The Andover Hustings

For those who can cope with it, here is a blow-by-blow account of my contribution to the Andover hustings in NW Hampshire.

Opening Statement

Hello, it is an honour to be here tonight as North West Hampshire’s Labour candidate.

My starting point in this election is that working families, pensioners and students should not be made to pay for a global economic crisis caused not by them, but by the unregulated greed of bankers.

I believe that Labour's gains - including massive spending on health and education, free pre-school places for all, better maternity and paternity rights, the minimum wage, tax credits and childcare vouchers - must be protected.

I reject the idea that public services need to be cut to rescue our economy.

The National Health Service is one of Labour’s greatest achievements.

Labour created it, Labour saved it, Labour values it and we will always support it.

It is the fairest system of healthcare in the world.

I believe we must stop any further fragmentation and privatisation of our public services and put an end to wasteful and costly PFI contracts.

I believe that a massive council-house building programme is the obvious and sensible way to address the chronic housing problem that has seen working people denied affordable housing and prices spiral beyond reach, and families, especially in our rural areas, forced to move apart.

I will campaign for a truly public transport network with fares set at levels that encourage people out of their cars, and the development of cycle routes that are more than just an afterthought that come to an abrupt end on a busy junction.

I believe that the cuts made in bus services in NW Hampshire are a blow to some of the constituency's worst-off and least mobile people. I will work hard to see those services restored, and for bus services to be run on Sundays.

I will campaign to ensure that station staff and ticket offices are kept for safety’s and security’s sake, and not cut to bolster the profits of South West Trains and Stagecoach.

The green agenda is rooted in Labour’s values, and I believe we need urgent national and global action on the environment and to tackle climate change.

We need more investment in renewable energy sources, as well as development of technology that will allow the safe use of fossil fuels, that will allow us to phase out nuclear power.

On the world stage I want to see Britain playing a role that helps to bring equality among nations and end the obscenity of rich nations plundering the world’s poorest – an approach that would do far more to end conflict and increase security than sending our loyal troops into ever more wars.

I believe that we need a sense of proportion about our economy.

Our deficit, as a percentage of our GDP is around a third of what it was in the aftermath of the Second World War when Labour created the NHS and built hundreds of thousands of council homes.

The Tories and the Lib Dems are offering immediate savage cuts to our public services which would put at risk the economic recovery and bring misery to working people, more re-possessions, higher unemployment and less investment by the private sector because of less demand.

We need fairness for all, and I believe that only Labour can deliver it.

Questions and Answers


1: I understand that politicians are anxious about telling the electorate bad news for fear of putting off voters.  The alternative strategy of holding back the reality of any bad news until after the election risks further erosion to politicians’ credibility.  How do you handle that tension?

I believe that parties should be honest about their intentions, but there is a lot of very coy shadow-boxing going on.

Labour is the one party that makes it clear that to cut public spending before the recovery has a chance to take proper root would risk sending us into a double-dip recession. [Tories are talking about £6 billion of immediate cuts]

Both the Tories and Lib Dems would take the axe to public services from day-one – although the Lib-Dems have attempted to make a virtue of being more up-front about what they would cut than the Tories.

In fact I reject the idea that public services have to be cut in order to save the economy.

I reject the idea that working people should be made to pay for a crisis that has been caused by the unregulated greed of bankers speculating on the homes of the most vulnerable.

If we can throw hundreds of billions of our money at saving bankers, I believe we can protect our public services.

The banks that have been rescued with our money should be required to act in the public interest, making loans available to small and medium sized businesses and home-buyers at interest rates that reflect the low base rate.

Our debt after the second world war was massive, even in comparison to the debt we have today, but the 1945 Labour government embarked upon a bold programme of public investment.

It built hundreds of thousands of council houses, creating jobs and homes, and it created the National Health Service, in the face of Tory opposition.

We should take a lesson from that.

I agree with my union, Unison, that we should be looking for a million council homes to be built over the life of the next parliament.

There is waste in our economy, but there are better places to look than our public services.

We could start by saving up to £130 billion by scrapping the Trident nuclear programme – with jobs retained for de-commissioning and new research projects – and we could save another £20 billion a year by getting our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ending PFI would also save the taxpayer billions, as would clamping down on tax avoidance by the rich – people like the Tories’ own Lord Ashcroft, whose unpaid tax could have financed a hospital or two – something that Labour has started to do.


