ah yes, I remember it well

sqwawkbox (never quite sure how to spell that thing) has been banging on about deselection of Labour MPs for being insufficiently loyal to JC. Some of this will of course happen. First they will come for the Jews and for the women, preferably both at once. And then - well, you know how it goes. But may I point out that it is perfectly possible to deselect a sitting Labour MP now, with no rule change, and that this has been done a number of times in fairly recent years. But it is seriously hard work, and in my case took seven years' campaigning and briefing. Most Labour members, even today, do not want to see their MP deselected, and it takes a long time to fill their ears with so much poison that they are prepared to vote against the MP, or not to vote for her, which usually amounts to much the same thing, because they have started to think "no smoke without fire". In the case of Reading East, after a failed deselection attempt in 2000 which resulted in the ouster of one party chair and the flight of another to Australia in fear of his kneecaps, the renewed efforts were still not working as well as the small group of "criminally insane" (says a very senior party organiser)  party members had hoped, following my re-election in 2001 with an increased majority. So they enlisted the help of the now disgraced former Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong, a crabbed virago who acquired the parliamentary seat she held for many years by sheer nepotism, with no discernible merit or hard work on her part. She has recently been compared (by one who knows) with Nurse Ratched in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'  - but I fear the former was cleverer. Hills however was well schooled in psychological torture, and you don't have to be clever for that. Anyway, she surfaces in the revisiting of earlier deselection schemes, as well she might. The Telegraph piece from 2004 however mentions my name, and strongly implies that I was deselected for being some kind of Corbynite lefty, which I consider a slur and a calumny, and urge all concerned to withdraw the remarks. Sqwawkbox, it wasn't quite like that.

In other news, it was nice to get a mention in the House this week when the Labour MP for Reading
East, Matt Rodda, made his maiden speech. It was very sensible and mentioned Reading and housing a lot. Jolly good for him.

Who is being undermined here?

On Thursday the Reading East constituency was retaken for Labour after being represented for 12 years by Rob Wilson in the Conservative interest. I was quick to congratulate Matt Rodda, the new Labour MP for Reading East, as I am the only person in the world who has ever previously known what it is to represent the Reading East constituency in the Labour interest, and to send him an open letter. That's more than Reading Labour Party did. Their tweets were all about Olivia Bailey, the defeated Labour candidate in Reading West "you should have won"; "all hands to Reading West next time" (hah! I bet!) and from the party only "What can we say? Matt Rodda MP!" clearly signalling the subtext "THAT wasn't supposed to happen". Well, matey boys, it has. Contrast Plymouth, where they also elected a Labour MP for one of the city's constituencies, and party officers and councillors were tweeting in delight and excitement about their new MP (Luke Pollard since you ask, a fine fellow in my limited acquaintance). I am sure they are doing the same in Ipswich and Canterbury, among other places. But in Reading, no.

So, Tony Page, a councillor for approximately 103 years, currently deputy leader of the council, was chosen to issue the customary counterblast to Labour victory in Reading East. He did this by attacking Rob Wilson. Well, I am not going to join him in that. If you get re-elected, twice in Wilson's case, when you just scrape in the first time because the voters are not sure about you, it means you have earned those votes by gaining the trust and confidence of the voters. Hey, Tony? Well, you wouldn't know. You were the Labour candidate in 2005, the compromise candidate who could get support from party members to deselect that pesky Jane Griffiths who keeps winning elections and NOT DOING AS SHE IS TOLD and NOT BEING THE CREATURE OF READING BOROUGH COUNCIL. Well, the Reading East electorate disagreed that year, and chose Rob Wilson. Who is, of course (says Tony Page), a bad person, because he too refused to be the creature of Reading Borough Council. You can read the "story" here. It is in the Reading Chronicle, so it must be true. See this:

THE DEPUTY leader of the borough council hailed last night's election result as a big leap forward for local government. (you what? this was a parliamentary not a borough council election Tone)

Councillor Tony Page, labour (sic - is John Howarth moonlighting as a sub?), was elated after candidate Matt Rodda pipped former MP Rob Wilson to the Reading East seat with an (sic) 3,749 majority.

Note the "pipped", as if 3,749 was not a respectable majority, especially in a seat which will always be marginal if held by Labour, and especially in a seat which had a candidate who was not the favourite of Tony Page, Jan Gavin, and their various henchpeople. Imagine the briefings. Here is Cllr Jan Gavin (Lab, Redlands, Reading East, former teacher, played a murky role in ousting the head teacher of the school she taught at, which happens to be the one my children attended) hearing the Reading East result: 

Pic Reading Evening Post  (so it must be true). Cllr Page continued: 

I have every confidence that Mr Rodda will work closely with the council and he has already made that clear."
 "Having an MP in Reading who will work with the council as opposed to undermining them is very important."

