leaflets, door knocking and the campaign is in full swing

Today was a busy one on the campaign trail, collecting leaflets from Party HQ this morning and delivering 300 plus leaflets this afternoon. the leaflet was about the spate of graffiti on Sidegate Lane.
Tonight it was off to St John's to help knock on doors. Not many people in but not much change in voters intentions. spotted the Tories out delivering leaflets. Back home and in shock by the football score at Old Trafford, a few quick e mails on campaigning, hear that the Tories were knocking on doors in Stradbroke Road- hope the residents asked about the Zebra crossing.
More leaflets to get out tomorrow and back to St Johns in the evening.
Tory leaflet out in Rushmere but not yet reached my door!

Graffiti in Rushmere

Whilst out delivering leaflets this morning I was shocked by the rise in locations where graffiti can be found, a whole fence has been covered in Aberdeen Way.In the lower end of Sidegate Lane there are six locations where graffiti has been sprayed. I will be supplying a list of the locations with a full set of photos to the Borough Council’s Streetcare Department and will demand that an urgent clean-up plan is started immediately.I’ll be checking progress regularly with Council staff to ensure that the graffiti I have found is tackled as quickly as possible and I’ll be reporting back to residents over the coming weeks.It’s quite clear that the Liberal Democrat and Tory run Council is losing the battle against graffiti, fly-posting and vandalism. It’s taken them months to sort out less than a dozen cable TV cabinets but it’s obvious from just Sidegate Lane that this is just the tip of the iceberg.It is obvious that this is becoming a serious matter within the whole town, in Westgate ward the Labour Councillor, Martin Cook has found over 150 locations where graffiti has been placed!

This has to stop now and the Council needs to turn back the tide before things get even worse. Unfortunately the focus on keeping the town clean has slipped since the Liberal Democrats and Tories wasted £106,000 on a failed attempt to privatise the Streetcare Department and started a programme of staff cutbacks.

The attached photos show a couple of places in Sidegate Lane where graffiti has been located.


You can report graffiti, fly-posting and litter using the Council’s Cleaner Ipswich Hotline on 01473 433000.

Back from Scotland

Returned yesterday from the Duke of Edinburgh Award trip to Scotland - amazing weather and managed to get up a number of peaks, including Ben Nevis.
But now it is back to the serious job of getting the Tories out of Ipswich.
This morning I joined twenty other Labour activists in the south West of the town as we delivered leaflets and knocked on doors. the good weather had reached Ipswich and the reception we got from residents was also on the 'sunny side'.
A good win for the Town in the afternoon made it a good first day back.
In Rushmere whilst I was away, a leaflet was put out telling the residents of Khartoum road that we are chasing up a number of matters that have been bought to our attention whilst meeting voters. Tomorrow, I will be out delivering leaflets on the Rushmere Estate and the rest of the week will see myself and other members in all four wards in the east of the town.
I now expect to be facing a Green candidate as well as a Lib Dem and the sitting Tory. the Green Party seem to be very buoyant at the moment. it may have something to do with people realising that the Lib Dems are just Tories in yellow coats. At least three of the Lib Dem candidates are former members of the Labour or Conservative Party!
The Green Party ended up destroying the Lib Dems in Norwich, we mat have seen the start of something similar in Ipswich.

Saw two Tories!

Out in Sprites today, 17 of us and unlike last week, we had the sun with us. Saw two Tories also out delivering, for us it is just another campaign Saturday, as we have just continued on from last May but the Tories have hardly been out anywhere in Ipswich since last May. the Lib Dems have just stuck to St Margaret's and Westgate but I am sure they will push out a few leaflets in other places and the Green Party are also fielding candidates in most wards.
I am off to Scotland in the morning, taking six young people on their Duke Of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition. Back next Friday and straight back out on the Campaign trail Saturday.
From the10th April, I will be out and about in Rushmere every day- so I will keep you updated on this blog with the highs and lows of the final three and half weeks of the election period.
So I will make the most of this week, at least climbing Ben Nevis will get me ready for delivering thousands of leaflets!

Housing shortage in Ipswich -Tory answer, build flats!

