By William Mills
Labour’s campaign for Brighton Kemptown got a huge boost on Wednesday 8 April with a packed meeting in the local Methodist Church in Dorset Gardens.
Nancy Platts, Labour’s parliamentary candidate in the General Election taking place on 7 May was joined on the platform, by amongst others, Solomon Curtis, Labour’s 18 year old candidate for Wealden, a Tory Sussex stronghold and star guest, the Guardian’s Owen Jones.
Nancy Platts said;
I left school at 18 and didn’t go to university. I worked for the Fire Brigade for 12 years. I’m not a career politician. If elected I will be another working class MP. Only 25% of MPs didn’t go to university.
I campaigned for the Fire Service and also to save the Eaton Place GP’s surgery from closure. I want to get rid of zero hour contracts and cap rent increases.
I pledge to be a listening MP and carry on the conversation with my electors.
Ms Platts got a huge round of applause from an audience that seems pleased with what she had said.
Owen Jones is a hand waving socialist and he gave us an oratory which boarded on the verge of a left wing rant about trade unionism and the class struggle. Born in 1984 and author of two books he referred to himself as the ‘Milky Bar Kid.‘
With quotes from the late Tony Benn about ‘burning with anger about injustice’, he was evidently too young to remember Tony Blair, a former Labour prime minister, who has made how many millions since leaving office? And wasn’t he the one who invaded Iraq?
Jones said;
Five million languish on housing lists which takes a terrible toll on people’s mental health. Russian billionaires buy up London homes and leave them empty while working class people have to share…
Owen Jones failed to make clear his views on immigration. Whether he was against immigrants buying houses in general or Russian ones in particular, or perhaps it’s just rich ones he is against?
He reminded me of the late Bob Crow who spoke at a TUC conference fringe meeting here in Brighton saying how immigration means his trade union members losing their jobs to someone willing to work for a bowl of rice a day..
How does the hard left view immigration and housing when there is such a shortage of homes for British born people? They really should make their views clear.
Jones met with whole hearted support when speaking of Nancy Platts as he also said;
She will stand up and represent working class people. We have an incredible and inspiring candidate here.
Yet as soon as the speakers had finished and questions were taken from the floor a 70 year old woman immediately asked if Labour was going to look after the elderly as well as the working class.
Ms Platts had surrounded herself with a young team including one of the panel said she was too young to vote.
In the election of 2010 Nancy Platts narrowly lost out to Green MP Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion. Some commentators put this down in part to the number of students who have term time lodgings in that constituency and many of whom turned out to support Mrs Lucas.
Whilst there are students living in Kemptown, there are many more who are not including those who live in the retirement homes stretching along the coast.
Labour must come clean on their plans for the elderly. Also if young immigrants are going to be encouraged to settle in the UK it must be realised that each one has two parents and four grandparents who will need to be cared for. So perhaps we need the Russian billionaires after all.
