Chilcot Enquiry: how will Labour candidates reflect on Gordon Brown’s statements of support for the war in Iraq?
It was interesting to hear Gordon Brown at the Chilcot Enquiry giving his unequivocal support to the invasion of Iraq, an invasion that I have always believed was illegal and wrong. His clear statements of support for the war pose a problem for those Labour candidates who were less enthusiastic about the invasion.
I have met my Labour rival, Nancy Platts, a couple of times now, and I like and respect her. But let's be clear: whilst there are only a limited number of votes that the Tories can hope to pick up in Brighton Pavilion (their only hope of winning is if the ‘progressive' vote splits and they bustle unsatisfactorily through the middle), Nancy and I are both hoping to win the ‘progressive' core vote that is most representative of Pavilion's electorate. In order to help people decide whom to vote for, it might be helpful for voters if a number of questions were addressed.
For example, what does Nancy think of her party leader Gordon Brown? Does she think he is the best person to be Prime Minister? Will she sign up to support the Labour manifesto? On her website, why is the emphasis placed on her ‘policy priorities', rather than those of the party that she represents?
We're now increasingly invited to hustings meetings, but at those meetings, it is surely be fairer to acknowledge what your party policy is, not just your own personal views.
And the number of areas where Nancy departs from Labour Party policy appears to be increasing: the Iraq war, the replacement of Trident nuclear weapons, the introduction of ID cards, the privatisation of the railways, Post Office closures and - as I discovered at an NUT hustings on Friday, where a statement from Nancy was read out - on the introduction of academies.
Indeed, on all those areas, Nancy's personal policies appear to chime with the Greens. If that's the case, wouldn't it just be simpler for her supporters to vote Green, secure in the knowledge that a Green MP for Brighton Pavilion will be free to fight for all of these in a way that a candidate whipped by a large national party which disagrees with her, will not?
If Nancy were elected, she would be under extreme pressure to toe the Labour party line - even more so, in the event of a hung parliament - voting for policies with which she may disagree, and which most Brighton residents won't want implemented.
By contrast, a Green MP would have no pressure on her to compromise her principles or beliefs, and could remain free to truly represent the progressive views of Brighton Pavilion voters.
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Comments:
Ralph Brown
09 March 2010
14:19
Clear concise and unarguable - when other candidates steal your clothes - even as a matter of personal principle - we must remember that they're always under a Party whip.
A vote for an anti-war Labour candidate at the last election still produced a victory for Blair.
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