Op-ed: Thursday this blogger will be out voting in local council and PCC elections. Paula Baxter, Labour, a local woman who knows and understands the many challenges voters face on a daily basis will get my vote in Boothferry Hull Ward. Humberside PCC candidate Keith Hunter, Labour, will also be my choice. In 2016 local council and PCC elections are more important than ever to Labour voters. The Conservative party is tearing itself apart over the upcoming in / out EU referendum but unless you look closely you may miss that; the mainstream right-wing section of the media is concentrating on Labour party woes which are part of a Tory smear campaign. So first the Tories who are:
But when they are on the ropes the so-called Nasty Party, the Tories, run true to form. In the House of Commons Thursday Chris Grayling, Tory and Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons since 2015, used and abused parliamentary privilege. He made vague allegations against Labour's Humberside PCC candidate Keith Hunter. The Yorkshire Post reported Thursday "Mr Grayling was responding to a question in the Commons today from Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy over whether former police officers standing to become PCCs should be forced to make public their service records.The Leader of the Commons responded: “I am aware of allegations about the Labour PCC candidate in Humberside. “If the stories alleged about that candidate are true, he is unfit for public office, and it is a matter of public interest that the truth should be known before election day."” So there the 'allegation' sits festering in the air ahead of the election. Andrew Percy later tried distancing himself from Grayling's naming and news channels reported Thursday night that Grayling's office had not responded to requests for comment. He has still not responded. Sunday the affair was mentioned on the BBC morning political shows along with the John Mann and Ken Livingstone row that has been grabbing headlines since Thursday. Helped along by backstabbers within the party, those wanting to oust Jeremy Corbyn as leader, the right-wing is having a field day; and that includes the right-wing of Labour. As I type BBC lunchtime News again has Jeremy Corbyn, John Mann and Ken Livingstone as the lead story this time with London Mayor candidate Sadiq Khan thrown in for good measure. The top billing spot should tell you all you need to know; it is a smear campaign pure and simple. In Humberside the current PCC and up for re-election is Tory Matthew Groves. Mr Hunter has accused Groves of failing in the role he has held since 2012. Grayling and his colleagues have a vested interest in ensuring Groves is re-elected and follows the party line on policing. A spokesman for Mr Hunter said: “Keith has an exemplary record from 30 years’ service for Humberside Police with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of the Constabulary stating he made ‘an outstanding contribution to performance in all his posts’. And Sunday the smear hangs in the air possibly affecting how some people will vote. If you are a Labour supporter in Humberside voting locally has never been so important. Tory and Ukip voters will be out in force and we must follow suit. If you support Jeremy Corbyn as Labour party leader ignore the hype, smears, right-wing media manipulation and backstabbers in the party and send a message to the Parliamentary Labour Party and the Tories. Labour often lose out to voter apathy but not this time if you play your part. PCCs are a fairly new and Tory concept. But like it or lump it they are here to stay at least for the foreseeable future. Thursday May 5 get out and vote and make that vote count. Under the terms of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs must: http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/how-we-work
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/grayling-raises-labour-candidate-allegations-1-7882517 http://www.apccs.police.uk/role-of-the-pcc/
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Dodgy Dave the bully boy and his braying donkeys  Twitter users have their own opinion on Goldsmith Op-ed: Warning-This report may not pull its verbal punches.