Is that a threat, Tony? It reads very much like one.

And where, in all this, is the delight and excitement at the election of a Labour MP - because after all it was the election of Labour MPs that denied Theresa May the mandate she hoped for in her snap election? You may well ask. The Observer does, in a big piece today, where they quote Cllrs Tony Jones (whom I do not wish to undermine at this stage) and, you guessed it, Jan Gavin - both of whom fail to enthuse about the election of Matt Rodda. You can read the piece here.

Well, Matt, you do not need them. Great news that you have been elected. A fresh new voice for "Reading, Woodley and Caversham". I wish you all the best, in every way. Step over the tired, corrupt clique of old people on Reading Borough Council and go forward to the future. The scores and scores of mostly young people who campaigned for you want you to do that, and I know you will. 

Open letter to Matt Rodda, Labour MP for Reading East

Open Letter to Matt Rodda, elected Labour MP for Reading East on 8^th June 2017

  

Dear Matt

We don’t really know each other at all, but I wanted to write and say how delighted I am that you have been elected to represent Reading East for Labour. Until your election yesterday I was the only Labour MP the constituency had ever had, and I was very proud to hold that office from 1997 to 2005. I’m so glad that the people of Reading East again have a Labour voice to speak for them in Parliament.

I was once told “The House of Commons is a great megaphone: use it so your constituents can be heard.” Good advice, that was. Your place is on the green benches, speaking, petitioning, debating, giving the government a hard time if need be – at the time of writing we don’t know who is going to form a government, nor what its party composition will be. Your place is in the constituency too, and it isn’t either/or – being an MP is two jobs. Your constituents will expect to see you in person and hear from you regularly, and they will also want you to contribute to debates and speak in the House, and not just on the high-profile causes.

You are Labour, but you are no one’s creature. You will need to work cross-party from time to time, especially now that Reading’s two MPs are of different parties. Don’t tell anyone I told you, but sometimes it’s easier that way. You need good relations with both the councils whose areas you represent parts of, but you are the tool of neither, nor can you (as your constituents sometimes believe you can) overturn the decisions of either.

You are your constituents’ representative, and not their delegate. How else can you represent constituents who hold diametrically opposed views – and I promise you they do. You represent a relatively highly educated, fairly diverse, urban and suburban area, with quite large disparity of income and wealth. But all your constituents, whatever their situation, share the general human needs and concerns we all have. I was once remonstrated with by a former government minister for not tabling Agriculture questions (as it then was). When I said that was because I didn’t represent any farmers, she said quietly “Your constituents eat food, don’t they?”

Table questions. All the time. Get involved with causes which are precious to you, to your constituents, or both, through All-Party Groups and committees. If there isn’t an All-Party Group on something that matters to you, start one. It’s one of the ways a back-bencher can have some real influence over policy.

The House of Commons Library is better than Google, for almost everything.

Travel, on your own account and on parliamentary visits. Keep it to the recess, but don’t be hair-shirt about it. You will learn from it, and you will learn from the colleagues you travel with, and maybe they will learn from you. Be discreet (you know this) – a backbencher of another party (unnamed here) once passed out from unwary drinking of toasts next to me at a dinner on a parliamentary visit to (country name redacted). No media (this was before Twitter et al) found out about it through me. Make time to read, in the recess and in the evenings. This is advice I was given and should have followed but didn’t. You probably have a special skill or talent your colleagues don’t. Perhaps you are fluent in Basque, or play a mean harmonica, or win prizes for growing tomatoes. Whatever it is, use it. Show off a bit.

Woodley is one quarter of the constituency by population. Spend more than a quarter of your constituency time there. I promise you you won’t regret it. A little piece of my heart will always be there.

If you ever want a chat, pm me and I’ll be happy to. Best wishes and give my love to Reading East.

Jane Griffiths

9 June 2017

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Reading Labour in big trouble

or they should be.  For many years they have illegally used council tax payers' money for party political purposes, leading former MP Martin Salter to say, entirely accurately, "the council delivers my election leaflets".  Council premises have routinely been provided free of charge for party meetings, council resources used to promote candidates for election, council "campaigns" used in furtherance of the internal politics of Reading Labour, planning committees politically whipped - you get the picture.  None of this is new.  But in the age of Twitter and other online media (ffs, Twitter has been going since 2006, get with the programme, people) they've started putting this stuff in writing.  New councillor Richard Davies (Lab, Caversham) might be forgiven for tweeting that a Reading Borough council meeting about school places in east Reading was "our meeting" because of his naivety and inexperience, but the official Twitter feed of Reading and District Labour Party?  My man in the Civic Offices feels that an official complaint may be about to ping into someone's inbox, very soon indeed.

