It's all about the people...

The Poltimore Arms - unofficial Labour HQ in Pinhoe!

The best thing about this stage of the campaign is the sheer number of people that I and my Exeter Labour team get to meet. I enjoy the banter with our rival parties, and this week I enjoyed myself at a hustings, but it is talking to the very people I want to represent that really spurs me on and reminds me why I want to put myself through all this. I am finding that the people of Pinhoe have got a lot to say, and many are finding things very difficult under this current government.

My little local Exeter Labour team has been out at some point every single day over the last few weeks, knocking on doors, posting leaflets and stopping people in the street. I cannot praise them enough - they have been giving up evening after evening, and their weekends, to come and support me. Even the times I haven't been able to be there in person, they have still organised the tasks, and gone out without me. It's a wonderful sense of being part of something, and over a pint (or two) in the Poltimore Arms after our evening's labour (excuse the pun) we have had a debrief. It's there that we have shared some of the stories that we've heard. I have never known, in all my years in local politics, a council election where so many national issues have come up. People want to talk to us, to tell us how these Westminster policies are hitting them hard "on the ground" in Exeter. They may be "national issues", but they are very much playing out locally. So this blog is about just a few of the people we have met this week, and their stories.

The Chief Exec of the charity Mind has resigned
in protest at the government's "inhumane" policy

Mr J is a married man with teenage kids in the Summerway area. He suffers from spondylarthritis (arthritis of the spine) and is in early remission from prostate cancer. "It's a joke," he told me, "I've had an assessment with the benefits service and I've been told I'm being moved on to Job Seekers' Allowance. Look at me. How am I going to get a job? Even if I could work, there's loads of people looking work just now. I mean, would you employ me over someone else?" The government has commissioned a French I.T. company, ATOS,  to conduct controversial re-assessments (Work Capability Assessments) of all the cases of all people on incapacity and disability benefits in a computer-led process. These assessments have been questioned in terms of both their accuracy and the impersonal and insensitive way they have been administered. Last week the Chief Executive of the mental health charity Mind resigned from a government panel in protest at the "inhumane" tests.

Remember this promise?

Mr & Mrs V live in a large private house on Park Lane, in Pinhoe village. As I looked up their drive, their home did not exactly look like that of someone from the "core Labour demographic". One glance at our Voter ID sheet confirmed their previous voting intentions: Conservative over the last five elections. However, I had spoken with Mrs V on the phone a week before, and I was keen to meet her. "I never thought I would hear myself say this," she had told me on the phone, "but I'll be supporting Labour. It's what the government is doing to the NHS. It's just wrong." A week on, and her opinion had not changed. "We both work in the NHS," she explained. "Don't get me wrong, we're both in roles which probably means we'll have more income ourselves, but it's simply not right what they are doing. We can both see where this will end. We might be better off, but we can see this is bad for patients. It's bad for the country. And the thing is," she added, "they promised they wouldn't do this. That's what gets me." Mr and Mrs V are not alone. Others who have never thought they would be politicised have found that the NHS is just too important to stay silent on. See Professor Robert Winston's video about the NHS here.

Are hot school dinners about to become a thing of the past
in some parts of Devon?

Mrs G is a jovial, no-nonsense lady in her 70s living in the Beacon Heath area of the ward. She is - I later found out - a retired Deputy Headteacher, and had recently moved into the area when I called on her. She is one of those people you might describe as "larger than life", and she had a friend over when I called. "Oh good!" she called out to her friend when she answered the door, "It's a young man!" I liked her already. 
Had she ever voted Labour before? "Never!" came the sharp reply, but then, "I might now though - I'm so very cross."
Mrs G is cross about education. The lack of investment, the move to "free schools", and the failure in Exeter of Devon County Council to invest more in schools to keep pace with a growing population. "There just aren't enough places!" she exclaimed, "It's not fair, these poor mums don't know if their child will have a place nearby or not. And then this fiasco about school dinners - I was reading some schools are stopping them altogether. Unbelievable. Children need nutrition. It's daft!" Mrs G was referring to the 10 -year private contract DCC had awarded to a company that then put the prices of meals up to £4 in some schools, causing some schools to opt out saying the meals were "unaffordable". Mrs G said that for the very first time she would be voting Labour this year, and requested a lift to the polling station as she has problems with mobility. A member of my team suggested we offer her a postal vote, so I popped back to see her to drop in a form. When I went back a third time to collect her completed postal vote application she had a twinkle in her eye. "Third time here today," she said, "That'll get the neighbours talking!" 

