West Ham Labour campaigning for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan & getting ready for the next General Election

A busy long weekend delivering leaflets in various parts of the borough for the re-election of Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan in May next year and promoting Labour to our residents.

Saturday and Sunday in West Ham ward with activists and with local Cllr John Whitworth & Cllr Charlene McLean. We are also had a young pioneer with us and a ringer from East Ham, Cllr Susan Masters, who had been attending a "Save NHS" meeting nearby.

On Sunday afternoon I went out with a team led by our MP, Lyn Brown to Canning Town North. Afterwards we had a drink in Cody Docks and watched a marvellous sunset.

This morning I was in my home ward, Forest Gate North, with Gill delivering to local streets including the address of a recent former leader of UKIP, who would not appreciated the front page of Sadiq's newsletter (top left).

Foxes, UKIP Switchers & New Eastenders - Forest Gate North Labour Canvass

After my Mobike UK adventure I joined comrades in Forest Gate North on #labourdoorstop.

It was interesting to be blamed for not stopping foxes getting into private gardens and then to hear a previous UKIP supporting family switching to being strong Labour supporters.

Anam and I had a great chat with a Bulgarian family who do want to participate in our democratic process and are of course they are the #NewEastenders.

The overall response was really good. So many say that the Labour Party is - their Party

Photo left to right: Me, Carel (our top branch secretary), Sasha Das Gupta (Candidate) & Cllr Anam Islam (Cllr Rachel Tripp was at a meeting with Newham Cyclists)

Solidarity Saturday in Thurrock

A busy day for West Ham Labour. Started off in Thurrock, Essex in the morning with 2 West Ham canvass teams supporting Labour, one led by Lyn Brown MP and the other by local Candidate, Les Strange (on right of collage photo).

I went out with Les "on the knocker" in a small 1960s Council estate. This part of the ward used to have strong support for UKIP but I was pleased that many residents we spoke to were coming home to Labour. Local issues brought up included damp, disrepair, lack of consultation on road changes and "grass tax" (the local Tory Council tried to charge all Council tenants an extra £5 per week to maintain green spaces purely because of national Tory government curbs on rent).

Overall a positive canvass for Labour, Les had a real gift for talking to people and will make a brilliant Labour Councillor.

After a pub lunch at the Royal Oak is was off back to West Ham for two more events (posts to follow)  

What Brexit could mean...

On what is to me a sad day I couldn't help smile at this cartoon in the UNISON members InFOCUS magazine.

Update: below is fab as well. hat tip Franzi Bee

Has Labour betrayed the Working Class?

I am not really into so called "betrayal politics" but recently I had a disagreement with someone over the cause of the relative decline in support for Labour by some white working class voters.

East European Immigration was given as the reason.

I argued that immigration policy is important but the main reason why some white and black working class people feel that Labour is no longer their Party is that they think they have been betrayed.

There used to be a compact in this country that if you were went out to work you would get a decent job with decent wages.

At work you would be treated with respect by your employer and protected if you became unemployed or sick. You would be able to afford good quality housing to bring up your family. Now, for decades we have had a decline in real wages, privatisation, often rubbish jobs that only pay a minimum wage, reduced employment rights, zero hour insecure contracts and completely unaffordable rents and house prices.

If you lose your job or become sick you are treated with contempt and as a sponger by the state.

The right wing media and UKIP racists whip things up by blaming "Johnnie Foreigner" for all these ills but the real blame lies elsewhere.

The solution has little to do with immigration.

I missed the Jeremy Corbyn "New Economics" conference today but it is about time that Labour promised to tackle inequality, build 100,000 Council homes per year and create high skill, high value and secure jobs.

( Picture of Aneurin Bevan visiting newly built Council homes in 1949).

Labour Party Conference 2015. A view.

I've just finished packing for Conference and will soon be on my way to catch the train for Brighton.  For the Party this should prove to be a pivotal Conference.

After the shock and devastation that we all felt following the Conservative victory in May, we now unexpectedly have a Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who is firmly of "the left".

He is also supportive of trade unions and many of our policies and who actually defines himself politically as a trade unionist.  I don't think this has fully sunk in yet.

I also think that many people do not fully understand the reasons for his massive victory nor the political mood change that brought it about.

Its not just those on the right who just don't get it. On the left there are those who don't understand how you can be a radical and softly spoken. How you can respect those who you don't agree, without the need to attack them personally. 

