When I stood against Jack Straw in 2005, I wanted to confront him with open debate about my eye witness to torture and extraordinary rendition, after he lied to parliament continually and repeatedly about it. I was however, despite being a candidate, not allowed to participate in any of the candidate’s debates, including that broadcast by BBC Radio 4, and the debate hosted by the joint churches in Blackburn cathedral.
I went to see the Dean of the Cathedral about my exclusion. He said something quite extraordinary – “Look, Craig, you are leaving after the election. We have to live in this town.” He was scared of retribution. That sounds wildly improbable, but it was supported by much other experience. I agreed to short term lets of two shops for my campaign headquarters (there is no shortage of shops to let in Blackburn). Both cancelled when they discovered I wished to campaign against Jack Straw – one specifically told me that they would like to help, but feared trouble from the council. When I eventually succeeded, the landlords made the point that they lived and had their businesses outside Blackburn and this was their only asset there, so they couldn’t come to much harm.
Under electoral law a candidate is entitled to the use of schools and community centres free of charge for electoral meetings, but despite dozens of efforts I was never once allowed this. It is a serious and specific electoral offence for a candidate to provide free food and drink at public meetings – “treating” – but the Straw campaign did this on a very large scale, and both the police and returning officer took no action when I complained with sworn affidavits of evidence from eye-witnesses. Postal ballot fraud was extraordinarily blatant, with the same authorities determinedly looking the other way. I could not even get them to look at why thirteen postal ballots were cast from one single unoccupied flat.
The point of which is – I know how Cyril Smith did it. It was a different category of crime he was committing, but I have seen how in these Lancashire towns like Blackburn and Rochdale the authorities collude together so comfortably to cover up the crimes of the local big man, be it Cyril Smith or Jack Straw. It may seem quite incredible that everybody knew in Rochdale and nothing was done, but having tried to challenge Straw in Blackburn, I know precisely how it worked. The entire political culture of industrial Lancashire is deeply rotten, and ought to be a source of deep shame.
Cyril Smith was merely a symptom, not the cause.
Not forgetting Straw’s part in this country’s offensive bloody wars, the lies and the cover ups.
Long before the ’97 government I always suspected that Straw was an unpleasant piece of work and I remember Peter Hitchens writing about him and calling him a “crocodile”. Nevertheless, having read the above post I’m still shocked.
Craig; I misunderstood your question above repeated on the anne ardin thread.
Do you mean ; ‘how do you follow the thread when it is so vast’ ?
I find it daunting to follow unless there from beginning, like the ‘Disappear..’ thread, which I have been following. I go to Anne Ardin mainly to see arbed’s updates. I repeat; if you can handle the bandwidth, it is worthwhile.
The problem in England is sadly not enough people care about blatant acts of corruption. Distain only appears to last a few weeks, and all is totally forgotten after the customary white wash.
Private Eye reported on Cyril Smith’s ‘activities’ for decades. Once or twice the rumours even made into the MSM, but were emphatically denied, though smith never sued.
It is nevertheless another example of our corrupt system of justice that mainly makes sure that nobody who matters gets hurt. Only once deceased can the truth begin to come out.
The Elm House scandal is another case in point – expect it to be fixed to find ‘no evidence of wrongdoing’ since some of the perpetrators are still alive…
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !
28 Apr, 2014 – 11:18 am
Habbakuk making a political point:
“Interesting. Not trying to make a party political point, but…”
Also Habbabkuk, your right-wing and thinly veiled racist points are noted.
O.t i know…but anyone in London on May 1st…here’s a worth while rally.Honouring Tony Benn and Bob Crow …
Thursday May 1st. The 2014 May Day march and rally will be held in honour of the late Tony Benn and Bob Crow
http://stopwar.org.uk/events/may-day-2014-honours-tony-benn-and-bob-crow-march-rally#.U16o8oFdXDs
Craig, 3:53 pm; there are two sets of page buttons; one above the comment form, and one below the original post. Click the highest page number and then scroll to the bottom of the comment thread.
The rest of you lot; just ignore our host, why don’t you?
Another crackerjack pce, Craig.
The problem for all serious researchers in this area is telling the rotten from the opportunistic. That’s to say, spotting the agendas and the flags.
Lancashire isn’t especially local government rotten: but rotten to the core are (a) a materialist nightmare where people will pose as victims for money; and(b)a privileged elite desperate to protect itself against any and all critiques of disgracefully perfidious perversion.
Don’t give up, never despair, stick it to them.
Clark I did not know that Craig was referring to comments on threads on this blog.