Crime in Devon is up 6.4% already as the cuts bite

Law and order is another seemingly national issue that is playing out locally. I called on Ms B in her home just off Harrington Lane. Both Ms B and her partner work for the police. There was a natural opening for a chat here as my partner works for the police in their child protection service. Ms B was reluctant to say who she supported - there is a protocol that police officers are politically neutral, publicly at least. Yet she was scathing of government policy. "They try to paint themselves as the party of law and order," she said, "but they haven't got a clue. These cuts are massive for us. We have a huge patch to cover - two counties - and it's not like we had that many officers to start with, but they want us to lose hundreds. We are losing good, experienced officers. It's criminal," she laughed at what she had just said, "excuse the pun." Devon & Cornwall police are facing the fifth highest cuts to any constabulary in the country. Already the local police have lost over 100 officers. the result? Crime overall is up 6.4%, but more worryingly robberies were up 12% and domestic burglary up 16%. 
Ms B looked down at my clipboard. "I don't know what you're going to write on there," she said, but then added with a grin, "but let's just say I won't be voting for either of the parties that are cutting us."


LABOUR, I scribbled on my sheet as I walked back down her path.

The Election Address Ready To Go

The election address leaflets will be out this weekend, and will be delivered by the end of next week. As we've been promising on the doorsteps, 5 key mainfesto areas that set out a clear, coherent vision for Exeter Here's a sneak preview...
Pinhoe

Tory Porkies

Another of Dave's "Tory Porkies" rumbled!

What is it with Tories? Why do they seem to have such a hard time talking straight, and just telling the truth? Two weeks ago, Cameron couldn't get his facts straight on where he last ate a pasty. This week, "Dodgy Dave" defended Osborne's tax charge on charities, saying it was justified because some rich people "abuse" the tax relief system by giving to bogus charities. Then yesterday, HMRC - the tax authority - said there were "no relevant case studies" to support that view. They are simply choking charities harder, while giving their millionaire friends tax breaks and tax cuts.

On the doors at the moment, one of the issues that comes up again and again is the NHS. Even people who have previously been Conservative voters are telling me they are supporting Labour this time around as it is the only main party that tried to defend the NHS from the Coalition's NHS Bill that opens the door to widespread privatisation and cuts to care. People are angry because they remember his pledge at the last election not to cut the NHS, or to impose "top-down re-organisation" of the NHS. These election-time promises were "Tory Porkies". 

You can watch the views on these broken promises of a credible and respected (and previously non-partisan) expert on the NHS and health, Professor Robert Winston here: 

We all use and need the NHS, and in Exeter it is a major employer, and therefore a major contributor to our local economy. The NHS is a local issue as much as a national one. Exeter Tories supported the government Bill to cut the NHS, and to impose further upheaval on its services and staff.

But even locally, the Tories can't seem to tell the truth. In their recent leaflets to the public,  Tories claim that Exeter Labour have a "plan for more spending", but "no pledges for savings", and therefore suggest a tax hike is on its way. Let's get some facts on this. 

Scare tactics from Exeter Tories' negative campaign

Tory leader Cllr Henson (left) celebrates
Labour government announcement to
make Labour unitary -
a decision later scrapped by her
own party.

Tory Porky #1: The very first page of our local Labour manifesto sets out how, through a restructuring of the council and its services, Exeter is saving over £1 million. We could have achieved more had we been able to become a unitary authority as planned, but the Coalition government scuppered that. Exeter Tories, who actually backed the bid for unitary authority status, won't tell you that because they don't want to criticise their own party nationally.

Tory Porky #2: Trying to scare Exeter residents about tax increases is completely bogus. Labour-led Exeter Council froze the council tax this year. What the Tories don't tell you is that Exeter has the lowest council tax charge of any District Council in Devon. Here's the list:

Exeter                            Labour           £124.84

East Devon                    Tory                  £155.77 (+ £30.93 more than Exeter)

South Hams                   Tory                  £174.87 (+ £50.03)

Torridge                          Tory                 £179.30 (+ £54.46)

Teignbridge                    Tory                 £195.27 (+ £70.43)

North Devon                   Tory                 £208.79 (+ £83.95)

Mid Devon                      Tory                 £215.00 (+ £90.15)

West Devon                   Tory                 £240.81 (+ £115.97)

The highest-charging Tory Devon District Council charges a full 92.8% MORE than Labour-led Exeter! 

The Police Authority raised its Council Tax
contributions this year, while the constabulary had
 the 5th highest cuts in the country

Tory Porky #3: What you pay to the Labour-led City Council is only a fraction of your Council Tax. Just 8p in every £1 you pay goes to the City Council under Labour. The other 92p? That goes to the Tory County Council, and the Tory-dominated Police and Fire Authorities. The Tories' leaflet won't tell you that.

Tory Porky #4: There can be no "council tax bomshell"! Under national policy, council tax cannot increase by more than 3% without first being approved by a local referendum. So even if we were to increase Exeter council tax by the very maximum, it would mean residents' contributions would rise from 8p in the £, to a whacking, er, 8.24p! In other words, Exeter's tax, at £128.59 would still be 21% cheaper than the lowest neighbouring Tory authority, and still a huge 87% lower than the highest. 