Basher loses the plot

but not (yet) his temper, in this post following a meeting about school places in east Reading.  He addresses the issues not at all, talking only vaguely about "passions" felt by those attending the meeting, and, naturally, avoiding the factual issue that Labour's lack of commitment to schooling in east Reading over two decades means that the present council leadership should bear its share of responsibility for any problems.  He makes a personal attack on Cllr Isobel Ballsdon, who unlike most of the Reading councillors actually turned up to meet the people and hear their concerns (and spells her name wrong).  He says that Cllr John "Salter's boy" Ennis, lead member for these things, was "calm".  Not if you look at the picture of him in Basher's post he wasn't.  He has his arms crossed defensively in front of him.  First rule of public life - if you feel threatened don't show it.  Basher then offers to collate responses from the public.  This was a meeting held by Reading Borough Council.  That is why an officer was there.  Not a Labour Party meeting, ("They're the same thing.  Council tax pays for Reading Labour Party.  Get with the programme, dingbat." Ed.)

Basher, Basher, this is woeful stuff.  Selection as candidate for Reading East is receding away from you, isn't it? *Tory gloom*

bish bash bosh Basher's back!

he chose this picture of himself!

Basher McKenzie is about to throw his hat into the ring for the Labour candidature in Reading East.  Srsly.  Yep, that Basher, pictured left.  Park ward - couldn't get elected.  Kentwood ward - messed it up and lost.  Henley parliamentary - Labour's worst result ever (that campaign masterminded by one M. Salter, according to Salter - in his place I'd have kept quiet).  Select him if you want to, peeps, but he has a track record in public and private life, one of threatening behaviour and violent attacks on others.  He has also behaved inappropriately sexually, in public, towards a Reading Borough councillor.  He verbally abused a woman attending a public meeting, calling her "Wokingham scum".  Part of the Reading East constituency is in Wokingham borough.  If he is selected perhaps those of his putative constituents who live in that borough will remember what he thinks of Wokingham residents.

Just sayin'...

ps - he puts photographs of used condoms on the photo part of his website.  Nice.

the Reading constituencies start the process

We are informed that the Reading constituencies are about to choose their Labour candidates.  It's been in the Reading Chronicle, so it must be true.  There is a big picture of someone called Richard Garvie, who uses a dangler in his statement ("As a party, Reading East is important to us" - no, Reading East is not a party, dumbo, who edits your stuff, John Howarth?), and who is described as a "community campaigner", which is political-speak for "can't get elected", and the headline is barely literate, but hey, that's the Chronicle for you, n'est-ce pas, editor Sally Stevens, never were much cop, were you?  Nice long sentence, don't you think?

Where was I?  Ah yes, the Reading constituencies.  We already know that the Reading West constituency will be girls only, and that the Reading boys have been lining up one Rachel Eden, who has demonstrated that she will shut up and do as she is told, the only criteria for candidature.  Someone from Buckinghamshire called Victoria Groulef is also mentioned.  More to follow on her

Reading East will not be girls only, so naturally it is to be a white-boys-only shortlist, we are told.  There is one white boy who is not Richard Garvie, Matt Rodda or Richard Davies, all three of whom are mentioned by the Chronicle Arsewipe, whose name has not yet featured, but who has been shamelessly touting for the candidature for a long time now.  I'll leave you to guess who that is.  Sometimes the party members in Reading East can surprise you.  Sometimes they choose a surprising candidate. 

Only one person has ever won Reading East for Labour.

Reading East - the battle begins

he's behind you, Mr Hunt!

A rather mysterious piece on Tony Jones' blog a little while ago, using the picture to the left, for which he does not credit anyone other than to say the pic was taken at the Leveson inquiry, so I credit only Mr Jones.  In what is otherwise a naked bid for selection for Reading East  considered analysis of the politics of Reading East, Mr Jones informs us that it is quite possible for Labour to go from third to first place in Reading East (how did they get from first to third, Mr Jones?  That attic again!) so long as there is a "strong local candidate" - "strong" being of course code for "male".  What is odd is the picture above.  why would a PPS not be behind his Minister?  And what is wrong with referring to the Leveson inquiry (of which more in a future

Labour candidate for Reading East 2010

post) especially as Mr Salter claims (untruthfully) to have given evidence to it, and the Chronicle Arsewipe has copied out the lies?  Be careful Tony, this could all go horribly wrong.  And if or when it does, you won't want the you-know-what all over your face, now will you?