There is another reason why Cyril Smith ‘got away with it’, not just small town corruption. It has to do with the Zeitgeist. All the stuff about Smith and Savile had been knocking around for years but those who promulgated it were dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Then something changed and it became acceptable to subscribe to such views. Now everybody’s banging on about it.
Mr Scorgie
Well, if you could refer me to some Conservative constituencies where postal voting fraud has been identified (or even suspected), I’d be very interested to hear from you.
Off you go!
Scorgie
BTW, I’m flattered you should wish to comment on my comment, but do you have anything to say on Craig’s post? Anything to contribute there?
Off you go!
Gerrymandering districts is a common tactic for Republicans in the US. Voter suppression also quite common. It’s the afterglow of Jim Crow.
Scrap ‘on demand’ postal voting to curb fraud, says judge
Postal voting is open to fraud on an “industrial scale” and is “unviable” in its current form, a top judge has said.
Richard Mawrey QC, who tries cases of electoral fraud, told the BBC that people should not be able to apply for postal votes as a matter of course.
“On demand” postal voting had not boosted turnout or simplified the process for the vulnerable, he said.
But the Electoral Commission said it would not be “proportionate” to end postal voting altogether.
The government also said it had no plans to abolish the current system, saying it had made it easier for many people to vote.
Since 2001, anyone on the electoral roll has been able to apply for a postal ballot.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26520836
29 July 2013
Woking election candidate used illegal practices, judge rules
A by election will now be held
The winning candidate in elections in Surrey committed corrupt and illegal practices by himself and with agents, a judge has ruled.
Liberal Democrat Mohammed Bashir defeated Labour candidate Mohammad Ali by 16 votes in Woking’s Maybury and Sheerwater ward in May 2012.
Judge Richard Mawrey ruled corrupt and illegal practices had been committed with the purpose of procuring Bashir’s election.
Bashir will be ordered to pay costs.
A by-election will be held in the ward and the judge ruled Bashir would be banned from standing in it.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-23494179
Ashford Conservative council candidate jailed for electoral fraud
A Kent landlord who stood as a Conservative councillor in a local election has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for electoral fraud.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-21387179
Dozens more examples of electoral fraud by ALL parties.
Crime is not restricted to any particular political partey.eg Huhne, MacShane, Archer, etc. etc.
The British electoral system is organized to ensure continued two-party control of the rubber-stamp House of Commons and prevent any effective challenge to the power system. It’s undemocratic, unrepresentative and illegitimate.
Above the local level, the British legal system is controlled by the two-party bosses and is used to frustrate and, more often than not, prevent challenges to authority. It’s unaffordable, unfair and unjust.
It’s not just industrial Lancashire. Behind the glittering façade, the pomp and pageantry, the polished manners and civilized smiles, the whole system is rotten.
Don’t know why I spelt party like that. Perhaps aiming for ‘partei’.
I now have a list of the candidates for the European elections for the SE Region. Dozens of them.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/south-east-european-candidates-2014/
Other regions in the RH margin.
The present incumbents.
http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/your_meps/list-meps-by-region/south-east.html
Who you know may have a large part in Craig’s own survival. ( and maybe mine? )
Politics is sport for those who enjoy it and getting away with murder is part of the thrill of the game. No sincerity, no sensitivity, no honesty, no faith. Just a nasty lttle peronality boosting game, using slogans to feed off the gullibility of the caring, the truthful, the believing. That is why political Islam is a contradiction in terms so far as I’m concerned.
To the political mind, we are baah-ing sheep to be fooled and used. Baah. Baaah Baaaaah. We are the guilty ones for being stupid enough to believe the political minds.
It gets worse. The EU golden goodbye scheme for those getting off the gravy train knocks that for departing British MPs into a cocked hat.
MEPs leaving Brussels after European elections to receive ‘golden goodbyes’ of up to £157k
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/472835/European-Union-EU-MEPs-leaving-Brussels-to-receive-golden-goodbyes-of-up-to-157-000
“I bridle every time I see this word used with respect to the boundary changes. The boundaries in the UK have become so distorted over decades that there are some constituencies with only just over 50,000 voters and some with double that number. The idea that the current boundaries are somehow “fair” is nonsense. The equalisation was intended to ensure that constituencies had roughly the same number of voters (within a tolerance of about 5% around the average).”