UK PM David Cameron opted to stick two fingers up to the opposition in the Commons during PMQs Wednesday. He did not of course do so literally. Lacking the balls of veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner who called Cameron Dodgy Dave in the Commons last week, and not for the first time, Cameron utilised all his slimy cunning to attack and undermine democracy. Knowing that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will not rise to the bait Cameron continues to try a range of attacks aimed to hit hard. He is sadly helped along by those within the Labour party who feed the mainstream media and perhaps even the Tories a diet of first-class bullshit. The over-funded Tory spin machine scours the internet and media for ammunition to use against Mr Corbyn. Wednesday Cameron decided to weigh in to who feeds members at a Labour party conference. Why this should concern the Tories who knows. Perhaps after all the Tory hype about improving diets they really want us all to eat a diet of crap and be as unhealthy as possible? "This week Jeremy Corbyn has faced an MPs’ revolt over the Labour party’s decision to ban McDonald’s from having a stall at its party conference. A number of MPs have accused the Labour leader of snobbery, while Corbyn’s spokesman has had to admit that he does not know what the vegetarian Labour leader could even eat at the popular fast food chain." Spectator What a load of tosh. Perhaps Podgy Dave should ditch McDonalds and try a healthier option. But also today it was a racist attack levelled against London mayoral hopeful and Labour politician Sadiq Khan. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow was unable or unwilling to hold Cameron to account for his nasty slurs and innuendos but was happy to remove Skinner from the HoC for one day for calling Cameron Dodgy. It was amusing to watch Bercow last week pathetically shy away from uttering the word Dodgy instead asking Skinner to withdraw the word that started in D and ended in Y. It had all the hall marks of a public school come Whitehall farce. Still he did not have that problem this week as he simply chose to allow Cameron a field day in spite of protests from the opposition. According to the Guardian: "The prime minister criticised Labour’s candidate for London mayor for ‘sharing a platform with extremists’. David Cameron was met with cries of “racist” in the House of Commons as he joined attacks on Labour’s London mayoral candidate, Sadiq Khan, claiming he has shared a platform with extremists. The prime minister laid into Khan during prime minister’s questions, claiming the Labour candidate had nine times shared a platform with a known Islamist extremist called Sulaiman Ghani." Dodgy Dave's attack was of course bunkum. There are some nicely spun reports in Murdoch papers but they are short on truth. Londoner's get to vote on a new Mayor and candidates include George Galloway; you may not be aware of that fact as the MSM try to exclude Galloway. But if the Tories want to throw stones perhaps they should leave their glass houses. In February 2016 we posted a report titled "Zac Goldsmith non dom squirm Newsnight." "The Goldsmith's family office operates out of Geneva not London or even the UK" we reported. We added "I have always been tax resident in the UK," Goldsmith told Davis. "I have always paid full tax on my income in the UK since I've been paying tax since I was 18." "Let me just explain, my father died around 20 years ago. I became non-dom at age 20 or 21. Being non-dom allows you to make lifestyle choices to avoid paying tax." He added: "I've never been accused of not paying tax." He went on to say ""I have a huge family that covers every continent in the world, more or less. I am one of very many siblings and members of the family. My father was an international businessman. He established an overseas trust before he died. "I am a beneficiary of that trust. I have absolutely no control over it." He then added "What I do have control over is the income I get. And that income I get is subject to the full tax regime in the UK and has always has been." That interview however left me wondering if Goldsmith protested a little too much and just why he wanted to be the next mayor of London. If you watch PMQs you will know that silence and deference is shown to the SNP's Angus Robertson. Similarly others are afforded some respect. The sheer contempt Cameron saves to use on Jeremy Corbyn is there for all to see. But without support from his MPs Corbyn is pushed into the bull ring without a weapon. Still for me watching the civilised looking Labour party at PMQs as opposed to the Tories who go from resembling nodding dogs from the back of cars to braying donkeys from Disney's Pinocchio Labour win hands down. But of course many people will only get to see the highlights or is it lowlights of PMQs? What clips are aired on mainstream early evening news is selective. Tory House Speaker has had his day and some. It was Labour under Ed Miliband that saved his neck once before but who would oblige now? The obvious improvement when the House of Commons Deputy Speaker stands in is remarkable. He stands head and shoulders above Bercow and not just in feet and inches. Related reading: Mayfair Tax loophole debate lost to plot Another dodgy Conservative fund raising dinner Colorado river poisoned with mine sludge When if ever will DWP publish Hardship fund data |