The same leaflet that pushes this rubbish makes all sorts of other claims about the Tories and what they will or won't do, and their views of Labour, or of me as a candidate. I am not so much angry about the personal smears - they are to be expected when a sitting councillor feels threatened - I am angry that Tories think it is ok to deliberately attempt to mislead the public.

You can't trust the Tories on the NHS. You can't trust the Tories on tax. You can't trust the Tories on employment. You can't trust the Tories on the economy. You can't trust the Tories on local policy. You can't trust the Tories to tell you the truth.

You can't trust the Tories. Full stop.

Vote Labour on May 3rd. 

Crunch Time

Out earlier in the campaign with former councillor Val Dixon
and local MP Ben Bradshaw

It's all getting a bit interesting. 
We are now into what is called the "short campaign" - the last month run-up to the elections on May 3rd. This is the period when parties step up their activity, and the battle "proper" begins after months of lower-level campaigning and something of a "cold war" between parties.

There's a lot of blather and banter to politics, and most of us involved quite enjoy it if we are honest. Anyone monitoring local political Twitter streams will know there is a fair degree of (mostly) good-natured sparring between councillors and candidates about a range of issues - local and national - and regular readers of my blog will know that I have fired the odd broadside at the local Tories. But now it's crunch time, and as we move into the final stages of the election campaign I am increasingly being asked by friends and colleagues, "Well, will you win?" 


I am too experienced in local politics to try to answer that question with any certainty. Pinhoe is  a "two-way marginal ward", alternating in its most recent electoral history between Labour and Conservative. There are rarely more than 100 votes in it, and it is often decided by far fewer votes than that, most notably in 2010 when my Labour colleague, Moira MacDonald won by 4 votes!

Pinhoe's recent electoral results

What is clear is that Pinhoe will see a straight fight between Labour and the Conservatives. The highest any other party has ever managed in recent history was in 2004, but even then the Lib Dem candidate polled less than 400 votes. The Lib Dems, UKIP and the Greens cannot win in the ward.


Labour needs just 2 more seats in the city to take overall control of the council. Why is this important? I spent 8 years as a councillor in Weymouth & Portland, a borough where there has been no overall control since 1974. As a result, the political and strategic decision-making has often been protracted, and characterised by frequent compromises, back-tracking and slow responses to important issues. A single party - of whatever colour - clearly in charge gives an authority a clear vision and direction. In Exeter, Labour is running the city well as a minority administration, but overall control would enable us to effectively give our local manifesto to city officers as their corporate plan for the next municipal cycle - a clear vision, and a clear steer of direction for our council. Our manifesto begins:

"Under Labour, Exeter’s council tax rates have been consistently one of the lowest in the country. Just 8p out of every £1 that residents pay in council tax goes to Exeter City Council. This is a testament to the well run nature of a Council that has been under Labour control for the majority of the last 30 years. 

We took the decision this year to freeze Council tax at last year’s rate. Our costed budget sets out how, over the coming year, we will be making £1 million savings while protecting the services which the citizens of Exeter need most. 

We can no longer just manage our budgets better; we have to manage our business differently. We aim to streamline the council’s systems, a process which has already seen a £500,000 per year saving through reductions in senior management. 

We are committed to getting the best value for taxpayers’ money while improving the delivery of our services and investing sustainably and strategically to secure the future of our city." - Introduction to the 2012 Exeter Labour manifesto

It goes on to set out our bold ambitions in the areas of housing, economic growth, quality of life & leisure, environmental sustainability, and thriving communities in our city. 

Tory-controlled Plymouth is seeing
economic decline, including airport closure

Major investors like John Lewis are
backing Labour-led Exeter

By contrast, Exeter Conservatives seem to miss the bigger strategic issues, and focus their manifesto on, well, rubbish. Bins seem to be their top priority. No one is belittling waste and recycling as an important issue, but the specific local arrangements for bin collections are hardly a pressing strategic concern. In her manifesto introduction, Tory leader Cllr Yolanda Henson strikes an upbeat note about Exeter's vibrant economy and its cultural life. Well she might, she knows that our city - under sound Labour leadership - is not only weathering the storms of national economic gloom - it is a city that is prospering. Contrast that with the picture in our Tory-controlled neighbouring cities of Plymouth and Torbay where businesses are struggling and the local economies are declining, and the choice for Exeter between Labour and Tory becomes even more stark.

Cameron's 2010 pledge - now betrayed.

Exeter Tories supported their national party in its breaking of David Cameron's electoral pledge that there would be "no top-down re-organisation of the NHS", and supported Andrew Lansley's deeply unpopular NHS Bill. Their manifesto is also silent on the fact that Devon & Cornwall police are facing the fifth highest cut to its frontline officers in the country. That is a disgrace.