the Labour parliamentary candidate for Reading East

is going to be a GIRL, says my little poll, which closed some days ago.  by a wide margin.  Tony Jones and Martin Salter nowhere, Tony Page worse than nowhere. The corrupt little clique at the heart of the party will not hear of a GIRL of course.  But every party member has a vote, last time I looked,  and I also hear that there are some people with sense, of a younger generation, active in the party, hence the victory in Caversham.  If true, good news.  So - which GIRL?  The boys already have their candidate, Rachel Eden in Reading West.  Can they lock someone in Singleton-White's attic this time?  Can they run a puppet in both constituencies?  You tell me.

a girl in Reading East?

my little poll has shown some remarkable developments in the last day or two.  From looking like a two-horse race between Martin Salter and Tony Jones, just as Salter pulled ahead the GIRL tendency surged into the lead, from nowhere,  VERY interesting.  Have there been unforeseen changes in Reading Labour?  I think we should be told.  Last time a GIRL was selected from a non-all-female shortlist - well, we know what happened.  The seat was won from the Tories and held at the next election with an increased majority.  Never again, they said.  We're not having THAT.  Have they come to their senses now, hein?

Reading East Labour: the campaign hots up

Mr Salter was all over Radio 4 yesterday and the day before, being described as Speaker Bercow's campaign manager, and generally touting himself as the political operator you cannot afford to be without.  The Reading boys supported Rob Wilson to win Reading East for the Tories in 2005.  In 2010 they ignored him (as they ignored their Labour candidate of the time, who was locked in Stuart Singleton-White's attic).  In 2015 they will be dying to trash him.  That is why Salter is all over it.  He is informing them that only he can beat the Tory in Reading East.  Seems a pity not to let Tony Jones have a chance at a parliamentary seat, rather late in life, admittedly, but why not?  I do not think they can win it from Wilson anyway.  And what about the younger fellows?

Reading East Labour

my little poll (right) is showing a stand-off between Tony Jones and Martin Salter for Labour candidate for Reading East.  I am a little surprised that Mr Salter is in the running, you'd think he wouldn't want to go back, although I suppose having pretended to represent Reading East for so long he would like actually to do so.  I reckon Tony Jones thought it was his for the taking.  But both of them are, how to put this, past their first youth.  Nothing wrong with starting a new job in your 60s, I intend to do precisely that when I retire from the one I am currently doing - but younger people may well be interested in the role as a career move.  My personal view is that Mr Salter will not go for it, because he knows that Rob Wilson may be expected to hold the seat, however unpopular the coalition is.  But we'll see.

a national exception - it's DEFINITELY different for girls

The National Executive Committee of the Labour Party has met, and my man on that Committee notes the following, especially that the Organising Committee has met to decide on parliamentary selections - it needs to where there is a proposal that the normal rule should not be followed.  The national rule is that where the last Labour MP was a woman the shortlist should be all women.  This was followed in Reading East in 2010, and the latest decision is to depart from that in several constituencies, including Crewe and Nantwich (the late Gwyneth Dunwoody, anybody?), and - you're ahead of me - Reading East.  My fly on the wall at the NEC, nice chap that he is, must buy him a drink next time we meet, comments in this way:

I thought you would be interested to note that Reading East is selecting from an open shortlist. This goes completely against the Labour Party's national policy - re-affirmed only recently, that where the last Labour MP was a woman, the new parliamentary  candidate should  always be selected form an All Woman shortlist.


Well, yes.  Now, who lobbied them?  And why?


Stampede of interested chaps?

southern comfort?

Independent Jones has put up a "guest post" by Caroline Flint MP.  You can read it here.  It is about her visit to Reading, with MPs Vernon Coaker and Alison Seabeck.  I think quite highly of Caroline Flint, although there are many who do not.  She is a clear thinker and a good communicator, both of which are important in politics.  Vernon Coaker is an all round decent bloke, and has a core of steel, the first of which is to be preferred in politics, and the second of which is essential.  Alison Seabeck, who represents a Plymouth constituency (you have to have something maritime in your name to get selected there I am told), I do not know at all, as we were never colleagues in the House.  Caroline makes the point that to form a government Labour has to win seats in the South.  True of course.  She expresses regret that Reading East was lost in 2005 and Reading West in 2010, in both cases after the departure of incumbent Labour MPs.  She doesn't say that the losses happened not only because of the departure of the incumbent, but because of moves by Reading Labour to secure a Tory victory in Reading East in 2005, and in both constituencies in 2010 to select candidates who were either embarrassing, as was Naz Sarkar in West, or crushed, as was Anneliese Dodds in East - she was kept away from the public and silenced.  Well, why would Caroline mention the above in this context?  I mention it myself because there is a further tale to tell about all that, which will be appearing later this year.  Oh and Cazza, do spell Rose Williams' name right.  It's not an impossibly exotic one or anything after all.  This is getting embarrassing.  I haven't seen a picture of Rose for weeks.