2: The Israel/Palestine peace process seems to be getting nowhere, while Israel continues to build settlements in occupied East Jerusalem in defiance of international law, and maintains its stranglehold on the Gaza strip.  With this background, how do you propose to confront the Israeli Government and demands its accession to all relevant UN resolutions, and do they agree that ultimately, given the facts on the ground, only a bi-national state will be workable, and that talk of a "two-state solution" is empty rhetoric?

The basic fault-line in Middle East politics is the failure to allow Palestinians to have their own state.

The world wants to see a two-state solution, with Palestinians and Israelis living peacefully side by side, but Israel’s own approach seems designed to undermine it.

In 1948, when Israel was created and given 56% of Palestinian land, Israelis talked about, ‘a land without people for a people without land’: this was simply untrue.

Israel went on to destroy 400 more Palestinian villages and to seized more than three-quarters of Palestinian land.

Israel is in violation of more than 60 United Nations resolutions.

Israel excuses its repression of Palestinians with talk of the constant shelling of Israel.

Between 2001 and Nov 2008, 13 Israelis were killed by Qassam rockets. By contrast, nearly 5,000 Palestinians were killed, more than half of them in Gaza.

Access to food, medicines, doctors and water is still being limited by Israeli policies that amount to ethnic cleansing, and families are separated by illegal settlements and the 400-mile wall.

There is alarm about the prospect of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but Israel already has them.

It is Israel’s occupation of Palestine that poses the biggest risk to peace in the region.

South Africa’s racist regime was isolated by sanctions and boycotts. I believe we must look to these options for Israel too, especially putting an end to arms deals with Israel.

The Palestinians are still suffering every day. It’s time to tell Israel in no uncertain terms to:

• Stop the confiscation and settlement of Palestinan land
• Withdraw to pre-1967 borders
• Accept the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination
• Allow Palestinians to return to the land they have been expelled from
• Stop the occupation and aggression against neighbouring states

We are all on this planet together, we are no different than each other – we must start respecting one another.

3        If you are elected (or re-elected) how would you honour a pledge to serve your community in this area? Also how do you plan to encourage new and existing businesses to invest in Andover?

I am a community campaigner, and I would see being elected as an MP as both an honour and a massive responsibility, and as an opportunity to help empower people who have been alienated from politics or who see politics as  nothing to do with them.

I believe in raising people’s expectations, and would try to stimulate debate about what we want to see happen in our communities.

Being an MP would be an opportunity to become a more effective campaigner – and I would consider it my duty to use my position to work for more and better facilities.

Much of what would encourage businesses to come to NW Hampshire is tied up in what happens to our wider economy.

I would campaign for banks to be required to offer loans to small and medium sized businesses at reasonable rates.

I would campaign to see the law changed so that businesses like Twinings couldn’t simply uproot and dump a loyal workforce because they have found cheaper sources of labour in Poland or China.

I would campaign to ensure that companies relocating abroad did not receive EU grants for doing so if it means dumping an existing workforce.

I would campaign for a substantial increase in the minimum wage and pensions.

People with bigger incomes spend more money locally and that would stimulate the local economy.

For the same reason I would campaign against public-service cuts, because cuts mean job losses and they too would weaken our local economy.

I would also be keen to see if there was any scope for reducing rents for businesses interested in coming to Andover, particularly in the short-term.


4.What policies do you intend to support that will reduce the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor in our country?

Throughout the boom years we have been told to wait for the trickle-down effect.

We waited, and it didn’t happen.

Then the banking system went into meltdown, and working people are expected to bail out the very people who created the mess.

The problem we have is that cutting public services will increase inequality.

That isn’t right, and there need to be some fundamental shifts.

We need a fairer tax system that taxes according to income, not a battery of regressive taxes that take the most from the poorest, and we need a concerted attack on tax avoidance and evasion.

I will campaign to maintain investment in the NHS and all frontline public services.

Again, I will campaign to raise the minimum wage, raise the state pensions and link it to inflation.

We also need a major shift on housing policy. Labour has already announced an increase in council-house building, and I will campaign for more.

The housing charity Shelter has pointed out that if food prices had risen at the same rate as that of housing a chicken today would cost more than £47.