Jeremy of course, has to deliver. To do this he has to win the next General Election. It is pointless to have a leader who supports you if he or she is not in a position to actually legislate. This is especially important to trade unions, when we are currently facing a huge threat to our long term existence from the Tory (anti) trade union bill currently going through the House of Commons.  The Unions foundered the Labour Party in the first place to rebalance power in the workplace in favour of workers.

It was always going to be tough to win the next election regardless of who is leader. The economy is likely to slowly recover (in spite of Tory policies), unfavourable boundary changes are very probable and if the UK votes to stay in the EU then UKIP is likely to collapse. So difficult but a Labour leader who can inspire and enthuse could do it.

The first big test will be the London Mayoral, Scottish Parliament and local councils elections in May next year.

Expect further abuse and monstering of Jeremy (and his family) before then. He therefore needs all our support. The new members and supporters who have flocked to the Party must take the next step and become activists and be prepared to organise and go out on the doorstep.

Existing Party activists who didn't choose Jeremy as leader must now accept that he is and he has a mandate for change. It doesn't mean you will agree with everything (who does in life?) but all those who consider themselves democrats must accept this and give him his chance. There is no alternative to this and those who don't like this will simply have to lump it.

I will post further on the Conference as and when. 

Before you go to bed tonight remember to change your clock according to your political values...

UKIP...Some Clowns aren't funny.

Hat tip Mr Rayner.

UNISON Greater London Regional AGM election results 2015

The Evil Ones were crushed. The election result in today's London regional council AGM was the 10th victory in a row for the forces of light and reason against the Ultra left and their supporters.

Clear proof that the mass of ordinary unison members and branches are not interested in student union toy town politics. Instead, in these serious times, they want a grown up union leadership, one that will do what they think is best for members and not barmy extremist postulating.

It was amusing to read the on-line strop from the well known "Goblin and evil one-in-chief" middle class stranger to the truth. What else do you expect from those who despise working class people, since they think we are too thick to understand what is good for us and don't do what they tell us.

Left politics in this country has suffered so much from these 5th columnist Tory excuser's, who discredit the entire progressive agenda which their ranting, wreaking and splitting. It is the Far Right such as UKIP who are the chief beneficiaries from this nonsense but the wreckers don't care and actively want the right to win in order to bring about "the revolution". yeah. Dream on comrades.

Anyway, the motto for the sensible left in London from now on is "10 more years"!

Meet Nigel Farage

Check out the new website Meet Nigel Farage and find out Nigel's plans to privatise the NHS, cut the NHS and charge for the NHS.

All his plans are sourced.

It is about time that Farage and UKIP got held to account for their Ultra Tory Right wing nonsense.

Why I like to pay taxes....

Love it. Hat tip the USA coffee movement. Maybe we should form something similar across the pond to counter the uber right wing Tories or their Kipper cousins.

"UKIP are bringing fear and intimidation in to British politics"

"After this week’s Twitter row at the Rochester by-election, I am using my keynote speech to the
Labour East Regional Conference today to say that it is UKIP who truly offends working class sentiment and represents a party which is fundamentally un-British.

Today I am lucky to serve as a Euro MP but, like many in our movement, I grew up on a council estate living in poverty, so don’t need any lectures from UKIP about snobbery.

First, we can’t counter UKIP simply by labelling them as extremists as we learnt was not enough either with the BNP. But make no mistake – they are.

Doing a deal with a Polish party that says Hitler didn’t know about the holocaust; that it shouldn’t be a criminal offence to force non-consensual sex on a woman; that women shouldn’t even have the vote.

But it’s not just what they think, it’s how they behave.

When I joined criticism of UKIP’s attitude to disabled people, I started to receive around 50 messages a day from people who were self-professed UKIP supporters, using the most foul and disgusting abuse against me personally.

Two UKIP MEPs actually interrupted a private conversation I was having with two guests from a Stevenage business in a public coffee bar of the European Parliament itself, and proceeded to shout at and abuse me.

I have no doubt that this was an orchestrated campaign in which UKIP’s MEPs were directly involved.

Then last weekend a gang calling themselves UKIP supporters physically attacked aLabour street stall in East Thurrock which is part of my own constituency, injuring two elderly activists.

UKIP are bringing fear and intimidation in to British politics.

UKIP can deny responsibility for attacks like the one on our stall, but no-one should deny that this is the product of ultra-nationalism re-entering British politics.

Meanwhile it is arrant nonsense for millionaire, public school educated, expenses-claiming, City trader Nigel Farage, who kept his savings offshore in a tax haven, to say that he is somehow more in touch with ordinary working people in this country than us – the party of labour.

