in which he accused Mr Blair and George Bush of acting "like wolves" in invading Iraq.'
Galloway expelled by Labour.
BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3205889.stm Last updated Fri 24 2003. Accessed March 21 2010.

There will be many of course who have sympathy for this characterisation of George Bush II and Tony Blair.

Anonymous said...

PS

Apparently Galloway later apologised for his comment.

Wikipedia reports that:
'At the national conference of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, on 30 June 2003, Galloway apologised for describing George W. Bush as a "wolf", saying that to do so defamed wolves:

“ No wolf would commit the sort of crimes against humanity that George Bush committed against the people of Iraq. "'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Galloway (Accessed March 21, 2010)

John Gray said...

Hi anon
I think it is implicit that British troops are in that quote.

I have also personally heard GG comparing the 7/7 bombers with Allied pilots in Iraq.

He was found guilty of and stands by his comments that

• he incited Arabs to fight British troops

Nuf said. What a completely disgusting thing for a British MP to do.

Anonymous said...

But what a disgusting thing for a British Prime Minister to share responsibility for 666,000 unnecessary Iraqi deaths (see the Lancet study).

It's very odd being put in a position of defending Galloway, who I am not a big fan of for various reasons. But you really need to get your facts straight. In what way is it implicit? It doesn't look that way to me. The Labour Party never accused him of that, the press never accused him of that. You've simply made a mistake.

John Gray said...

Hi anon

I've tried to find the original transcript of that interview on the net but can't.

I clearly remember him saying it in that context.

In any case the incitement for Arabs to fight working class ordinary British troops is pretty clear.

SCAM said...

Well after watching tonights Dispatches - Are you still saying attack the policies and not the man? Disgusting.

John Gray said...

Hi Disgusting SCAM

Yes, and hold people responsible for their actions and not tar everyone with the same brush.

SCAM said...

Exactly so why you use quotes like "Tory Merchant Banker" - practice what you preach.

The irony is that the Tory Merchant Banker lives on the porest part of the isle of dogs while fitzpatrick live in an exclusive river front development. not bad for a fireman.

John Gray said...

Hi disgusting SCAM

Wot? Mr and Mrs newly redundant Tory Merchant Bankers? Who have some very nice accommodation on the IOD?

So, since you brought it up about things being “not bad for a fire fighter” has Jim's opponent ever risked physically his life in his Merchant Banking job for others like Jim did when he was a Fire-fighter?

No, I thought not.

Unknown said...

JIM
My political views are a mile away from yours but your comments today on the latest developments on the election are a breath of fresh air you are obviously a person of high ideals very rare for a politician and why havn't you been on the tv before? never mind the Milliband schoolboys stand for the leadership!!

John Gray said...

Hi Ian

Not 100% sure what you are going on about but cheers anyway!