The ridiculous state of the housing market is at the very centre of the current economic crisis and one of the key problems that needs to be tackled if we are to end inequality. Leaving it to the market has made matters worse.

My union, Unison, has proposed the building of a million council homes over the next five years.

That would restore some sanity to the market and provide jobs and skills training, but most of all it would help to end a situation in which far too many families cannot afford a roof over their heads.

I will campaign to end student fees and restore grants to ensure equal access to education.

I will work for an end to the means-testing of benefits – it is the tax system that should be used to ensure fairness.

I will campaign for an end to privatisation and the restoration of the utilities and transport to public ownership.

Public ownership has been given a bad name because historically it has been failing industries that have been nationalised – we need to harness utilities that have been milked for profit for the benefit of all.

5.How does you party plan to deal with environmental issues like global warming, sustainable energy sources, destruction of rainforests etc.?

Labour is already engaged in tackling global warming, taking action here and seeking multi-lateral agreement on measures to curb climate change.

Labour is investing in renewable energy programmes, including wind-farms – although I believe the government should have intervened to save the Vestas wind-turbine plant on the Isle of Wight.

Labour is also working towards regulation that would ensure that new buildings incorporate energy-efficient technology. We need to see things like solar panels and recycling of grey water as standard in new homes.

Preventing destruction of rainforests is about curbing demand for the economic activity that causes it – whether that’s ensuring that timber comes from sustainable sources or looking carefully at how fast-food outlets foster de-forestation through inflated demand for new cattle pasture.

It isn’t good enough to blame foreign government for not doing enough when the demand comes from wealthy nations like ours.

Markets certainly cannot do this – it needs conscious co-operation.

The need to protect our environment has an echo in every aspect of our lives: and it is an issue to which the slogan ‘think global, act local’ attaches a direct and true meaning.

6: Have the equality laws and the application of these laws produced genuine equality or have they made some groups in the words of George  Orwell, "More equal than others".

The existence of equality laws like the Race Relations Act and sex- and disability-discrimination legislation have helped, but nowhere near enough.

Discrimination may now be unlawful in some situations, but there is still far too much of it.

The reality remains, for example, that young black men are still more likely to be unemployed, that women are still underpaid, and that disabled people face routine discrimination in work and society at large.

Women in full-time work are paid nearly 20 per cent less than men, and in part-time work women are on average a third less well paid than men.

It remains a sad fact that bigots who turn gays away from B&Bs get the knee-jerk support even of members of the Tory front bench.

And if the Tories are elected they will introduce further discrimination against non-married couples and single parents who will not qualify for the £3-a-week insult they claim is aimed at supporting families, but in reality picks on families that do not conform to an ideological standard.

I believe it is a myth – fed by the Express, the Mail, the Sun and the Telegraph – that the world has gone PC mad.

But the basic fault-line, the inequality that transcends all others, is the inequality between haves and have-nots.

The proportion of GDP that went in wages in the 1970s was 65 per cent. Today it is 53 per cent. Working people get a smaller slice of the cake today than they did 30 years ago – that is why I would like to see better rights at work.

That fact is reflected here in NW Hampshire, where there is a low-wage economy to the extent that second or even third jobs are normal for far too many people.

We have people right here in Andover and in rural NW Hampshire who cannot afford what is supposed to be affordable housing.

Since Thatcher sold off the best council housing stock it has not been replaced, and it is sad that there are people out there who encourage working people to blame each other for that.

I believe that much discrimination and bigotry will wither if we can ensure that the decent basics in life – work, housing, education and health – are available to all.

7.Sociological analysis demonstrates that the traditional structure of  the family is the most stable framework of an healthy society. What measures will you and your party do to encourage and strengthen traditional family structures?

I reject the idea that a traditional family has to be a married, heterosexual couple with children.

I believe that single-sex couples can bring up a child just as well, as can co-habiting couples like my partner and me.

The question doesn’t mention marriage, and I believe that what is important is that a child grows up in a kind, loving and supportive environment.

Communities and families come under pressure when there is a lack of public services, a decent job, decent affordable housing or somewhere for children to play, and when there is a sense that your voice no longer counts.

It is the stress of these issues which causes many of the problems in our society.