My single parent mum taught us to say our please and thank-you’s and to apologise for our mistakes. We were the classic poor but proud.

When UKIP Members stood up and turned their backs at the inaugural sitting of the new European Parliament, they symbolised what they would do for our country – making us turn our back on the rest of the world. But what struck me when I knocked on doors the following weekend, was that ordinary voters hadn’t liked it.

When UKIP behaves with such rudeness and unpleasantness, I can tell you: it is them who are offending working class sentiment – not us.

The deepest irony of the United Kingdom Independence Party is how un-British they really are.
British values of reserve, of courtesy, of decency, of respect, and of fair play are values which – by their actions – UKIP shuns.

Patriotism isn’t: ‘My country – right or wrong?’ That’s chauvinism.

Patriotism is a pride in your country because of what you are proud about in your country.

And when I sit in the European Parliament and see the UKIP Members be boorish and insulting I’m not proud they’re British – I’m ashamed. And I don’t believe that’s what the British people really want.

Are there ways in which Labour has to change in the face of UKIP?

One conclusion after the European Elections which I did form is not to change our policies but that we do have to change our language.

It is time to start calling it as it is.

We’ve called a spare room subsidy a bedroom tax and we’ve won.

And so Europe can’t be about the Single Market or subsidiarity.

It’s about your job, your children, your security, your voice, your rights, your future.

And we’ll never win the argument on immigration with statistics or criteria.

We have to say the chance to travel and work in different countries is a good thing.

That low wages and zero hours contracts benefit no-one. To say there are not enough homes or jobs for anyone. That fairness must now be restored.

And we may not be as rude as UKIP. But many people in the electorate are angry and Labour has to show them we are angry for and with them.

The success of Ed Miliband’s so-called “fightback” speech two weeks ago where indeed he came out fighting, may be a lesson for us all.

He fought back and so will we.

Richard Howitt MEP is Labour Member of the European Parliament for the East of England and Chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party.

Hat tip Labour List 

Dennis Skinner blasts latest UKIP Bigot

This clip cheered me up no end. Loved the bit about an "United Nations Heart". Well said Dennis :)

Don't be USED by UKIP

The video of UKIP leader, former stock market trader, Nigel Farage, telling supporters in 2012 that our NHS should be privatised and replaced with an USA insurance scheme is very telling.

Farage was filmed saying “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care. Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the marketplace of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100bn a year to central government and expecting them to organise the health care service from cradle to grave for us.”

If you value a free at point of need NHS then do not support UKIP and treat their disclaimers that they are not a racist party with the same large handful of salt.

Hat tip Caption to Mark Rayner.

Jean Geldart from Hope Not Hate - UKIP is a Far Right Party of Race Hatred

Today was the UNISON Greater London Regional Council meeting. Hope Not Hate Trade union organiser,  Jean Geldart was a guest speaker.

Before she retired from Tower Hamlets Council, Jean was my  Branch Secretary and a senior UNISON NEC member. She is also the daughter of Phil Piratin who was the Communist Party MP for Stepney 1945-1950.

Jean described how appalling and openly corrupt many of the UKIP MEPs and Councillors are. While many of them are good for a laugh, the leaflets UKIP have put out are worse than even the fascist BNP!

They have organisers who use to work for the National Front and see nothing wrong with this.

The recent shambles in the European Parliament has seen them form an alliance in order to gain EU funding of £1 million (from us tax payers) with Polish anti-Semitic racists and Holocaust deniers.

While they are not  a serious threat in most of London at the moment we have to be vigilant. UKIP can be defeated. In May 2014 when there was local election as well as Euro elections, voters tended to vote UKIP for the EU since they did not think it was important and mainstream parties for local council.

All polling indicates that although they do have real support, the majority are positively opposed to them and actively dislike the UKIP.

So what we need to do is get the anti UKIP vote out.

In the May elections in the North West, there was was a massive anti BNP and UKIP campaign which resulted in them getting only 6 Councillors in the whole of the region. Compare this to similar areas in North and Midlands where they got far more.

We need to expose UKIP and look at what they say and their voting record in Europe. Such as their views that women deserve less pay, their wish to privatise the NHS and destroy workers employment rights.

We need to get this message out what UKIP is really about. We also need to get people to register to vote and set an positive agenda for multiculturalism in London. Jean encouraged all UNISON branches to affiliate to Hope not Hate!

God moves in mysterious ways: Craig joins Kippers

Great post by Forest Gate blogger Martin Warne about the former leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance, Alan Craig, who has joined the far right UKIP.

