Reader's might be wondering why Bertie's spelling is not up to it; surely it is FURNESS!.
Well not according to the latest Lib Dem leaflet dropped through my door. Although it is a little worrying that the Lib Dems cannot spell their 'Leader's' name in their bumpf.
What is more interesting is the TDC Electoral Officer's acceptance of Mr Furness' address. This is what is shown on TDC's web-site:
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FURNESS Bill | 25 Cross Road Isle of Thanet CT7 9HN | Liberal Democrat | Anthony H Flaig |
Whilst its good to see Tony (Big News) being the proposer, what worries Bertie is the address. There is no official address ' Isle of Thanet'. Mr Furness resides in Birchington perhaps , with a CT7 postcode?
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So why put Isle of Thanet? It does seem to obscure the fact that he lives nowhere near Dane Valley Ward and that he is a Birchington based candidate. I am sure it is not a deliberate attempt to mislead but the fact cannot be ignored that Dane Valley voters in December will not see that he is a Birchington chap unless thay are familiar with Post Codes.
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What has surprised me is that the TDC Electoral Officer has allowed this. Is it an oversight? Is it legal in Election terms? If it is not, then has it invalidated his nomination? I hope not, as the more the merrier in Dane Valley, although I still think the best person for the job is Sandra Hart (Labour).
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17 comments:
Bertie, while I agree that the nomination paper may have not been completed quite as it should, I think there are bigger fish to watch in Thanet (or have they swum to the bottom of the pond temporarily). If I was voting in Dane Valley I think I would be very torn between Sandra Hart and Bill Furness. Bill is a good guy and has done more for Birchington than some of the elected representatives ever have. I think he would make a good ward councillor for Dane Valley but then so would Sandra Hart.
07.30, I agree with you, that they are both good candidates. If Bill ends up as one of my ward councillors and not Sandra Hart,then at least Ezekiel's choice will have lost out!
That is strange regarding the address, when I was a election agent in a TDC election many moons ago I had a nomination paper rejected because I put Rd instead of Road and had to fill it in again. How times have changed.
People may think where you live on the island has a bearing on the vote and makes no difference. Well from my experience I would say it certainly does.
In May 2007 I stood in Garlinge for the Labour Party, my home address is in Ramsgate. During the time on the doorstep there was no indication on the doorstep that where I lived was an issue. As myself and Bob Ellender ( who also lived in Ramsgate) progressed through the campaign it became clear that the two sitting conservative councillors were going to win it. Simply because they had done their work as councillors and the public were going to vote them back in. They knew it and we knew it, but because we don't give up in the Labour Party we campaigned right up to polling day. However, as it got closer to pollling day I started to get "I am not voting for you becuase you live in Ramsgate and what do you know about Margate" on the doorstep. Even when we were hanging around the polling station on polling day we got the same from a few voters.
As most voters do not read the small print I was convinced someone had been putting it about. I knew it was not the two conservative candidates as this was a friendly election throughout which is unusual for Thanet.Even throughout the campainging I never hid the fact either.
The two conservatives went on to win as predicted with a respectable majority so it was not really an issue. However if it was a tight election then it would have made all the diffference.
As a result I doubt if I will ever stand anywhere near Margate again while I live in Ramsgate especially as the political atompshere in Thanet is pretty toxic at present.
Thanks for comments, Tony. Interesting that standards have declined. Our Conservatives have little thought about 'local' Cllrs but seem quite happy to not even canvass in some wards; its another unthinking aspect of tribalism that Dr Moores is commenting on, on Thanet Life.
Tribalism in Labour working class voters in Glasgow is to be criticised but the same manifestation by middle class Conservative voters in certain Thanet wards is 'careful reasoned judgement of the local issues'?
I read Thanet Life and what a load of cobblers.
Dr M has really got an obsession about people on benefits and to associate that with some sort of conspiracy theory makes it even more laughable.
Getting closer to home and looking at all changes to council seats in Thanet since TDC began in 1974 with the exception of Kingsgate and Newington, every seat has changed hands more than once. I hardly call that tribalism.
Charlie Young once told me when I first started canvassing to always remember there is no such thing as a safe seat and you do not win a election six weeks before an election.Wise words which the more experienced political pundits across the political spectrum would probably agree with but would never admit it.
If I can pick up on Tony's comments about 'tribalism' and add to his observations. Dr. Moores clearly knows nothing about Scottish politics or he'd realise the choices for the discerning voter north of the Tweed are 1) Labour and it's largely Old Labour, not the new kind, 2) Scot. Nats. 3) Lib.Dem. but preferably the more Liberal than Democratic, 4) Scottish Socialists but they're rather discredited by the actions of Tommy Sheirdan and 5) Scottish Unionist(or Conservative if you live south of the border 6) anybody else who thinks of standing.
'Tribalism' perhaps but there are good, historic reasons why it's the way it is and it's got a great deal to do with how they view England and the English.
The issues that concern the Scottish voter are the same in some respects but very different in others.
For the link between Labour constituencies and persistent deprivation you only have to look at last week's Sunday papers which I was remarking on. Any reasonable person looking at the figures might draw the conclusion that it remains in Labours interests to keep consituencies poor and deprived because once an improvement is shown, the voting trend moves away from Labour.
As for Scottish politics, I don't claim to be an expert on political action North of the border but I believe that the 'Old Labour' tribalism, illustrated by our former Parliamentary Speaker, the first to lose his job in centuries and now a peer of the realm, bears out the facts.
