4/10/2010

Where is the Labour candidate in Broadland ? Have they given up ?

Not only have Labour chosen a candidate for Broadland that nobody has heard of and has done no noticable campaigning across the constituency, but at a public meeting last night to discuss one of the main issues in the constituency (The Rackheath Eco Town which the Tory council is forcing on the area), The Tory candidate was there, Lib Dem candidate Dan Roper was there, nut absolutely no sign of the Labour Party candidate.

You have to ask, have they given up already ?

12 comments:

Iain Dale said...

Yes, and wasn't it shame that the LibDem candidate didn't appear to realise a large part of RAF Coltishall fell within his own constituency!

Nich Starling said...

Iain, you clearly got your report third hand.

Perhaps Keith Simpson also ought to check his allegations regarding where people live.

His retort to Dan Roper was alongthe lines of "If you' lived here longer ..." seemingly unaware that Dan has live in Norfolk all his life and lives rather closer to Coltishall than him.

The fact that the airbase is in North Norfolk seems to have passed Simpson by.

Iain Dale said...

Oh dear Nich, when in a hole do stop digging. One third of Coltishall airbase lies in the Broadland constituency and two thirds in North Norfolk.

And by "living here", presumably Keith meant, living in the constituency, although I am of course aware that in Norfolk it is traditional for LibDem politicians not to live in their constituencies.

Sorry, couldn't resist that one! :)

Nich Starling said...

Yes Iain, one third. But why let that stop the tories taking 100% of the credit that was at the very least 50% Lib Dem (Norman Lamb) or even more than 50% given Mr Simpson's invisibility in the constituency.

And what about Mr Simpson's new line on the Eco town ?

Apparently he is now against it. Apparently a vote for him will mean he will try and persuuage colleagues to change policy on it. this is despite not persuading a single one of his own councillors to oppose it ?

Confused ? Well, there is an election on !

Iain Dale said...

I understood it was Mr Roper who was awarding 100% of the credit to Norman on the basis that the whole airbase was in N Norfolk. Although credit, for what, I am not sure...

And I can trump the lot of them in terms of living close to it. I lived 500 yards from the fence in Swanton Abbott!

As far as the eco village is concerned it's a dreadful idea and totally inappropriate for the area. What are the LibDem positions on it?

Nich Starling said...

The tories on the local are obsessed with the eco town because it is a grand scheme which they seem to think will leave their fingerprint on broadland for generations to come. Simspson has always been quiet on the issue and supportive of the Tories pro eco town campaigns, until the last few days.

Make of that what you will.

Lib Dems are anti. It's a ridiculous place for an exo town which will be built to lower eco standards than all houses will have to be built in five years time anyway.

It's a ruse to get 4,000 homes buiult quickly to lower standards than build 4,000 higher quality eco homes built across the district.

Iain Dale said...

The LibDems are anti, eh? Funny how not a single LibDem councillor has spoken out against it on the relevant committees on Broadland. Your councillor, who is at York University, hasn't even attended the meetings!


Simpson raised objetions to it in his Westminster Report which went out last September. Headline: MP calls for rethink"!

Nich Starling said...

Iain, I suggest you examine the minutes of the meetings held 25th Feb and 18th Feb 2010. Lib Dem objections were clear.

As for our councillors attendance, he was at both meetings.

Where was the tory county councillor at the second of those meetings ? He sits on the district as a councillor for another ward but was strangely absent ?

Iain, you should stop digging.

Anonymous said...

Hello Nich

Your point about the non appearance of the labour PPC is interesting, at least there is one. In the sense of fairness who is the Lib dem candidate for Norwich North, do they have one and where from. I have seen no publicity at all. I can only assume that the lib dems have given up on Norwich North following the pathetic performance of April Pond at the by election last year.

Nich Starling said...

The lib dem candidate is David Stephen and I have just been chatting to him about issues in Mile Cross.

Unknown said...

Iain - I have attended all relevant meetings, and my objections have been clear throughout. In fact, at one of the most important meetings (which I came back from York for) all three of the Lib Dems on the committee attended, but only three out of eighteen Tories came. If this doesn't show which party is taking this seriously then I don't know what is.
As I said in my letter to the EDP which was published today, Keith Simpson has done absolutely nothing to stand up for residents on this issue. He may have called for a "rethink" but clearly he has done very little to back up these words. No Conservative councillors have come out to back Simpson's point of view, and I rather suspect that he has accepted that the houses will be built at Rackheath, just as he said in the local press last year.

Anonymous said...

Did you chat to him in Cornwall??,please scotch the growing rumour that he's partial to a pastie or two from that delightful west country county

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