How effective are Nancy, Caroline and Chuck in using new technology in Brighton Pavilion?

The “snowstorm in a teacup” incident where Charlotte Vere re-tweeted a link to an outrageous blog that likened the policies of the Green Party to those of the BNP (for which Charlotte apologised), raises the two edged sword that is the mighty Twitter.  It is so easy to Tweet or re-Tweet something and for it then to get ‘legs’.  It has caused me to think about how the three candidates for Brighton Pavilion are using Twitter and other new media.

Nancy Platts has for some considerable time made very effective, and at times, humourous use of new technologies.  Her style is warm and engaged with a strong focus on local issues and what she is doing.  Anyone following her will have no doubt about her commitment to Brighton Pavilion and be impressed by her personal campaign.  A great example of her blogging can be found on “Tory stories, Tory cuts, my thoughts on what it’s meant leaving social care in Tory hands in Brighton” . Nancy has had a very high profile regarding the campaign to save the Preston Circus Fire Station, just one example of street-level activity for which she is know and respected.  Nancy has 693 Twitter followers.

Caroline Lucas, as the national leader of the Greens, has a different focus – more on national issues and events.  Even though this blog has called for a Green tactical vote in Brighton Pavilion, there remain concerns about Caroline as a local candidate.  Her Tweets refect this, although there is an increased focus on local issues, such as the campaign to save the Brighton History Museum.  That campaign has a high Twitter profile and can easily be supporter from Brussels.  What Caroline needs to do is to raise some original, local issues that are original to her, and not issues fed by her campaign team or joined online.  Her new website is impressive, but again the local issues are all those championed by Green councillors locally.  Caroline has 978 Twitter followers.  As yet she has chosen not to follow @BrightonPolitic, the rather wonderful Twitter of the Brighton Politics Blogger which this blog highly and without reservations recommends!

Chuck Vere (you notice that, following her apology, it is back to the rather familiar and intimate ‘Chuck’ as opposed to the sterner Ms Vere) has, as previously stated on this blog, hit the ground running with her website although she is yet to define herself as either local or London.  A lot of her Tweeting and blogging is on issues such as Gordon Brown’s leadership.  She doesn’t need to do that since it does not add to the overall debate and makes her come across as a party political hack, and being a cheerleader for David Cameron is not going to be a big vote winner, even if she thinks it will.  She also adds to an image as a hack by making direct and rather shallow jibes at Caroline over her expenses as an MEP.  Chuck has 190 Twitter followers.

Where Caroline has done well is to avoid responding directly to the jibes from Chuck Vere.  She addresses the issues but gives no name-check to Chuck.  She knows the number 1 rule of local political campaigning.  The electorate don’t respond positively to name-calling by candidates against their opponents.  To quote that great political strategist, Thumper, from the Disney film Bambi: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”.

Why do some Labour Elders want to see the Party defeated?

What an interesting week this is turning out to be.   With the polls narrowing, David Cameron barely able to cope with the questionning at his press conference on Monday (even calling Nick Robinson a stooge of the Labour Party – the man was a yopung Tory for goodness sake!), and today Gordon Brown was far and away the most compelling at Prime Minister’s Questions, we see some Labout elders trying to commit electoral suicide.

Geoff  Hoon and Patricia Hewitt have raised the issue of Brown’s leadership. The Blairites in Labour clearly have a death wish.  And then Charles Clarke calls for a secret ballot on the leadership.  What is their problem?  Do they have to sow the seeds of division?  It seems that for some Blairites, a Cameron victory would be less undesirable than Brown being successful at the polls.  The bitterness and divisions may run deep, but now is the time for them to shut up.

A disgraceful error by a naive Charlotte Vere: she must apologise

In a Twitter post on January 3rd, the Conservative candidate in Brighton Pavilion, Charlotte Vere, re-tweeted a post by Thomas Byrne, that provided a link to a website that compared the policies of the Greens to those of the BNP.

I am sure that Ms Vere did not intend to make such an inappropriate and insulting link.  She cannot possibly think that it could ever be appropriate to link the Greens with the BNP.  I believe it was a disgraceful error and she should, without delay, make it clear that it was an error and put on record her belief that this slur on the Greens is wholly wrong. 

To forward a Tweet from another has its risks, as I am sure Ms Vere will now realise.  She may say, as she does in today’s Argus, that  these are not her own views, but she has chosen to promote them through Twitter.  This is a sign of her naivety. I hope she will apologise without reservation before the day is out.

Dave Cameron: What a diamond geezer

Today’s Sun has an article penned by David Cameron that aims to convince us that he is not a Tory toff. It is full of Gavin and Tracy, Gary Barlow and the new year television viewing habits of the Cameron household.

From this article it is clear that Dave Cameron is an everyday bloke, a real diamond geezer.

Actually his article is an insult to the intelligence of ordinary people. They won’t suddenly be convinced that he isn’t upper middle class, via Eton and Oxford and the Bullingdon.

This remains Cameron’s Achilles Heal, and he knows it. He is a Tory toff and the more he tries to pretend he is otherwise, the more we will know he is worried about this.

The Tory Party website still refers to the schools attended by Shadow Cabinet members if they attended Comprehensives but is silent on Eton and other private schools attended by Cameron, George Osborne et al. This in spite of an assurance to “sort out the website” given to Jon Soppell on The Politics Show.

When it comes to playing the class card, Gotdon Brown is not guilty. Just once, at PMQ, did he refer to the playing fields of Eton. The shame is that he has not done so more often.

No Happy New Year, the only silver lining is the probable election of Caroline Lucas

The Archbishop of Canterbury is right: the last decade was gruelling. If we look back to the optimism at the start of the new millennium we have seen, amongst other things, the election of George W Bush, 9/11, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the London bombings, swine flu, and, most recently, the Recession.

So can we look towards the next decade with any greater optimism? I fear not. The legacy of Tony Blair’s obsession with war has resulted in both Britain and the world becoming more unsafe. The gap between rich and poor nations has grown, and between the rich and poor in Britain likewise.

The Recession will afflict us for years to come, with house prices well beyond the reach of ordinary people, the value of pensions for most being eroded, and the decline in job security will mean that we, our children and their children will be paying the cost of the recession and of Iraq and Afghanistan for years to come.

One of the greatest negative legacies on the domestic front is the institutionalisation of debt. Where previous generations avoided debt, through the introduction of student loans Blair and New Labour have allowed debt to become an accepted part of ordinary life, something encouraged and nurtured by government.

Of equal concern is the central role that alcohol is now playing in most social activities. In a report issued today the NHS Confederation has said that alcohol is placing an “unsustainable burden” on the NHS. Blair’s obsession with deregulation and allowing the market to set limits is not only hurting the economic health of the nation, it is hurting the physical health of ordinary individuals.

These are the legacy of Tony Blair. Gordon Brown had an opportunity to make a clean break from one of the most disastrous prime ministers in British history, but he failed to do so, demonstrating a lack of political acumen and personal courage. Labour should hang its head in shame as it enters an election year.

I would like to wish you a happy New Year, but the outlook is too grim. I would like to say that a heavy defeat in the General Election would be a just reward for New Labour, but the alternative, a Conservative victory and David Cameron becoming Prime Minister, is too frightening to contemplate.

The only silver lining is the probable election in Brighton Pavilion of Caroline Lucas at the General Election.