Deprived, poorly educated and with bad health and a low life expectancy, nothing changes and Glasgow will still vote Labour regardless. If Jesus himself appeared and ran as MP, I guess the result would remain the same!
I just wonder what your own agenda is on all this, Bertie.
You for instance claim to be a Tory I understand and yet have backed the Labour candidate no real surprise since like most Tories the majority of Labour politicians are self serving money grabbing individuals so naturally you tories have an affinity and one assumes an axe to grind against your own conservative supporters, so your hardly objective or credible on any level.
Like Tories, Labour functionaries seem unconcerned about the weak in society.
As I understand your favoured Labour candidate who is not a local resident in Dane Valley either so why don't you big up that issue.
As a local resident who does live in Dane Valley, I chose not to stand because clearly their are candidates who are capable which is why I'll be voting for the best candidate.
You of course Bertie are free to comment on matters in Dane Valley despite not being a resident, a point which bankrupts most of your blog posting
Bertie
Can I recommend you read what I actually said on the topic of 'Tribalism'. It has nothing to do with Birchington but a great deal to do with the established link between Labour consituencies and persistent deprivation.
"Once again, this result is straight out of the welfare trap report from last Sunday's papers. The constituencies with the highest numbers of people on benefits vote Labour and this creates a vicious circle of deprivation because it remains in the interests of the party to keep them that way, because as constituencies become more affluent and employed, their voting patterns start to change, invariably starting with a tinge of LibDem yellow before turning Blue."
Tony, firstly, I am a Dane Valley Ward resident.I must admit to voting for Broadhurst and Watt-Ruffell in 2007!
You might also remember that I left NTCA on the grounds that until the Conservatives remove their disgraced Leader (2 Standards raps) and Deputy Leader (1 Standards rap), I want nothing to do with them. We have an 'Ezekiel' Party in Thanet calling themselves Conservative.
The observation I made about Bill Furness' address is a valid enquiry as Tony B has confirmed how strict Electoral Rules used to be on accuracy to the point of extreme pedantry.
I have put my support behind Sandra Hart, as I believe we need to strengthen the opposition, The Labour Party, to the 'Ezekiel' Party running TDC like Wild West Cattle Barons. A Labour ward cllr would do this. When the Ezekiel Party becomes a Conservative Party again I will renew my NCTA membership. Hope that clarifies my position.
This candidate address issue really is a red herring, and you as a political observer Bertie are I imagine quite aware.
The Labour candidate does not live in the constituency simple.So surely by you simplistic argument is not worthy!
Re the address business, Tony said "I had a nomination paper rejected because I put Rd instead of Road and had to fill it in again" slightly different nuance to your comment also "How times have changed."
Indeed how times have change, Conservatives like you Bertie can jump into bed with Labour, because there's little difference in the contempt both parties have for ordinary people.
No doubt Bertie you have a picture of Blair and Brown adjacent to that other Leader who didn't believe in society Mrs Thatcher or the welfare of British people.
At least the Harts only live about 100 metres or so from the Dane Valley boundary and Mrs. Hart runs a business on Northdown Road, a great deal closer to the ward than Birchington.
The point Bertie was making, and you are perfectly aware it's valid, is questioning why the council official accepted 'Isle of Thanet' as an adress when the Royal Mail doesn't.
Whoops, a bit of a typo in my last posting where I should have typed 'address' not 'adress'.
I don't know what papers Dr. Moores reads but his use of some unattributed claptrap from a Sunday paper reveals how naive he is as a politician.
Who created the NHS that has prolonged all our lives,and those of our parenst, grandparents etc?
Who introduced child benefit as family allowance to help mothers with some extra cash?
Who introduced the minimum wage despite opposition from the likes of Roger Gale?
Who ensures all pensioners get a minimum income each week?
Who gives a fuel allowance to every household with someone over 60 living there?
Who is building new and better schools creating a better environment for learning?
Who has given the over60s and the disabled free bus travel and free swimming for the over60s/under16s as well?
Who created the Opne University that has enabled thousands to gain qualifications while working as well?
Who has strived to reduce poverty by the measures outlined?
Who destroyed the manufacturing base of the country leaving thousands with no work?
Who said' Unemployment is a price worth paying'?
Who has sold off so much of our social housing that families get put up in poor accommodation as there is nowhere else for them to go?
There is so much more I could write but in case anyone is in doubt -the last three are Dr. Moores' party, the others are my party that I am proud to belong to.
Unfortunately blogger killed my reply to the long-winded and deep in denial response above.
Any Government is a mix of the good and the bad but this Government has over the last ten years damaged and corrupted our country more than any other in recent history.
Accept the truth. The party's over and those at the top, like good socialists, will retire at the expense of all the naive zealots like you, who voted for them.
It's Animal Farm all over again and always will be!
Dr Moores will never comment on any local scandal or even issue involving the Tory Party - he is a loyal Ezekielite. He will, though, always seek out "evidence", however questionable and inaccurate, to support his jibes at the Labour Party. He is a good spin doctor, but should be seen as no more than that - excuse the puns in there!
The reference to Mr Gale is interesting. He opposed the minimum wage. He has opposed every act of the Labour Government to give equal rights to those in the LGBT community. But look at his reaction when something is in the offing to affect his, and his wife's, income. Both of them are ranting to everyone who will listen about the "unfairness" of MPs no longer being able to employ spouses. Sorry, Mr and Mrs Costalot, it is a racket which should be stopped.
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