In view of Hilary Armstrong's splendid holding to the old Fabian and Christian Socialist line on drugs in the House of Commons this week, in view of the absence from her latest (last?) constituency communication of any reference to a successor, in view of the very public ongoing collapse of the already beleaguered Constituency Labour Party on that question, in view of the BNP's promise to contest this seat if I do but not otherwise, in view of today's emergence of Sinn Fein sabotage of my campaign, and in view of the apparently universal expectation that the Lib Dems will beat any New Labour candidate unless there is an alternative with local Labour roots, I am hereby inviting her to become a Patron of my Independent candidacy. I hope that she will reply by next Friday, 13th November. If she has not done so, then I will assume that she has accepted.
If she declined, then she would need to explain with which of the principles set out here John Smith's PPS disagreed. (He himself was coming round on Europe after Maastricht, and would not have legislated for devolution, presenting whatever question it was supposed to answer as answered by the fact of his Premiership, and the whole thing as a distraction from the real business, such as making employment rights begin with employment and apply regardless of the number of hours worked, scandalously still not done after all these years.) She would need to explain with which of the specific policies set out here she disagreed. Or she would need to explain which of those would be the principles or policies of the New Labour candidate. Whoever, and we are now only six months away from the Election, that candidate may be.
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"I am hereby inviting her to become a Patron of my Independent candidacy. I hope that she will reply by next Friday, 13th November. If she has not done so, then I will assume that she has accepted."
ReplyDeleteIt would be much safer, as well as much more polite, to assume that she has not accepted unless she specifically does so.
Politics is not always either safe or polite. Don't take my word for it. Ask Hilary.
ReplyDeleteWhy not ask Obama to support you as well? If he doesn't reply, assume he's signed up as well
ReplyDeleteHe's not the retiring MP for this seat. Nor has he known me for nearly 30 years, not something likely to apply to New Labour imposee.
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any other reasons why a busy MP might not reply to you, other than she agrees with you?
ReplyDeleteHow are Sinn Fein sabotaging your campaign?
ReplyDeleteAnd endorsements that take the form of total silence on the issue of endorsing you are not worth the paper they're printed on.
You do know that someone being named as your patron, with all the legal and reputational status that this involves, without their explicit permission is, er, illegal, don't you? There's a reason why English law doesn't allow assumed consent.
ReplyDeleteHJoy and James, one of you isi lacking in basic local knowledge, and the other clearly doesn't read this blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a reason only bad lawyers make good politicians, too.
ReplyDelete"And there's a reason only bad lawyers make good politicians, too"
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't make a word of sense. It's not about politics, its the law. No one can be assumed to have done anything by refusing to decline it. In any field. And to publicise that they have done is breaking the law.
I take it from your asinine response that you were not aware of this pretty basic legal fact.
If she did decline (and my bet is that she will stay obliviously silent), she would not need to say which elements of your platform she disagreed with. She would merely need to say that she continued to support the policies of the Labour Party, and that she would be supporting the Labour candidate in the constituency at the next election. She might also add that she could not publicly support an opposing candidate without being expelled from the Labour Party, and that she has no desire to leave.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteNo.
Hilary
Oh first off David Sinn Féin does not even know you exist. They barely know that I exist.
ReplyDeleteThe "sabotage" campaign is intended to be quite the reverse and I am much minded to facilitate you on this....although frankly I think youre wrong.
Indeed I hope you WILL allow me to facilitate your request.
I never thought I'd see it but you are getting even worse. You are a bad man Mr L. A bad, bad man.
ReplyDelete"It's not about politics, its the law."
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason only bad lawyers make good politicians.
"obliviously"
She's already not oblivious.
"the Labour candidate"
There isn't one.
"No"
Whether or not you really are Hilary, with which of the principles set out in one of the links or policies set out in the other do you disagree? Or which of them do you expect to be those of the New Labour candidate? For that matter, who IS the New Labour candidate?
JJGM, see my comment on Post Sought.
Anonymous, I don't know what you mean.
You've really got to them on this one, haven't you? They can cope with the hard left but not with the Old Labour right wing.
ReplyDeleteLess of the "right wing", please.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteYou must know that as an outgoing Labour MP, she would not support you even if secretly she thought you were the answer.
Rightly or wrongly, she will support the party and probably stay well away from the new candidate. Her time has passed, which is her own decision.
She does not have to support you. She does not have to account for her failure to support you.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm is right about how she will approach the Election campaign. Which will lead to questions...
ReplyDelete