Despite the certainty of massive postal ballot fraud on his behalf again, Jack Straw is particularly worried about losing his Blackburn seat this time. The reason is that well over half of Straw’s votes come from the Muslim Blackburn community. And this time, a credible and impressive candidate from within that community has emerged to run as an independent.
Bushra Irfan held an opening campaign preparation meeting at which entry was limited by ticket because of the fire limit, but all 200 seats were enthusiastically filled by community leaders. Straw cannot rely on a herd of Muslim voters this time.
But he can still rely on the corruption of his rotten borough. One of the great failings of the British electoral system is that the Returning Officer is the Council chief executive and in Labour authorities that is a highly politicised post. There was a time when you could rely on honesty in public life: that is not true now, and certainly not where New Labour are concerned.
Bushra Irfan has erected a large election poster in her own garden of her own property. Within three hours, several men from Blackburn council arrived to take it down on the grounds Bushra did not have planning permission to erect a hoarding.
What speed, and what an incredibly efficient council!
Election advertising is in fact exempt from planning permission regulations as class E of schedule 1 of The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 which exempts:
An advertisement relating specifically to a pending Parliamentary, European Parliamentary or local government election or a referendum under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000(a).
However that won’t stop Blackburn Council, which has no concern at all for the law when it comes to organising Jack Straw election victories. I still recall their blank refusal to allow me the use of public rooms for election meetings when I stood against Jack Straw.
I pointed out to the council electoral administrators that not only did candidates have a right to public rooms for meetings, but the returning officer had a legal obligation to maintain a register of such rooms in state schools and community centres, and to make the list available to candidates at any reasonable time. The council simply replied “We don’t do that in Blackburn”.
When I telephoned the Electoral Commission to complain, they said enforcement of the law was the job of the local returning officer. When I told them that it was the returning officer I wished to complain about, they said there was no way to do that.
Best bushra ( good news ) I’ve heard in a long time. Thanks Craig.
Jack Straw is going to set up his vote factories again.
And if any of his vote factories get raided again, a few Asian scape goats will claim responsibility just like the last time.
How long do you think it will take the Zionists to defend that vote rigging whore?
If Jack Straw is scared of losing, there must be reasons which other parties could exploit. Is Bushra Irfan interested in being a Lib Dem supporter, even nominally? If so, Lib Dems could go to Blackburn in force and help him campaign, but also use the law courts to enforce the fact that election advertising does not come under planning law.
This is a beautiful Palestinian singer, who deserves to be seen and heard. Apparently she’s banned by several Arab regimes because her songs about her people’s plight are likely to inflame the Arab street.
Listen and you’ll understand why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHy1xpznE48&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3d2yHNkFVY&feature=related
Maybe Stephen Fry will tweet her and give it the fame it deserves.
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes
decide everything.” -Joseph Stalin (Posthumous campaign advisor to George Bush and Jack Straw).
You can have the decisions of the Returning Officer judicially reviewed. John Hemming (now a Lib Dem MP in Birmingham) put in for so many judicial reviews that he actually had a template on his computer for printing out the paperwork. Birmingham council backed down under threat of judicial review each time, so he never actually had to go to court.
You might want to put Bushra Irfan in touch with John and see if he can help him.
Could we get one thing straight here? Bushra Irfan is a woman.
http://bushrairfan.com/aboutbushra.html
My post from a recent thread here –
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/29/jack-straw-labours-great-survivor
On another war criminal, hypocrite and election fraudster. See Craig’s previous on BAE, Blackburn and Lord Taylor.
As I asked before what hold does the man of Straw have within NuLabour? He isn’t there on merit.
Posted by: mary at March 31, 2010 6:14 PM
aaa
Does anyone have any answers to that question. Something from Bliar’s (aka ‘Miranda’ see Clarissa Dickson Wright’s book)) or Brown’s (rocking horses and nappies – see Guido Fawkes) pasts??
dreoilin
Do you say that because Bushra is a girl’s name?
Arsalan: for me, Craig’s comment that “Bushra Irfan has erected a large election poster in her own garden of her own property” was the give away.
Arsalan,
No, but because two previous comments seemed to assume she was male.
“If so, Lib Dems could go to Blackburn in force and help him”, and, “You might want to put Bushra Irfan in touch with John and see if he can help him.”
I don’t normally jump on these things.
I’d love to see Straw getting a run for his money (pun intended, although I have no idea what he’s actually worth in financial terms.)
And OT, I am intrigued to see the Archbishop of Canterbury criticising the Catholic Church. High jinks. And the remarks in the Vatican about anti-semiticm getting a tongue-lashing too, in the US and elsewhere. Both well deserved.
After the election results there needs to be some sort of poll carried out in each constituency to check that the results more or less match the polls. In my opinion fraud will be rampant during this election to get the required result for a hung Parliament and cleanse parliament of anybody who isn’t compliant.
Ruth: normal exit polls have been shown to be very accurate, with a disparity of more than a couple of percentage points being indicative of probable fraud.
Craig
Simple point but there isn’t yet a pending General Election – once it has called I doubt there is anything that the Local Authority can do – providing that the poster is removed within 14 days of the election.