It breeds despondancy and a lack of respect for the society we live in.

To bring about a healthy society we need to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots.

The Tories’ idea of rewarding married couples with a three-quid tax incentive is insulting to single parents, gays, and unmarried partners, and to a whole generation of women who have been empowered by Labour’s policies:

What matters far more – and is actually worth far more than £150 a year – is the childcare vouchers which have enabled women to have the choice about going back to work, the free pre-school education and the child tax credits.

I know they have made a massive difference to me – and only today we read that the Tories are quietly plotting to get rid of guaranteed free pre-school places.

I’d like to hear George Young deny it. (he did - watch this space)!

To moralise about one particular family structure as the means to creating a healthy society is wrong, and it misses the point.

Families will be a lot better off under Labour and so will children, because Labour will bring about equality and fairness for all and not undermine it.

A healthy society has to be based upon equality and respect.

If our government ensures we have a decent home, access to public services and a properly paid job, that young people are listened to and provided with adequate facilities and that our environment is respected, we will all start respecting each other more.

8.Alcohol abuse and binge drinking is connected to so many of our social problems - It is fueling anti-social behaviour, it effects performance and attendance at work, it is destroying family relationships and severely damaging health.  Was it common sense to essentially legislate all day and all night drinking sessions?

We do have a massive problem with excessive drinking, but I don’t think that extended drinking hours is the cause of anti-social behaviour.

There are plenty of countries that have long had 24-hour licensing without problems.

The drinks companies must have share of the blame, with advertising for alco-pops quite clearly aimed at young people, and that should be stopped. I would like to see the profits of drinks companies channelled into treating the health problems.

It is also ironic that the newspapers that carry outraged stories about alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour also carry full-page adverts for cheap booze deals.

But I don’t think the answer lies in increasing the price – that way the least well off get hit yet again. Education about the effects of alcohol is essential.

I think that much of today’s anti-social behaviour has its roots in the ‘me, me, me’ culture imposed in the Thatcher years and the insecurity it has created.

I believe that social cohesion stems from social inclusion.

Today we see still see the great god cash worshipped above all else.

We also see local authorities, like our own Test Valley, that appear to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

We have estates with no facilities, and we see the community thrown out of its own Guildhall because the income it can generate from a fast-food outlet is more important than the lifeline it offers the community.

Our communities, especially our housing estates, have had little done to them for years and people feel unwanted and uncared for – there is nowhere to go.

The estate I live has no shop, no post office, no pub, no community hall, not even a youth shelter, and it took me months to get the council to re-instate the goal posts on a field that also doubles as a dog’s toilet because it is not fenced off.

Many young people are desperate for something to do. Andover has the depot, but overwhelmingly people say that kids can’t get there, or can’t afford to go.

We need facilities on our estates and more youth provision, including outreach workers to get young people into sports and youth clubs.

Closing Statement

I believe only Labour can offer a government that offers fairness for all.

I believe a Tory victory on May 6 would be a tragedy for Britain.

The Tories – and for that matter the Lib Dems – would make the least well-off pay dearly for a crisis they had no part in creating.

We cannot afford a return to the slash-and-burn policies that destroyed so many jobs and whole industries, and saw so many homes re-possessed the last time they were in office.

Labour has at least taxed the obscene bonuses paid to banker even as our money was propping them up. I would work to see that bonus culture ended and the banks be put to the socially useful work of backing the recovery.

Labour has made a difference over the last 13 years.

We have the highest ever spending on the health service, and education, we have the minimum wage, pre-school places for all, better maternity and paternity rights, tax credits, childcare vouchers, Sure Start and more

I believe that there is much more to be done, but the risk is that all that has been achieved will be thrown into reverse if we have savage Tory cuts starting on May 7

If you’d have told me even a couple of years ago that I’d be standing as a candidate in a general election I’d have laughed out loud.

I am doing this because I believe passionately in justice.

I believe that all too often the voices of those who need to be heard most are drowned out by those who know their way around the system and by lobbyists for vested interests.

I am no career politician. I am a socialist and community campaigner.

Campaigning has helped to empower me as an individual, and I believe communities should empower themselves by working together to improve their lives.

Whatever the outcome of the election I will continue to campaign in my community, but to be able to do so as your MP would be the biggest possible honour.