Getting the (nasty) message across.

Getting the (nasty) message across

It did seem that those in politics in Ipswich were starting to use blogs and websites to get their message across but once the local election finished a number of website’s went back into hibernation – to be woken again next April?
The Ipswich labour Party site is kept updated (maybe not as much as we would wish) but the Tory, Lib Dem and even the Green Party sites have not been updated at all since the election finished.

It is disappointing that both the Tories and Lib Dems do not think it is important to keep the Ipswich public informed on what they are doing or propose to do. To be fair (after a long wait) Ben Gummer our local Tory MP has now got a website up and running, it is both informative and easy to use.

The vacuum of political information and debate has been filled by various blogs. The trouble is that one of these blogs has just become a home to attacks on local politicians. They call it humour, but it is more school playground humour rather than political satire (and Primary School at that.)
I am sure my blog upsets people at times (I know Ben Gummer was unhappy about a few comments) and other blogs can sometimes, infuriate, anger and occasionally make you laugh. But at least they did give the residents of Ipswich a flavour of what the local parties are thinking.

The Tory ‘Bridge Ward News’ disappoints me when it has to revert to calling councillors stupid names and the inability to leave comments seems strange but even taking all that it into consideration, a number of James’ posts are both informative and thought provoking. I also find the ‘neutral’ political sites of ‘Ipswich Spy’ and ‘Suffolk Word Blog’ very readable and I hope Gavin Maclure keeps posting on his new Tory blog. If you search hard enough you can even find a blog for a UKIP supporter and a poster from the ‘Far Left’. I am afraid to get the Lib Dem view you can stay in Suffolk but you have to leave the confines of Ipswich. To be honest, I believe James’ blog has opinions far more in tune with Labour than the Lib Dems.

Blogs are a useful tool to help get your message across, along with local radio, local press and your our own leaflets. Some political groups have a slight advantage, the leading (Rushmere) Tory – Judy Terry has her own column in the Ipswich Flyer. This leads me neatly back to why I find a certain Tory blog so disgusting.

Just as the election finished, Cllr Terry used her column in the Flyer to attack Labour – “what a vicious contest it was, with Labour’s malignant personal attacks on candidates and councillors who weren’t even standing for re-election! Leaflets, blogs and verbal assaults were the order of the day”

This comment was repeated in the Tory supporting blog - ‘A Riverside View’ – Fair enough to repeat the views of Cllr Terry you may say if you agree with them, but only 10 days later, Kevin (the Tory behind the blog) insults two Labour councillors in both words and pictures, using his own version of the SexyMP website. It is just a nasty attack on two hard working councillors, not attacking their political views or their work but on how they look.

The post is the height of hypocrisy, how can you print Cllr Terry’s words then publish this post. It is just nasty, spiteful and does not add anything to the political debate in Ipswich.

Now, I know the best thing to do, will be just to ignore his blog. Harder than you think, as a number of his other posts have been about immigration and the posts and comments are just full of the sort of gossip and lies that may be at home in the Daily Mail but do nothing to help bring communities together in Ipswich. Some of the comments are so bad you would have thought a senior Ipswich Tory may have advised him to delete some of his posts or at least moderate his language. But it seems they either don’t care or worse still agree with some of his views. To be fair to them, I am not sure he would take much notice of them. He seems to enjoy the attention his ill thought out views brings to his site.

One positive his blog leads to, it makes me even more determined to make sure people like him are never able to get into a position where they can put their warped views into practice. So rather than be like him and sit behind a computer writing rubbish and then adding even stupider comments, tomorrow I will be delivering Labour leaflets in Whitton ward. Ipswich.