http://markreckons.blogspot.com/2013/04/gerrymandering.html
Craig
This is a case that I know not a little about and have been pushing for rather long time, as well as Cyril’s Smith’s promotion of the asbestos industry (if anyone wishes to Google my postings as toryboysnevergrowup the evidence is there for all to see). Yes there were probably some officials (and even the Labour politicians who I suspect left with Smith) who covered up for Smith in the early years and these may have carried on doing so in later years but when Smith left the Labour Party I can assure you that the divorce was extremely acrimonious and continued to be so for many years even beyond his death. Nearly everyone in the Rochdale Labour Party and the left in Rochdale would quite happily have taken every opportunity they could to expose Smith – and there were almost weekly revelations about him in Rochdale’s Alternative Paper (RAP) which at the time had a reasonably large circulation within the town – and some of these were picked up many years later by Private Eye. RAP and those making the accusations were remorsely pursued by the Smith and his cronies in the Rochdale Liberal Party (most of whom are quite unfit to bear the mantle of John Bright who was the town’s MP for many years) aided and often abetted by legal threats and worse and the main local paper the Rochdale Observer (now owned by the Guardian) was often a willing accomplice.
Cyril Smith was also very close to “tory” business interests within the town e.g. Fred Ratcliffe and Turner Brothers the asbestos manufacturers (whose practices led to many many deaths from asbestosis) and owned his own small factory. Those that followed his politics will know that he was almost Thatcherite in his economic views and he was a fierce opponent of the Labour PArty and in particular the Lib Lab pact – there have been rumours for many years about how MI5/Senior Tory politicians intervened to stop a prosecution, particularly given that the Tories were looking to enter into an electoral pact with the Liberals after the 1974 elections. There have also been not a few comments about how Smith seemed to be doing the work of the Tories within the Liberal Party for a number of years – and he was particularly close personally to a number of their MPs e.g. David Waddington.
Yes there was an awful lot wrong here – but I don’t think it is right to make such a broad generalisation about the political nature of politics in Lancashire towns – all unhappy families tend to be unhappy in different ways.
BTW has Craig any thoughts on Salmond expressing his personal admiration for Mr Putin.
Local councils are as bent as nine bob notes. Its an open secret that jobs are handed out to friends and relatives. That’s my direct experience, but its probably all over the country. Contracts are awarded, assets are sold off for a fraction of their value… And the more power is passed downwards, the more corrupt things get.
Je
I think you are right that an awful lot goes on in local councils that shouldn’t – but the real question what should be done about it. In my view sunlight is usually the best disinfectant – but local press, being heavily dependent on advertising, and not resourced enough to do through research or to offend those handing out much of their news is nearly always unwilling to perform that role. Perhaps given its relatively low cost the best solution would be an internet equivalent of the Rochdale Alternative Paper I referred to earlier relying on volunteer input – this could perhaps be done through a network, which set some editorial standards (i.e stuff that is genuinely interesting to normal people, rather than those with political axes to grind, neutrality and fairness, removal of fairly obvious defamation , decent graphics, understandable presentation etc.)
I should also say that there are councillors and supporters of all parties that do genuinely support genuine local government and have a genuine public service ethic – and they do deserve praise rather than tarring with the same brush.
“The equalisation was intended to ensure that constituencies had roughly the same number of voters”
What Mark Thompson doesn’t mention is that there are wide variations in the levels of voter registration within the UK – and other proposals in respect of registration are likely to lead to even lower levels and more variation. Needless to say these changes will lead to more representation in areas with wealthier and more stable populations – not a few of which are represented by Mark Thompson’s party. Craig is absolutely right such matters should not be allowed anywhere near political parties – who by definition are incapable of neutrality – the only problem we have is that we have an Electoral Commission that doesn’t understand politics, largely because it is not allowed to employ anyone who is a member of a political party (even if only to share their knowledge).
Yes politicians are corrupt, some more than others. But not just in Lancashire, they are corrupt everywhere. Why anyone would want to be part of their sordid world I can’t imagine.
Yes there are bad people, not in any particular place, not in any particular party, there are bad people everywhere.
Bears shit in the woods as well.
Resident Dissident – nobody should be a law unto themselves in anything. There should always be a third party with oversight to complain to. Where they are a law unto themselves that’s when they can blatantly dismiss any complaint. They’ll have a so called “investigation” which consists of going to the person you’ve complained about, getting their denials and – that’s it. They just become a front for them. Anyone else would call it a cover up – but that’s how they do things. If there is a third party to complain to – and their lies don’t hold – that’s when they get forced to admit things. That’s when they’ll declare it to have been an “honest mistake”.
When they’re all buddies and they’ve all scratched each others backs, or at the minimum looked the other way…
“Rochdale’s Alternative Paper (RAP) which at the time had a reasonably large circulation within the town – and some of these were picked up many years later by Private Eye. ”
The ‘Eye ran a detailed account of Smith’s activities in May 1979 (issue 454). Response from Smith came there none.