Monday 24 May 2010

Over the Rainbow?

What was more important to the British public: David Cameron winning the general election or Danielle getting the role of Dorothy? As the Green Party candidate for Richmond at the last general election, my feeling is that as contests, there was little to choose between them.

The general election was dominated by TV debates focused on three grey men in suits. The Over the Rainbow TV show focused on twenty pretty girls in gingham, so perhaps was the more interesting! There were similarities in that it was youth that won out over experience in both cases. However, unlike Dorothy, in the general election the contestants were not treated equally. All of the smaller parties were excluded from the main debates, with the Green Party and UKIP particularly disadvantaged. At least the Nationalist Parties had separate debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but neither the Green Party or UKIP were invited onto the panels and their vote was squeezed as a result. In my own case the BBC refused to talk to me as candidate for Richmond throughout the election campaign, unlike the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem candidates. My complaint of bias to the BBC Trust goes unanswered after two weeks, contrary to their own rules.

Yes, the Green Party won in Brighton, which was down to an excellent candidate in Caroline Lucas and a lot of hard work over many years. But think how much better those TV debates would have been with the wit and wisdom of a woman like Caroline Lucas to contrast with the sameness of the three grey men in suits? That is something that this coalition has shown us. The difference between the three grey men was in style not substance. Their policies are interchangeable, as is demonstrated by Nick Clegg’s endorsement of the Tories’ Big Society idea. Tory, Liberal and Labour agree on Afghanistan, nuclear weapons, nuclear energy and punishing the public for the mistakes of politicians and banks. To cover up their MPs’ expenses scandal they have set up yet another quango full of over paid bureaucrats.

Why is it important that the smaller parties are heard? Well apart from the democratic principle of a level playing field, sometimes we get things right. For instance, on Afghanistan, the Tory defence secretary Liam Fox is quoting as saying last Friday that Britain was not a “global policeman” and he would like to see British troops return home “as soon as possible”. Well I hope William Hague, Foreign Secretary and the victor of Richmond, was listening. He may then recall that this was exactly what I said to him in the Richmond hustings at our last general election battle in 2005 (Richmond Zetland Centre 29/4/2005). Since then 282 British service personnel have died in Afghanistan and 104 in Iraq, along with thousands of civilians. If the Government and the people had heard the Green Party message then, perhaps those deaths might have been avoided?

Monday 10 May 2010

BBC Bias?

Well, the election is over and as we speak, Nick Clegg and David Cameron (and possibly Gordon Brown?) are locked into negotiations as to who will form the Government. This is as it should be as all politics should be about compromise around the common good. No British Government since World War II has had the support of the majority of the British people (in terms of votes) and it is time that democracy, in terms of the will of the majority, be returned to the UK. After all coalitions were common in the UK after the rise of the Labour Party up to and including the war.

We in the Green Party had mixed fortunes. There was the astonishing win by Caroline Lucas to become the first Green MP in Britain and the very first in the world to be elected under a first past the post system. My congratulations go out to Caroline and her Brighton team.

In the rest of the country, however, the Green Party and to be fair ALL the smaller parties were punished by the polarisation of support brought about by the TV debates. Not just the Prime Ministerial debates, all the local and cabinet debates focused just on three grey men in suits from the Westminster parties. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales the nationalist parties were given a platform, but in England, TV viewers were told again and again that the race was between Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat and other voices, including the Green Party were suppressed.

Here in the Richmond constituency, BBC North East steadfastly refused to talk to me as the Green Party candidate for Richmond. How many times did you see the Conservative candidate William Hague on the local news and debate programmes (Look North etc)?
Most blatantly, however, was a report by BBC Radio Tees (repeated on BBC Radio York) on Friday 28th April. I am told that BBC Radio Tees did a feature on the Richmond (Yorks) constituency. I am told that they interviewed the Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat candidates. I am told, but not by the BBC, who did not have the courtesy to inform the Richmond Green Party that the programme was even being broadcast. The BBC editorial guidelines say that the BBC should be impartial in its election coverage. How is it impartial to interview just three out of the four candidates standing in the Richmond constituency? How is it impartial to give dozens of opportunities for other Richmond candidates to voice their views on the BBC during the campaign, but to block all attempts by the Richmond Green Party to get its views across?

Never again must local and national broadcast stations be allowed to manipulate public opinion in the way they did in this election. Never again should such blatant discrimination against the smaller parties be allowed to undermine democracy. Never again will we allow BBC bias to go un-reported. Watch this space!

