General Election – Campaign News
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'The case not the face' – as a reason not to supply photographs of candidates on request – is a symptom of the psychology of the current membership elevated to dogma, not any sort of socialist principle.
When the TUSC engage in it, it is the Theatre of the Absurd…what i suggest is Revolutionary Agit-prop You may well be right about the face or case, JDW. It is a tactic or strategy, not a part of our D od P or rule-book. We don't actually know its effect, good or bad, but each of us makes our own guess and judgement.I simply propose when an opportunity arises to investigate further the advantages and disadvantages we seek to do so. We do so little research into ourselves, our presentation and our image.As Rabbie Burns put it :-"And would some Power the small gift give usTo see ourselves as others see us!It would from many a blunder free us,"
jondwhite wrote:'The case not the face' – as a reason not to supply photographs of candidates on request – is a symptom of the psychology of the current membership elevated to dogma, not any sort of socialist principle.The socialist principle which eludes you is the one where policies are overwhelmingly paramount and where personalities, as is the case with virtually every other political party, are relatively unimportant. In other words, "it's the case, not the face", and long may it remain so.
Quote:where personalities, as is the case with virtually every other political party, are relatively unimportant.I know i am shooting myself in the foot, Gnome, since i agree broadly with your position, but i do think, as i have said, it is something that we should study and if necessary adapt. But to follow your own logic…Why does the Socialist Standard devote valuable space to publishish members' obituaries?…Personalities aren't as unimportant as you make out, are they? Or is being honoured and commemorated in death somehow different?
Imminent election activitiesBrighton election stall – Saturday, 14 March (TODAY) from 12 noonhttp://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/event/literature-stall-brighton-12-noonOxford Hustings – Monday, 16 March at 7pmhttp://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/event/oxford-election-hustings-7pm Election stalls are planned for alternate Saturdays in Canterbury and Folkestone. There may also be 'one-offs' in Whitstable and Hythe. Watch this space.
Hmmm…isn't the implication there …"The only good socialist is a dead one" Anyway, back to the thread, i hope Saturday's lit stall has good weather.
alanjjohnstone wrote:Quote:where personalities, as is the case with virtually every other political party, are relatively unimportant.I know i am shooting myself in the foot, Gnome, since i agree broadly with your position, but i do think, as i have said, it is something that we should study and if necessary adapt. But to follow your own logic…Why does the Socialist Standard devote valuable space to publishish members' obituaries?…Personalities aren't as unimportant as you make out, are they? Or is being honoured and commemorated in death somehow different?
There's an important and unanalogous distinction here. We publish obituaries in recognition of a member's contribution to the socialist cause and out of respect to their families and loved ones. We rarely, if ever, publish their photographs, and never in preference to their principles.
Seventy people turned out last night for the hustings organised in central Oxford for both Oxford constituencies by the Council of Faiths. They heard 9 candidates from the two constiruencies, including both of ours (Mike Foster and Kevin Parkin) make a short statement and answer questions. Two other individuals said from the floor that they would be standing in Oxdord East, an Independent who has stood before and somebody called Alistair from the Monster Raving Looney Party (dressed as if he thought yesterday not today was Paddies' Day). No show or sign of the TUSC candidate.Andrew Smith, the sitting MP fot Oxford East, said he had made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War. The Green candidate said "Tax the Rich" (2% wealth tax on any wealth over £3million) to pay for green reforms. The UKIP candidate managed to put over that UKIP was not just a single issue party but a party advocating empty promises on everything like the other parties. The Tories were not represented by the MP for Oxford West (she said she was in the House of Commons) but by a stand-in. Can't remember what the LibDem said. The biggest round of applause went to the National Health Action Party, a doctor who spoke passionately against the privatisation of the NHS. The two Socialist candidates put the case for socialism. Nobody was against same sex marriages. Everybody except the Greens, the NHAP and us was for the imposition of border controls on people leaving the UK (watch out for longer queues if you're holidaying abroad this year). Also present were three other Party members and three Socialist Standard subscribers.
A response sent in reply to a request from the Candidate Hub; Hi Jack, The questions you ask are, to myself and The Socialist Party valid, only if what one offers is more of the same, Capitalism. From the Health Service to youth unemployment. From Immigration to Diversity in Parliament, to the cost of living and wages.The Socialist Party stands for a complete change in Social Relations. From a Society based on "production for profit", that benefits only a tiny minority of the worlds population, the owners, to a society based on "collective ownership of the means to produce and distribute what we, as human beings need to live". Where this process will take place for the simple end result, of "production for direct human use". Where this process will be carried out by voluntary cooperation.The world and everything in and on it, will belong to mankind collectively and be used for the fulfilment of the needs of everyone. Without regards to Race, Sex, Age or any other of the "false" divisions" that Capitalism throws up.When a majority understand and want this change and most importantly, cooperate to bring it about, then and "only then", will societal change take place. No rich and poor.No have's and have not's.No classes. I hope the above makes my and The Socialist Party case clear. Steve Colborn.The Socialist Party PPCEasington Constituency.
