Tory Reckless Policies

A victory for Labour but not one which points to anything in May. Labour in Medway is confident of stopping the blue-tide which has decimated our towns, but we also know that the Conservatives are entrenched locally with institutional support at all levels of local government.

This blog agrees wholeheartedly with the blog post by Luke Akehurst, Labour NEC member that despite the result there remain marked differentiations between regions of the United Kingdom and the South East remains stubborn to change

A lesson for Medway Labour:

"But we need to be careful to stay sober about its wider strategic significance.

I don't see this as a big way marker on the route to victory like Dudley West or Wirral South were in the '90s. OE&S is too idiosyncratic a seat - the next General Election will be won in Con vs Lab marginals and OE&S is a rare Lab vs LD fight (though if Cameron hadn't switched off his machine to help Clegg it should have been a three-way marginal).

Cameron's vote slump (with apparent Tory switchers direct to Labour, as well as to the LDs and UKIP) provides a political problem for him as his own rightwingers will view him as having betrayed grassroots campaigners in order to try to help Clegg.

The willingness of Tories to vote tactically for the LDs, and of the two parties to collude on where they put up a fight, is extremely worrying from a Labour point-of-view.

We need to be careful not to let euphoria at one good win stop us from making the comprehensive policy and strategy review that is the appropriate response to getting thumped to a 29% defeat in the General Election.

And we need to note that the LDs were still competitive in a target seat for them even when bumping along at 7-9% nationally - they are not a wholly dead parrot yet.

This is the end of the beginning not the beginning of the end."

The Tories also have to learn a lesson. Do not play games with the electorate like you have done by encouraging Tories to vote Liberal Democrats

Learn from the mistakes and step back from the reckless cuts agenda which is harming our local community.

Like River Ward in September we have a long way to go but a welcome result.

Importance of web-campaigning

Part of the presentation on why Labour need to engage locally on the web. A number of readers are keen for members of the group to be more active.

The rationale behind engaging politically online on a local level is clear:

- 69% of all UK households have broadband. In 2014, which is a crucial year politically, 83% of households are forecast to be connected. The web is where the eyes of the nation are, and to capture the audience you now have to be online.

- More than half of all 24-44 year olds regularly post comments or content to blogs or discussion sites. Clearly these people have opinions they want heard, and they’re interested in politics on an issue-by-issue basis rather than a party-political basis

- In 2009, 16% of all web users contacted a politician directly via the Internet. That’s more than six million people, which shows that the web is not just useful for engaging activists but also the public directly

- Three million people made online donations in 2009 – six times the combined membership of the three large parties, and 20% of web users signed a petition in the same year. It’s clear that people are awake to the civic & political potential of the web

- “All politics is local”! People who aren’t politically engaged can get engaged quite quickly when there is a local bugbear they want sorting. The first port of call is a Google search, which is a fantastic opportunity for local parties to demonstrate their good local work (and potentially gain new supporters) by publishing relevant content online;

- Whilst the web is great for engaging with citizens directly, it is a very useful tool for organising and rallying your existing network of activists and supporters. A local web presence for activists provides a strong focal point for the existing community.

This blog is pushing and raising the requirement for candidates to try and be active online.

Some changes...

Over the next two weeks this blog will be undergoing a bit of a facelift and modernisation in light of the local elections in May.

This Musings from Medway blog will continue however to be a forum for debateon the wider local election campaign in Medway and national issues.

A new beta website is complete which will be more aligned to my personal and ward campaigning work in Luton & Wayfield.

It is hoped that people will access the blog and then take a peek at my work in the area.

Given the local election, my blog and website will need to more aligned to a campaign mode. The website focused on Luton & Wayfield with cross links into this blog which will be a forum for the wider local and national campaign. The website at tristanosborne.org.uk (see left) is not live yet, and will not be until February, because of formatting and sourcing of material.

Readers may be interested to read previous comments on my intentions for a vLog, live action map and campaigning activity for the Luton & Wayfield ward. I am a big believer in online campaigning and engagement since setting up the stroodlabour.org.uk website four years ago. Social networking and online engagement is the future for politics as old structures and party hierarchies die.

One particular member of the opposition, though not party affiliated, John Ward has led on the development of the local political blogosphere and should take credit for his work in creating something that is now a lasting legacy. Alan W Collins has also made a similar journey online and will continue to be at the cutting edge.

The last four years since standing in Strood North ward has been a journey which will be complete with this last piece of the puzzle.

It is hoped that readers of this blog will also read my website when published to find out more about me as the candidate for Luton & Wayfield and what your Labour team want to do with the area.



p.s. The picture is terrible on the front page.

Slip of the tongue?

Seems like a slip of the forked tongue by David Cameron. Or was he really endorsing the Liberal Democrat?

Reminds this blogger of when Eric Pickles got the name of Luton & Wayfield wrong after Tashi Bhutia won the by-election in 2009.

See if you can spot the error...

This blogger will admit that it is a rubbish speller, but then it is not a national press spokesperson for the Conservative Party. It has a proper job...

Oh well

Listening to Wayfield

This morning Labour action teams were in Chatham to meet residents and introduce candidates for the local election in May.

Over the last 3 months, the Labour candidates have now covered the entire ward and have leafleted and worked on a lot of case work. Some of which has been published where permission is given on this blog.

Despite the freezing temperatures the mood on the doorstep was much warmer than in May and a number of people in dressing gowns even offered us cups of tea and coffee.