As Martin points out in his 2010 General election manifesto amongst the many "bonkers" and "unpleasant" things he said about gays and Muslims Craig also pledged to:-

"Strangers into citizens
We would tackle discrimination and embrace the talents of asylum seekers, as many successful asylum applicants are highly trained and dedicated individuals. It makes no sense to leave them on the scrapheap, unable to use their professional skills to provide for themselves, their families, or contribute to the British economy.
[Asylum] applicants will be treated as if they were British citizens with full access to state support and the right to work.
We will tackle the problem of illegal immigration by an amnesty that brings irregular workers into mainstream society, paying taxes.

A time of jubilee for the world
Aid will be given in grants and not loans and not tied to poor countries opening up their markets to powerful multinationals from rich countries.
We want the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries to be cancelled in full without strings attached.

I wonder how this will go down with his new mates in UKIP down the boozer on a Saturday night?

West Ham helps out at Fairlop

This afternoon members of West Ham Labour Party joined Ilford North activists and PPC Wes Streeting to door knock in Fairlop Ward.

West Ham has been "twinned" by the London Labour Party with Ilford North for the General Election Campaign.

While we will continue to work hard for the Labour vote in West Ham it makes sense for us to help local marginals.

The General election will be won and lost in the marginals. If Labour loses and the Tories are returned then everyone in West Ham will suffer. So we need to help out where we can. By coincidence I am the Agent in West Ham and Chair of London UNISON Labour Link. UNISON Labour Link has also been asked to support Ilford North.

After this photo we split into 2 canvass teams. West Hammers went with veteran Redbridge Labour activist, Councillor Roy Emmett. The canvass went pretty well for Labour. I was pleased again to find former Tory voters who were now considering supporting Labour in May. 

I had a frank but courteous conversation with a UKIP supporter who said she was voting for them because "its always in the papers about these immigrants who come over and claim benefits and abuse our health service...". I pointed out that although there was abuses which needed to be dealt with, the vast majority of immigrants come to this country to work and in fact the NHS would collapse without immigrants working for it. I also asked if she was aware that UKIP wanted to privatise the NHS if they won power? She didn't answer - but I think the penny dropped.

I use to know Barkingside very well but have not been there for years. At the end of the canvass we all stopped off at an old favourite of mine - "The Fairlop Oak" and over a swift pint or soft drink, tried to put the world to rights.

Nest session - meet outside Fairlop Station 2pm Saturday 25 October.

Tonii Wilson wins Beckton By Election for Labour

Congratulations to Newham Councillor Tonii Wilson who was elected last night for Beckton Ward (seen in between existing Cllrs David Christie and Ayesha Chowdhury)

The by-election was caused by the death after a short illness of Cllr Alec Kellaway.

I have previously described Tonii as "supernice" and she is - but I also admire her determination and evident hard work during the campaign.

Thanks are also due to the Agent, Alan Davies, who has run a great campaign.

The actual results were as followed:-

Syed Hussain Ahmed ​        Conservative ​584

​Mark Dunne    ​                    Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition ​21

​Jane Alison Lithgow   ​        Green  ​70        ​

​David Mears                       ​UK Independence (UKIP) ​215          ​

​Kayode Shedowo               ​Christian Peoples Alliance      ​33        ​

David Thorpe  ​                   Liberal Democrat        ​43

​Tonii Wilson    ​                  Labour ​1,006   ​

Turnout was low at 18.87 which is something that politicians do need to do something about. The irony in Newham is that the higher the turnout usually means the higher is the Labour vote.

It was good to see that ultra Tory UKIP running a very poor third. While TUSC came bottom with 21 votes (the 1%ers).

Sadiq Khan MP - Keynote speaker to #LabLink14

The keynote speaker to the National Forum was Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Minister for London Sadiq Khan MP.

Sadiq started off with a joke pretending he was a delegate from London region moving a motion at this forum then stated that there was no danger of the press trying to misinterpret his speech, since it will be published in full afterwards (another reference to the recent problem that Jon Cruddas MP experienced).

He introduced himself as the son of a bus driver, whose sister is a teacher and brother works in the NHS. He salutes our public services. Public institutions hold our society together.

Eleanor, (the Chair of Labour Link - Eleanor Smith) as a theatre nurse knows that the NHS is having now a summer crisis never mind a winter crisis. This shows you can never trust the Tories with the NHS.

Sadiq asked how many of us were Councillors? A number of us put our hands up. He thanked all Councillors for their hard work and pointed out that unless things change Councils will soon have to close all but statutory services.