ALB wrote:and somebody called Alistair from the Monster Raving Looney Party (dressed as if he thought yesterday not today was Paddies' Day).More on him here:http://votemadhatter.blogspot.co.uk/He is clearly just using the Monster Raving Looney Party label to publicise his Alice in Wonderland Walking Tour of Oxford. Presumably he regards £500 as cheap price to pay for the publicity. A shrewd businessman then. He has stood in local elections there before. Insofar as he says anything political he's appealing for the protest vote.
Hi Alan,Here's the original request;
Original Message
Subject: Candidate HubFrom: "Jack Govier" <jack@candidatehub.co.uk>Date: Mon, March 16, 2015 06:14To: spgb@worldsocialism.org
Dear Mr. ColbornWe are an organisation crowdfunded by members of the British public with thegoal of collecting information about every candidate running in the GeneralElection 2015. We hope to do this by asking a set of standardised questionsand posting the responses on our site, which is now nearing completion.To see our homepage, please click this link:http://candidatehub.co.uk/Your own constituency page can be found here:http://candidatehub.co.uk/easington/The top panel will include some brief constituency information, such as themost recent election results. Your profile will appear below the top paneland include expandable boxes for your answers. The order of the profileswill randomise on refresh, so as not to give precedence to any one party.We would like you to appear to all those interested in finding out about thecandidates in Easington.Therefore, we would be grateful if you could provide us with a photograph ofyourself, permission to publish an email address your potential constituentscan use to contact you, and any other contact details you may wish to add(including Twitter). We would also like a brief biography (perhaps a coupleof fairly short paragraphs), including, hopefully, what you believequalifies you to become the MP for Easington, past experience, your reasonfor running for the The Socialist Party of Great Britain and any otherinformation you wish to be known about yourself.Then finally, we have the following set of questions for you to answer in150 words or less (per question) so as to appeal to as many people aspossible, without creating too vast an amount of required reading:1. Obviously our goal is to strengthen the relationship between voters andcandidates, but what do you plan to do in order to make sure you remain 'intouch' with the electorate?2. What makes you the best candidate for this constituency?3a. What has the current Member achieved that you believe has beensuccessful? (The incumbent will be asked: "What would you have liked tohave done differently during your time in Parliament?")4. In your opinion, is austerity working? What should we take from thestate of the economy during this Government's tenure?5. Does (legal) immigration need more limitations or is it vital for the UK?6. Many people are concerned about the cost of living in the UK, with wageshaving failed to rise in line with the price of food, energy and rent inrecent years. How can this be corrected?7. How would you like to see the NHS change in the future in order to becomemore successful?8. What measures do you think need to be taken to decrease unemployment,particularly youth unemployment and those who have never been employed?9. Does the lack of diversity in Parliament equate to a lack ofrepresentation?10 . If an EU Referendum were to take place, how would you encourage yourconstituents to vote and why?We would very much appreciate your cooperation on this project, and hopethat you would like to achieve our goal of making information aboutParliamentary candidates as widely available as possible.Yours faithfully,Jack GovierAs part of our General Election activity we will holding a literature stall in Canterbury on Saturday, 21 March, Saturday, 4 April, Saturday, 25 April and Saturday, 2 May from 12 noon, in the pedestrian precinct known as The Parade.Similar stalls will take place in Folkestone (location tbc) on Saturday, 28 March, Saturday 11 April and Saturday 18 April from 12 noon.And in the constituency of Vauxhall stalls will be held outside Head Office from Saturday, 28 March and every other Saturday up until and including 2 May from 12 noon.It is also hoped to have a stall on at least two occasions in Brighton in the pedestrian precinct close to the Dome Theatre.
Five members and one ex-member braved a chilly breeze in Brighton yesterday to hold a literature stall in the pedestrian precinct close to the Dome Theatre. No literature was sold during the three hours but many election leaflets were handed out. During the afternoon two members went door-to-door in the Kemptown constituency and collected the remainder (8 in less than an hour and a half) of the ten nominations necessary for our candidate to stand there. Most of the nominations for the Pavilion constituency have also either been collected or promised.
Report in the Oxford Mail on Monday's hustings there:http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11861970.Candidates_clash_on_poverty_and_immigration_at_hustings/We get the face and the case.
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