“We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.” So said Aneurin Bevan. Presumably that quote is behind Labour’s current by-election campaign in Crewe & Nantwich. In response to the death of a tough and principled left winger, the party’s final campaign efforts are veering to the other side of Bevan’s road, towards an unprincipled, authoritarian and right wing approach on law and order. Fists with dripping blood, claiming that the Tories are soft on yobs? Sorry, but while Labour might not be all that liberal in its social policies, the Tories have never been known to take a soft touch approach. The imagery is gruesome, reminiscent of something the BNP would have been expected to put out. There’s even a line on the site below the fist logo, stating “Tamsin Dunwoody will always stand up for you and your family, she’s a Dunwoody after all.” Eugh. That makes me squirm.
Contrast the Labour campaign and Tamsin Dunwoody’s website (right screenshot above) with that of Edward Timpson (left screenshot), the Tory candidate, and you see what a dire predicament that Labour is in. The Tories look inoffensive and smart and Labour looks… well, could look better.
(Dislaimer: I have nothing to do with the campaign in Crewe, and have not been involved with the design of the Dunwoody website – it’s a Labour MpURL site)Â
Ironic really. The voters did exactly what Labour asked of them – voted for the local candidate and told the toff to sod off back to her Welsh Mansion and her entry in Burke’s peerage. The disgraceful and offensive nature of Labour’s campaign meant that they deserved to lose, regardless of their record in Government. Let’s hope there are voices in the party willing to condemn this betrayal of Labour and its core values.
I thought it was something the BNP had put out until I read your post. Shameful.
as mad as the tories, obviously
http://hopisen.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/thoughts-from-crewe/
My condolences. I think your party has gone mad?
My name is Paul Thorogood and I’m the candidate for the Cut Tax On Petrol And Diesel party and I’m standing in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election.
To the voters of Crewe and Nantwich: You are about to make history. Thursday’s by-election is effectively the first referendum in the UK on whether the Government should Cut Tax On Petrol And Diesel.
1. Like me you are probably sick and tired of paying so much for petrol. The Government blames the high prices on the state of the world oil markets but the fact is that for every £1 spent at the fuel pump about 70p is tax. We pay the highest taxes on fuel in Europe. If the Government had the political will they could reduce the terrible burden now faced by low income families, OAPs, the disabled, anyone who needs their car to get to work and the British haulage industry.
2. Every time the voters of Crewe and Nantwich go to a petrol station to fill up their cars between now and the election they’ll be reminded about why I’m standing as a candidate.
3. A vote for me is a chance to bloody the nose of the Labour Party over the terrible way they are handling the economy – especially taxation and spending. The 10p tax band debacle just being another example.
4. I want VAT abolished on fuel as it is effectively a tax on a tax and I want the current tax on diesel (57p per litre) and petrol (about 50p per litre) halved so it is in line with the average fuel duty in Europe.
5. I often get asked how can the Government afford it? But you are asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is how can low-income families, OAPs and hauliers afford the prices being demanded at the pumps?
6. Another argument I often hear is if the Government doesn’t take revenue from fuel, they’ll need to take it from somewhere else. WRONG! This Government has wasted billions over the last ten years including £12.4billion on the infamous NHS computers that never worked , £2.35billion on tarting up the MoD’s London HQ, £2.3billion on consultants to tell civil servants how to do their jobs and the £3.3billion the military presence in Iraq costs every year.
7. They’re about to waste £10billion on the identity card scheme and £30billion on the replacement of the Trident missile system. Also much has been swallowed up in bureaucracy, with costly and often pointless managers, boards and quangos creating and chasing artificial targets.
8. Blockades don’t work. The ballot box does. Vote for PAUL THOROGOOD. The UK is counting on you – don’t waste this chance. It’s over to you…
Sorry, but Hopi Sen would say that – he used to work in Labour HQ.
Plus Hopi’s “they are nastier than us” does not make up for the fact that putting a fist with blood on it is totally unacceptable for a Labour website.