There is a lot of frustration with the Conservatives locally over lies on VAT and on the traffic mess in Chatham.

People simply do not trust the Tories on tax

We also met several young people who currently have the Education Maintenance Allowance and who will be hit hard by the Conservative cuts.

Labour is working for residents in Luton & Wayfield.

Are you taking the piste, Mark?

Astounding revelations today from the News of the World that Rochester & Strood MP, Mark Reckless was skiing on a Parliamentary Ski trip whilst also campaigning on the South Eastern fair rises which have increased by 9% in Medway.

Mark Reckless MP accompanied other MPs including Prisons Minister, Quentin Blunt and Tory, Tim Loughton in an exclusive Parliamentary Ski Group trip to Switzerland. This group hired out an exclusive venue on the Davos slopes and dined and 'frolicked' in the £1,100-a-night Hotel Fluela for over 5 days.

Despite Mark being an avid Eurosceptic he was seemingly happy to sing German songs and socialise with our European partners in close quarters.

The skiing trip started last Sunday and ended on Friday apparently showed that Mark was not in the towns whilst apparently tweeting on fare rises.

The vacation came during the same week that he was able to articulate the views of hard-pressed commuters on the 4th January on twitter accusing South Eastern trains of being not 'fit for purpose.'

The Medway Conservatives are now open to the charge of being tasteless given the cuts agenda which is being foisted upon the public.

It raises serious questions about how much interaction Mark actually had with commuters at the time, given he was singing 'Ziggy Zaggy, Hoi Hoi Hoi' on the slopes of Switzerland.

Mark has been office less then a year but it now becoming very apparent that he has taken to the good life rather too much.

This blog is not suggesting that MPs are not entitled to a break, but given the sensitivites of huge increase in costs to residents across Medway, it could be considered tasteless for our representative to be living the high-life with fellow chums in Switzerland.

Update - 11/01/2011

This blog has been in contact with the MPs office who has clarified that Mark was actually in the UK whilst posting on the Train Fares and that he flew out to Davos at a later point.

I was not aware of this significant point, as was not disclosed in the News of the World Pirce, which has led me to change the above article to try and be fair to this point. Due to the legacy and damage of web-based blogs I have totally removed any area which could be considered unfair.

The News of the World article also did not disclose that the room prices were the maximum at the venue and may not indeed have the been the cost of the room that was paid by the MP.

In the interests of fairness this blog is happy to clarify this position. This change has been made in good faith.

All that remains to be said is that you should never trust the Murdoch Press and should treat articles from a such papers with a pinch of salt.

Stuck in another jam?

The chaos of roadworks, delays and constant traffic jams have become so regular an occurrence in Medway that many readerd may actually forget a time when the roads actually flowed.

That would probably be 2006, the year before the Medway Conservatives embarked upon the Chatham two-way change. A £2.5m pet project which no one voted for, no one wanted and which has decimated small business in the Chatham centre.

It is a colossal public waste.

The road work chaos has extended into Rochester and Strood over the last 18 months and now many commuters are regularly to be stuck in jams on Corporation Street and into Strood.

People would not be so angry at the Conservatives if they simply managed and communicated these projects effectively.

The road works on Corporation Street, Rochester is a case in point.

The works are at a key junction, if not the key junction between Rochester & Strood. It occupies a key crossing point for thousands of residents and business. It is quite simply the aorta of the Medway towns. A blockage can cause a failure of movement from across the River and can paralyse secondary roads which require primary roads for vehicle movement.

Yet to the Conservatives, it would seem to be a small priority, because of the total lack of foresight and management of the works that have ensued.

The fact is that drivers are very much aware as they are stuck in traffic that there are no workmen working on the site over the weekend and that the hours for the works are seemingly the basic 9am-5pm.

In addition, the works in Rochester were timed for the peak period of Christmas trading and has attracted the wrath of tourists who have spent hours stuck in Strood whilst trying to gain access to Rochester. The same tourists who we have spent hundreds of thousands trying to attract into Medway to spend money and keep people in jobs.

We all accept that in austere times money has to be spent frugally, but this is simply a joke.

A few simple questions needs to be answered clearly and quickly:

1) Which Councillor signed off on the Corporation Street roadworks?

2) What analysis was undertaken prior to signing off on the works given the Christmas period and impact on Christmas Fair trade. Were small businesses given sufficient notification?

3) Why is the current works not conducted over a seven day period, rather then a five day period given the importance of the junction and impact on local business?

4) Why have 24/7 shifts not been considered, taking into account noise-reduction strategies that can and could easily be employed to mitigate impacts to local residents?

5) Can the people and business of Rochester be given a firm date of completion for this project?

The Rochester & Strood Labour party is challenging the Conservative administration on its legacy of traffic Chaos and specifically on the Chatham and Rochester works.

In May, this administration needs to be sent a message.

Squandering public money on road programmes and mismanaging major road works are not acceptable. Coupled with the monumental failure in collecting Council tax and the lies over VAT, this represents a tired collection of apologists for a government, which in the Deputy Leader Cllr Jarrett's own words is using 'smoke and mirrors' to harm residents.

If their own Deputy Leader thinks the government is failing people in Medway then it does not require the opposition to admit that on this one, he is absolutely correct. His Conservative government are harming residents.

The Rochester & Strood Labour Party want to hear your stories on the incompetence and how it has inconvenienced you and your family.