Monday 3 May 2010

Green Grand Tour

Still travelling around the constituency today (Monday). We continue to get a positive response from people in all parts of this, the largest constituency in England. Even got a new Green Party member.

Today’s swing through the Yorkshire Dales National Park included stops at East Witton, Middleham, Leyburn, Bainbridge, Gayle and Hawes. Whilst William Hague continues to make just brief appearances in the constituency, the Green Party is continuing to visit the parts other parties cannot reach.

Previously I have visited most parts of the constituency including Stokesley, Great Ayton, Osmotherley, Northallerton Bedale, Richmond, Catterick, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale and many points in between.

The Liberal Democrat is so committed to Richmond, his election leaflet has a photograph on the front with cars driving on the right hand side of the road, clearly taken on the continent. If you look closely there are other clues too: the driver sitting on the left of the car, the WHITE rear number plate, the number one on the wall that looks like a seven.

As Mr Meredith lives in Brussels, I guess he could not spare the time to visit Richmond for a photograph until the election was called. The likelihood of us seeing much of the Liberal Democrat after the election is remote.

Unlike the Tories and Liberal Democrats, I am fully committed to the Richmond constituency and not focused on my own political career like Messrs Hague and Meredith. As for Labour, well the Green Party got 50% more votes than Labour in the County Council seats we fought last year. For real change, you need the Green Party.

Freedom of the Press (not to turn up)

Great hustings on Friday night, if you, like the Darlington and Stockton Times, happened to miss it. I got the first round of applause and the first laugh. I even had William Hague promising to read the Green Party manifesto.

As reported, all the Richmond Candidates turned up, even William Hague who had said he was too busy. Then I got a letter pointing this out printed in the D&S Times and, hey presto, William appears! The Labour candidate tried hard, but was weak. The Liberal Democrat has been parachuted in from Brussels: clearly given a seat the Lib Dems can't win to serve his apprenticeship. His inexperience showed.

Not everything was perfect (you know how you think of something more pithy to say just after sitting down?), but all in all it was a good night for the Green Party. It was just a pity that BBC North East continues to refuse to talk to me and BBC York interviewed all the other candidates that morning, deliberately excluding the Green Party. As for the Darlington and Stockton Times they reported on the hustings, going into detail about William Hague. It was just a pity their report was printed the morning BEFORE the hustings took place!!!!

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Success !!

In a previous blog I reported that William Hague had refused to turn up to the hustings due this Friday (30/4/10) at the Methodist Church in Richmond (7.30 pm). I repeated this complaint in a letter to the Darlington and Stockton Times (see last blog).
On the doorstep, his constituents started to complain about being taken for granted. As the sitting MP with a large majority, Hague showed his complacency by touring marginal seats the length and breadth of the UK (including Northern Ireland) whilst being unavailable to his Richmond constituents. Even the Red Fox from “Make Cruelty History” could not find him (see the hilarious clip of the Red Fox failing to find anyone at William Hague’s campaign HQ at http://cruelsports.wordpress.com/category/keep-cruelty-history/ then scroll down to day 2. The only candidate that met the red fox face to face by the way, was me - see same video where I make my support for the hunting ban clear.)
After my letter was printed in the D&S Times, the Tories started to panic. For weeks they had made it clear that no one from the Conservative Party would be at the 30th April hustings. Then yesterday (Tuesday 27/4/10) a telephone call from the Church minister organising the hustings informed me that Anne McIntosh was going to appear in place of the “far too busy” William Hague. Ms McIntosh was made notorious during the MPs’ expenses scandal for having her gardening paid for (tax free) almost every month from 2004 until the Daily Telegraph rumbled her. Clearly an embarrassment to her Party, perhaps this was something to do to keep her out of the way?
But still, my letter had worked and the Tory stonewall was crumbling. Then the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates, perhaps a little shaken by the prospect of facing “Rotweiler” McIntosh, complained that she was not a candidate. The Labour Party rang me to persuade me to join their opposition, but frankly I was looking forward to tackling Ms McIntosh about her MP’s expenses.
However, the minister rang me late this afternoon (28/4/10) to say the Tories had changed their mind again and William Hague was now going to come to the hustings after all!
SUCCESS! The Green Party had succeeded in getting Hague to meet his constituents. I rang Elizabeth, my press officer to tell her the good news, only to discover that she had just been told this by her press contacts. It seems that the Tories had informed the Press first, before anyone else.
But the bitter pill comes at the end. William Hague has appeared on TV and radio broadcast by the BBC and others on numerous occasions during this election. Last night on the BBC Look North Election 2010 he was introduced as the “Conservative candidate for Richmond”, a clear breach of broadcasting guidelines as the BBC had not invited me or the other Richmond candidates to the debate. In fact not once during this election has BBC North East invited me to appear on a programme. Now with their last opportunity to redress the balance, none of the broadcast media are going to attend the hustings. Even worse the newspapers are refusing to attend as well. Was that the reason why William Hague contacted the media first? He knows that facing his electorate will be embarrassment for him. So whilst William Hague basks in the spotlight of the media, his political rivals go unreported. This election is supposed to be about you electing your representative to Parliament. It has become a media circus of celebrities, with fair and balanced debate left out in the cold.