The huge new fees on Employment tribunal applications is depriving rank and file workers justice. Cameron claims to champion the rule of law. Sadiq argued we must stand firm on further attacks on access to justice.

The Tories simply fail to understand public services and this is just as damaging as cuts. There is no accountability as you can see from the privatisation of the Probation Service. The next Labour Government will face massive debts but Labour and Ed Miliband are up for it.  The attack by Ed on Murdock and the Energy companies shows this. The Tories however attack the player and not the ball. Remember what happened in 1992 and expect further personal attacks on Ed.

He praised Ed's plan to devolve power and money away from the centre and empower our great cities and councillors. Sadiq promised not to sign any contract to privatisation which are on his desk as Justice Minster in 2015 and his first task will be how to unpick existing contracts.

He looks forward to working with us to kick out the Tories and the Lib Dems in the next 10 months. UKIP in the recent London elections went from being 20 out of 2000 Councillors to only 12.  We must tell people that UKIP leaders pledge that they want to keep alive the spirit of Thatcherism. They want to privatise the NHS. Get rid of maternity rights.

Labour elects Councillors that reflect the community.  We went from control of 15 to 20 London councils. We even won the Tory flagship Council of Hammersmith and Fulham on a "Save our NHS" campaign.

During the Q&A Sadiq said we ask tough questions at UNISON conferences. "I knew I should have gone to Unite". (a joke) In a question about how to combat Islamic extremism Sadiq pointed out that there are only tiny number of extremists out of the 3 million UK Muslims. Muslim values of respect, faith, family and working hard are the same as traditional British values.  The people he breaks bread with to end his fast have nothing to do with those who go to fight for ISIS and we shouldn't tarnish all Muslims with the same brush.

Hat tip picture my NEC colleague Chris Hanrahan

Dave Prentis - We want a Labour Government not for one term but for "15 years" #LabLink14

Our UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis spoke next after Jon Cruddas MP at Labour Link National Forum. He started by explaining how moved he was to have been last night at an UNISON event to honour activists who had helped the ANC to defeat the Apartheid regime in South Africa. .

He also also thanked long serving UNISON Labour Link officer, Joyce Kay, who is retiring this year so this will be her last National Forum.

Dave reminded us about the 250,000 local government workers who are on the  national minimum wage and the 1 million who earn less than a living wage. The Day of Action on the NHS and the Local Government Strike on 10th July is just the start. In August there a ballot by food safety members and after that the NHS. Its time that we stand up for our class, our people.

 Dave Cameron's "Big society" has turned into a bigoted society. We are a world leader in zero hour contracts. Our Councils have lost £20 billion in funding. Just pointing at the failures of the Tories will not get people to vote Labour or even get them to vote. Our Party needs to have a vision of a modern welfare state run on a not for profit basis.. We want these issues cleared up. What we want is a Labour Party committed to tackle child and pensioner poverty. We want a Party committed to build an NHS that Nye Bevan would be proud of. We do not want Labour Councils just being vehicles for putting out contracts.

Labour should have no unfunded spending commitments. But Spending and Income are two parts of the equation. Bankers should pay little more. So should the rich who are bleeding our society dry due to tax evasion. Let us have a real wealth tax. Claw back some of the great wealth of the top 1%.

The rise of UKIP is a damning indictment of the main political parties. we took on the BNP before and sent them packing.  We will do the same to UKIP. We will say what others will not say - that UKIP is a racist party and its policies are racist.

In past Labour has been taken in about business. We need and now must get alternative policies not alternative spelling. We expect Labour to support us over Pay. Opposition means opposing and supporting us. We want no weasel words. We want our demands to be heard. We want clear commitments.

It is great news that the Health & Social Care Act will be repealed by Labour. We cannot further privatise the NHS. We know that we have to win the next General Election. The Tory plan is clearly to pillar Ed Miliband. He has done some silly things such as pose with "the Sun" newspaper. We know things are difficult but we have got to have clear commitments about what Labour stands for it. We not a union that makes a fuss about affiliations, we are a union that pay our dues.

Cameron and Tories do not stand for our class. We must get rid of them. Our one objective is to kick the Tories out and get a Labour Government elected not just 5 years but 15 years.

(Co-coincidently during the break I got a voice mail message from my branch office in London who said former UNISON General secretary Rodney Bickerstaff had just popped in to say "hello". I assume he was speaking at an event in the building that we rent an office. Shame I missed him).

Hat tip picture to SusPol & Justice