There are plenty of mechanisms for complaining about the behaviour of local authority officials including referral to the Local Government official.
The last word of my post should have read “Ombudsman” rather than “official”
Second MJ on exit polls – but we’d need the Electoral Commission to move on that, and their remit is to protect the status quo and all who sail in her, so it won’t happen.
An option someone ought to consider is the deployment of trained volunteers as exit pollsters – I believe this is done in the States. High profile exit-polling might even serve to discourage the worst excesses of vote-rigging. In Scotland Labour know that they are drifting near the edge of a catastrophe curve, and some recent by-election results have been – uh – surprising…
The deployment of trained volunteers as exit pollsters sounds good as long as they’re honest.
“Simple point but there isn’t yet a pending General Election”
A simple point but a very good one nonetheless stephen.
To follow up on Richards suggestion. If she is an Independent, should she not get all opur help we so obviously offered to Craig in his campaigns.
Can we have a supportive column for her campaign and should we help her to cleanse Jack Straw from the constituency? Getting 200 people in to a meeting is a good start and I hope that she will expose Jack Straw for waht he is, a gerrymandering lawyer with his pants on fire.
I’m skint and not employed, but I will drink two pints to less start an election fund for here here by pledging £5,-
Come on, we either support Independents or we don’t, she l;ooks like a good candidate to support. Any more information on her policies would be well appreciated.
Next time, make sure you have copy of the appropriate rule printed out, and call out the police.
The perps are obvously ilegally on private property and affecting a democratic right and lawfull right to display such material.
Mary,
I didn’t read it all–my stomach churned.
“You can’t back away from it. But there was no lie. . . It’s too easy for people to say everybody knew there were no WMD. No, everybody did not know that. Poor David Kelly said to me that he believed the war was justified, and plenty of others took that view.”
I find what this man says, is totally contemptible and the man himself, totally repugnant.
There may have been some people living in remote areas of the Earth, who did not know about the alleged WMDs, but those who were involved in the serious business of war, certainly did know the true situation–and this very man helped to contrive imaginary WMDs.
If he is re-elected, he will have proved, either that, the people of Preston are absolutely simple (as I think, he believes them to be) or the vote is rigged.
I have listened to this man tie himself into verbal knots, trying to avoid, what might be judged as the truth. He is incredibly dim for a lawyer and uses words like “dodgy dossier”, when he means “false intelligence”. He is indeed, a creature of very low cunning.
“If he is re-elected, he will have proved, either that, the people of Preston are absolutely simple (as I think, he believes them to be) or the vote is rigged.”
Please look at a map – Jack Straw is the MP for Blackburn not Preston. The people of neither are simple, but I daresay if either get the wrong result you would want to selct another electorate.
I am puzzled – the post at 12.58pm is not from me. My last was at 9.31 this morning??? Has another person of the same name joined in or is someone playing a game?
John, were you referring to the contents of that post @9.31am or to something else? Can’t see Dr Kelly/WMDs in the strange (alleged) backgrounds of Blair and Brown.
I think I prefer the new Mary – she certainly has a better sense of geography than John!
Labour-run Glasgow City Council decide not to carry out an investigation into their own wrong-doing –
‘Purcell saga – Is that it then?’
SNP Tactical Voting
03 Apr 2010
http://www.snptacticalvoting.com/2010/04/purcell-saga-is-that-it-then.html
‘The decision by Labour and Liberal Democrat Glasgow Councillors this week that there will be no inquiry into the numerous mysterious strands of the Stephen Purcell affair is disappointing but not surprising.
The Council leader interviewed by police about a drugs-related blackmail plot, fellow council members wishing to describe Purcell has having a “chemical dependency”, a system of patronage and cronyism via these ALEOs that no other Scottish council saw fit to create, councillors setting their own financial rewards on these bodies hundreds of thousands of pounds paid over and above the councillor wage and questions over links between Labour politicians and Labour donors.’
Stephen,
I couldn’t reply, as I was busy. That is an impressive list of causes that you claim to support, but I still don’t trust you.
mary (new mary),
mary has been commenting here for years. You should choose another name, and post an explanation to clear up the confusion.
Ingo
Lost your number! Can you call me on 07979 691085.
Stephen
It says the election must be pending, not called. The electroal commission egulations for election expenditure has two periods. The “Long campaign” and “short campaign”. The “Long campaign” begins on 1 January of any year in which an election must be held, the short campaign once its called. During the long campaign period, 50% of all expenditure on behalf of a campaign must be declared. It follows material is allowed in the long campaign. We are in the long campaign.
I don’t know when this long campaign concept came in – it’s new to me too.
Ruth –
Remember the fraudulent postal ballot system. You won’t pick that up on exit polls.
Also, someone should be watching the carehomes. Someone in Blackburn described how a party member would waltz in and re-emerge with everyone signed up to New Labour. I suppose, if true, that every little helps.
Ingo: a strategy seems to be emerging. Vote Independent, if that candidate is top quality and has a chance of unseating an outstandingly atrocious incumbent. Vote Lib Dem as a a national strategy if neither apply. Is this right?