Lib Dems Economical with the Truth

Here is a copy of a letter I sent to the Darlington and Stockton Times:

Politicians have been known to be “economical with the truth” in the past, but it concerns me when they do so in your letters page. The Liberal Democrat candidate for Richmond in his letter “Vote for Change” (D&ST 16/4/10) made a number of false claims, which need to be corrected. Mr Meredith, who lives and works in Brussels, used the address of a well-known local Liberal activist on his letter to wrongly claim that Richmond was “OUR great constituency”. Mr Meredith does not live in the Richmond constituency, nor can he vote in the constituency and his sycophantic use of the term “great” contradicts your front-page article of the same day. In that Mr Meredith’s Lib Dem colleague Stuart Parsons quite rightly claims that Richmondshire is being stripped of jobs as the Benefits offices are moved to Northallerton. This deplorable betrayal by Richmondshire District Council hardly suggests greatness.
Secondly, Mr Meredith claims, “Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to changing this unfair electoral system”. Untrue! There are a number of political parties fighting this election on the platform of electoral reform, not least my party, the Green Party.
I have had many years of fighting the unfair electoral system in the Richmond constituency, which has left our councils awash with Tories, (far more than their share of the vote deserves) and with few effective opposition councillors.
Unlike Mr Meredith I do not concede defeat to William Hague, who has been noticeable by his absence in this election, taking voters for granted so much that he has even turned down the traditional “Churches Together” debate by candidates in Richmond on 30th April (Methodist Church 7.30 pm). Mr Hague has a lot to answer for, including his part in the MPs’ expenses scandal and I, as a truly local candidate, will continue to challenge him all the way to Election Day.

Yours sincerely,

Leslie Rowe
Published and Promoted by Leslie Rowe on behalf of the Richmond Green Party, both at 73 Richmond Road, Brompton on Swale, Richmond, North Yorks. DL10 7HF

Wednesday 14 April 2010

William Hague takes Richmond Voters for Granted

Are you a voter in the Richmond constituency? Feel taken for granted? Well you should be. William Hague is so confident of victory in the Richmond constituency that he has refused a request to debate the issues with fellow candidates. After all, the Darlington and Stockton Times says that voters in the Richmond constituency are so predictable that Hague’s victory is inevitable (D&S Times editorial 9/4/10) and clearly William Hague agrees. So an invitation to the traditional Richmond “Churches Together” electoral debate has been accepted by me on behalf of the Green Party and all the other candidates (Methodist Church 30th April 2010), except for the all too superior Mr Hague.

Why is William Hague so afraid to meet his opponents in public debate? Is he afraid that his twenty-one years of doing little for his constituents in Parliament will come into question? Is he afraid that his support for the Iraq war, exposed by me in the Richmond "Churches Together" debate in the 2005 general election, will come back to haunt him? Or the thousands of pounds of untaxed income he claimed in Parliamentary expenses will actually be discussed by his constituents? Or are there other dark secrets that William Hague does not want to risk coming to light? Has he and Seb Coe been secretly riding that log flume wearing baseball caps again? Or has he been out on the town drinking the 14 pints of beer he boasted he drank a day as a teenager? (BBC News. 8 August 2000, source Wikipedia).

The truth is that William Hague is “frit” as Margaret Thatcher would say: he is too frightened to risk a debate that may expose the shallowness of his policies and the limits of his commitment to the Richmond constituency. He is so wrapped up in his own importance that he believes that he will be swept back into parliament on his reputation alone.

Well, in a 2001 nationwide poll for the Daily Telegraph, 66% of voters considered him to be "a bit of a wally" and 70% of voters believed he would "say almost anything to win votes" (source Wikipedia). Now he is saying nothing to his constituents and refusing to debate with his opponents.

So I appeal to voters in the Richmond constituency: please do not be taken for granted and waste your vote on Hague. Vote with your head and your heart, vote for the Green Party!