Wednesday 31 May 2017

The invited glove puppet


Jason Pilley, independent candidate for Southend West has posted this on Facebook:

On Sunday 4th June, Leigh Road Baptist Church is hosting a public meeting of the Southend West candidates. But not all of them: only the five who belong to the hierarchical-bureaucratic Parties have been given a platform to speak. The two Independents have not been invited.

This is not merely a matter of logistics, of having to draw the line somewhere: one of the Independents is an elected member of Southend Council, a fairly prominent figure locally, and certainly more important in Southend politics than some of those who’ve been allowed in: but he’s an Independent so he’s been silenced.

Leigh Road Baptist Church is a private organisation and I respect their right to do whatever they want on their premises; I also appreciate that there are all sorts of organisational issues with hosting an event like this, so I have no interest in starting an argument or causing trouble (“Kallisti!”). However, I cannot passively allow a church to decide on behalf of Southend residents which political viewpoints they will be allowed to hear: so I shall be arriving at the venue sometime before the event starts, I will be outside distributing my leaflets to anyone who arrives, making sure they’re aware that there’s more to democracy than the stagnant Parties.

If you’re in the area, come and say hello: ask me any questions and I bet you’ll get a better answer than from the glove-puppets inside :-)

Jason neglects to add that he tried to be part of the 'hierarchical-bureaucratic Parties' -  he was rejected in his attempts to be the Green Party candidate, and is still a member of that party I am told.

Despite being a 'glove-puppet' he has invited me to attend. Perhaps he secretly likes glove-puppets.

I happen to believe all seven candidates should have been invited; I have no sway over Leigh Road Baptists.

"Glove puppet"

"Glove puppet"

"Glove puppet"

Are Your Living Standards Improving?



With the media reporting daily that increasing numbers are forced to use food banks, and millions are now referred to as ‘just about managing’, we probably all know somebody who is struggling to survive. However, even families who can maintain a good standard of living have not seen an improvement in their prospects for some years.

Julian Ware-Lane, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Southend West, puts it bluntly: “the Tories have run this country for the past seven years, and they are asking for a further five years in power, and in my view we have seen an unprecedented drop in living standards, and it will get worse if the Tories are re-elected on 8th June”.

Working people face a further fall in living standards under a Tory Government, and as Julian said, “the Tories have withdrawn their promise not to raise income tax and National Insurance contributions for the lower and middle income earners, and the previous tax guarantee made in 2015 no longer applies.”

The Tories have dropped from their manifesto their previous promise to raise living standards.

Since 2010, the average household pays more in both direct and indirect taxation: a total of nearly £2,000.

Under the Tories the UK is set to experience the worst decade for real household disposable income since 1949.

Not content to place further burdens on those who work, millions of pensioners are now being targeted to pay more. Julian added: “I am shocked that pensioners, some of the most vulnerable in our society, are now seen as a legitimate source to fund Tory plans. What worries me is that Theresa May cannot tell us how many pensioners will be affected by her proposals, nor how bad it will be for any individual case”.

Pensioners would have been left at least £330 worse off had the Tories’ new ‘Double Lock’ been in place in recent years.

Ten million people - five out of six pensioners - are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payments, worth up to £300.

Tory social care plans could see those who need support forced to pay for it with their homes.

34 million people face the prospect of working longer if Theresa May raises the State Pension age.

Julian hopes that all our local residents carefully read Labour’s manifesto: “it is a simple choice between Theresa May’s future of more austerity and suffering or Labour’s vision of hope. It is a no-brainer that Britain needs a Labour Government now, and I stand by our slogan: For The Many Not The Few”.

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Average of recent opinion polls

Average of recent opinion polls



Lab
Con
LD
UKIP
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Survation
37
43
9
4
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
ICM
33
45
8
5
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Opinium
35
45
7
5
Saturday, May 27, 2017
ComRes
34
46
8
5
Saturday, May 27, 2017
ORB
38
44
7
5
Saturday, May 27, 2017
YouGov
36
43
7
5
Saturday, May 27, 2017
ICM
32
46
8
5
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Kantar
34
42
9
4
Thursday, May 25, 2017
YouGov
38
43
10
4






averages

35.2
44.1
8.1
4.7

Using the averages gives a predicted result of:

355 Conservative
216 Labour
3 Liberal Democrat

St Luke's Voice Winter 2018/19 edition