Speaking of forthcoming publications, thanks to all those who have bought my book Priors Gardens.  Mr Amazon doesn't tell you where the people who buy your book live, but there are some indications that it is selling quite well in Reading.  If you want to publish a review, that could be done here as well as on Amazon, and I'd be happy to read any you have.  You twentieth-century types out there may wish to know that the possibility is increasing that Priors Gardens will appear in a print remix later in the year.  Till then, get your copy on the right of this page.  And if you've never tried a Kindle, get one, they are fab.  My mother-in-law, who has Parkinson's, has got back the ability to enjoy books since she was given one for Christmas

This blog is going to have a mini revamp too.  Not (much) in the way it looks, because I like the rather minimalist Blogger style, but somewhat in content and layout, to reflect, oh, you know, our changing times.  It will probably be Easter, when I get a bit of time at home to mess around with such things, before that happens.  It will still be my gaff my rules, but I might allow a bit of guest posting and writing, or I might use a different place for that.  What do readers think?  Let me know, and let me know what kind of pieces you enjoy reading, or would like to see more of.  It's tedious to feel you have to comment, and life is often too short - I rarely comment on other blogs - and the number and location of visitors to the site, and the length of time they spend there (I like Sitemeter very much) doesn't tell you that much.  

the man who wasn't there - again

There was a somewhat bizarre piece by Cllr Jan "Goody gumdrops" Gavin, called "A Day in the Life of a Labour Councillor" - as if anyone cared what time a Labour councillor gets up in the morning.  She says that a group of Labour MPs visited Reading that day to campaign for the increasingly desperate fine team of Labour campaigners in Redlands and Katesgrove.  But, bizarrely, she doesn't name any of them, or use any pictures of them.  She does however use a picture of M. Salter with a couple of bearded gits from Redlands, to my certain and evidenced knowledge stooges bought and paid for a long time ago.  The picture she uses is taken in Katesgrove, but there are no identifiable Katesgrove members in it.  This is undoubtedly because Katesgrove members are refusing to campaign, having taken the view that a candidate has been imposed on them.  They are bonkers to take this view.  Rose Williams is excellent.  However the only pictures of Rose I have seen have been of her alone in an empty street -just the way a candidate should never be pictured.  A message not very thinly disguised.  Katesgrove members probably wanted to select a bearded librarian who thinks members of the public are moronic.  They are plenty mad enough for that.

So, a photograph of the "campaign" in Katesgrove and Redlands which includes neither candidate and no-one from Katesgrove.  High-profile MPs give up their time to campaign in Reading and are ignored.  But we do see Gumdrops Gavin, M. Salter and a couple of bearded gits gurning for the cameras.  Hmmm.

Meanwhile, we are told that M. Salter has been spending a lot of time in Parliament lately, giving evidence to select committees and so on in his role as a paid lobbyist for the Angling Trust.  We also know that he has been spending time gurning for the media in Reading East.  So what has changed since he was an MP?  Not much, except that he spends a bit more time in the House of Commons now than he did when he had a place on the green benches.

M. Salter, paid lobbyist for the Angling Trust.
M. Salter, paid consultant for Thames Water.
M. Salter, paid chairman of a Whitley charity.
M. Salter, a teacher (so he told us a while ago, haven't heard anything about that lately).

What a busy boy.  Pity about the Katesgrove campaign.

update: the gun porn is back!  Coupled with mentions of someone called "Dave Sutton", not a name I mentioned in the post, still, if the cap fits... none of them bothered to explain why the MPs were not named or pictured, and why neither candidate was named or pictured either, they were over-excited by the guns and fanny shots, clearly.  Is there anyone from Reading Labour reading this blog who is over the mental and emotional age of 14 please?  and some of you might be dangerous.  Much more of this and Her Majesty's Police might have to be involved, eh messieurs?

here it cooooomes...

those interested take note of the following, from the Organisation Committee of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party:

The Committee also agreed:


• To trigger a further 14 early parliamentary selections (all 3 seats in Brighton & Hove based on the anticipated new boundaries, Carlisle, Redcar, Crewe & Nantwich, Gillingham & Rainham, Milton Keynes N, Reading E, Bristol S, Gloucester, Cannock Chase, Stafford, Tamworth & Staffs).