Mr Wells the Tory spokesman for housing in Ipswich has been in all the local papers recently, telling us of the current crisis in housing - and that it will only get worse. The Tory solution seems to be build on any brownfield site left in the town, and build flats. Do not think about traffic congestion and never, never build on the fringe of the town ( in the area of the Tory seats).
This week we have seen approval for flats at the old Kwik Fit garage near St Margaret's Green and of approval for over 300 dwellings (including a considerable number of flats) on what is known as the Hayhills development- between Woodbridge Road and Cemetery Road on waste land next to the old driving test centre. This development has led to a number of residents voicing their concerns to the Council. The first knowledge most people had about this new build was when our local Labour team pushed out leaflets in the local vicinity. The Green Party have also protested against the development. the Lib Dems (the development sits in two Lib Dem wards) voted against it but the Tory majority helped get the proposal through. the Lib Dems will obviously tell their constituents they did all they can forgetting that they sit in the Council Executive with the same Tory personnel and help them (mis) run this town.
In Rushmere we are also affected by the Hayhills site, it will increase the traffic and congestion on an already busy Woodbridge Rd and will also lead to the houses in Belvedere Road being overlooked by these flats. What did our two Tory Councilors on the council do? they voted for the development- remember if Mrs Smith or Mrs Terry knock on your door during the election campaign ask them to explain why they did - answer? Unlike me - they live nowhere near the Hayhills site(or even in the ward).

Campaign Saturday in Rushmere Ward, Ipswich

Panic on Saturday morning - the Party agent, John Cook had dropped off 3,000 leaflets on Friday night and there I was in the Golden Key car park on Saturday morning as the sky got very grey, felt the first spots of rain and just myself and Neil the St Johns candidate (who had another 1,000 leaflets). No need to worry, a fantastic turnout of Labour supporters led by our MP, Chris Mole and joined by County Councilors, Borough Councilors, candidates and activists.
So 18 0f us hit the streets of St Johns and Rushmere.
The high turnout even in bad weather- the reason why? Hard to say but maybe it is the last few weeks that we have really seen the true Tory (and Lib dem) face. Proposed cuts to the Ipswich bus service and the confirmed move of Day Care to the private sector, on top of that a bodged Education policy where the communication to both Schools and parents has been non existent.
It is also encouraging that the people of Ipswich are now realising that there is a great difference between Labour and Tory policy- they also seem to be getting the message that the Lib Dems will support anyone and say anything just for a bit of power.
Whilst out I was able to get a picture of the new street signs in Humber Ducy Lane. This road links Rushmere ward and Bixley (safest Tory seat in town). it is in Bixley that thousands have been spent on traffic calming where nothing has been spent in the Rushmere part of the road. After spending the money on the traffic calming they still had enough left to spend on street signs that are like the 'Welcome to Ipswich' signs on the A12! I am sure the residents of this road would rather have seen the money spent on traffic calming on the northern stretch of Humber Ducy Lane rather than these two -out of place - signs.

Abolition of the Slave Trade- a reason for Ipswich to be proud.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the passing into law of the Slave Trade Act. This Act abolished the British slave trade, the US passed a similar law the following year.
This has rightfully caused a significant amount of media interest, much has been on whether we should be celebrating this occasion at all. though the act was passed in 1807 it was not until the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in 1833 that slavery ended in the British Empire. When it ended the government compensated slave owners in the West Indies - the slaves getting nothing! It was also a further 20 odd years before the slave trade finished in the United States. We must also remember that recent reports still put the number of slaves in the world at over 27 million! For further reading on the current slave trade, try this site for starters.

But I feel we should celebrate the passing of this act and more importantly honour the men and women who bought it about.

William Wilberforce is still the key figure we remember when discussing this topic but in Ipswich we should also be proud of local man, Thomas Clarkson. Though born in Wisbech, he had many Suffolk connections, marrying a Bury St Edmunds girl and eventually settling just outside Ipswich in Playford, where he died and is buried at the local parish church.

It was in 1785 that Clarkson penned an essay about the slave trade (the essay included the diagram of the Brookes Slave Ship, and how 600 slaves were fit into the hold.)that led to him devoting his life to the ending of this cruel trade. one of his supporters was an Ipswich Quaker - Richard Dykes Alexander, and it is on land that he owned that you can now find the Ipswich streets, Clarkson , Wilberforce and Bezenet (also involved in the stopping of the slave trade).

There is a call for Tony Blair to make an apology for our involvement in this vile trade but I feel that is of little benefit to anyone. instead we should remember those who helped pass this act and also focus on passing laws in this county that stop events like the drowning of the cockle pickers in Morecombe happening- they were slaves to the gang masters of the modern day.

I do feel angry that Ipswich itself has not made more of our Clarkson connection, a service is being held today in Playford and also in Bury, the Suffolk Record Office is holding a number of lectures but it is all very low key. The local Tories often complain when they are accused of being a racist party but it is simple thing like celebrating Clarkon's life that lead to such accusations, they seem very keen on promoting a link with Jamestown in the USA- I am sure which will involve a number of visits but can not celebrate an event on their own doorstep.