Exeter has a chronic shortage of homes that are affordable to local people, yet all the Tories have to say on the matter is that they would change the processes for prioritising houses. There is no vision, no strategy, no plan to actually develop more homes. Labour meanwhile is setting out our plans to establish an innovative model of co-operative housing for the city. 


We are confident we will retain our existing seats, and win the two seats we need to take overall control the council and to give the city a clear vision and direction for the future. St James and Alphington wards are showing very encouraging signs of widespread Labour support, and wards like Pinhoe could also play a key role in the city.


Will I win? I am hearing a lot of support of the doorsteps, people are angry about the economy, about cuts, about unemployment, about the budget, tax inequality and particularly about the damage to the NHS under the coalition. The data, Labour organisers tell me, is that we now have enough support to win in Pinhoe - but we will only win IF those who have pledged support for us go out and covert that promise to a vote on May 3rd. 


Whatever happens, it will be close. Moira won by 4 votes... For all we know, that could have been down to just one family in the ward, "umming and ahhing" about whether to bother, who fortunately decided to go. Politicians often say that "every vote counts", but that could not be more true in Pinhoe. Please don't leave it to everyone else, please don't think that your vote won't make a difference. It could be the difference between city leadership that wants a bold, bright future for our communities; or one that just wants to talk "rubbish"! 

As true now as it was then!
Vintage Labour poster

Vote Labour & Co-operative on May 3rd.

My response to the PCS union

In common with most local election candidates, I was contacted recently by the Public & Commercial Services union, PCS, to comment on a series of pledges they are asking candidates to make. This is my response:

"I am the Labour & Co-operative Party candidate for Pinhoe ward in Exeter city council's elections on May 3rd. I am also a member of Unite the union, and have been campaigning on a range of cuts, and particularly against the NHS Bill. My partner is a public sector worker, as a member of civilian staff working within the police in child protection. In response to your specific pledges:

1. I pledge to support PCS campaigns against public service job cuts and to ensure quality public services are delivered to those in need. 

I believe that this coalition government is cutting too far, too fast. I am not convinced that the deficit is the biggest challenge facing this country, and I believe that the majority of the blame for the deficit in the UK, and for the international economic crisis, sits with the unchecked greed and drive for expansion within the private corporate sector. On that basis, I call for greater commitment from the wealthiest (whether companies or individuals) to pay their way through a reformed and transparent progressive tax system.

2. I pledge to support the PCS campaign for fair pay and a living wage for workers. 

I am proud that it was a Labour government that introduced the minimum wage. However, I believe along with Ed Miliband and others within the Labour Party that we now need to research and set a living wage. In the south particularly, we need to recognise the unaffordability of housing to public sector workers, and set a living wage accordingly.

3. I pledge to protect quality public services and work alongside PCS, community organisations and other trade unions to ensure that no more public services are privatised, outsourced or mutualised. 

As an employee of a community organisation, and a trade union member, I have profound concerns about the privatisation of public services under the agenda "opening public services". I believe that this government's agenda is to open up public services to private sector providers who will run these services to make a profit. I do believe that mutualised services may have a valid role, but only as part of a genuinely co-operative model that is achieved with full union and employee consultation, cooperation and support. I believe this government has abused the language of mutualisation and co-operatives to attempt to seduce public opinion to favour a new system of commissioning that clearly favours big business.

4. I pledge to support the PCS campaign for fair pensions for all; including calling on the government to protect public sector pensions, ensure the state pension keeps in line with inflation, that the government addresses pensioner poverty and that companies are prevailed upon to ensure they fulfil their pension obligations to staff.

Absolutely agree. This government's most recent budget, and their negotiating stance with teachers, police, and other public servants shows a contempt for the people who work hard to ensure our communities function. I am proud to campaign for fairer pensions, and for the protection of pensioners..

I trust the above responses make my position very clear."

A Long Time in Politics...

Apologies for having taken so long to publish a new entry. The end of March this year - as with so many previous years - was a time where I had to hurriedly take as yet unclaimed annual leave, so spent a week in Snowdonia, Wales and a week (of extraordinarily hot temperatures) in Cornwall with my partner. On returning to Exeter, my boss - the Chief Executive of Exeter CVS - was off sick for a week, so I have been acting up in running CVS while also trying to do my own job. (Ok, enough of the sob stories and excuses!)

Of course, we are also into the election campaign "proper" now in Exeter for the city council elections on May 3rd, so every free evening has been spent going door-to-door meeting the residents of Pinhoe. All the candidates for the local election are now announced, and Pinhoe will have a Tory (the incumbent), a UKIP candidate, a Green Party candidate, myself (for the Labour and Co-operative Parties), and of course a Lib Dem candidate. I am tempted to say that in Pinhoe any Lib Dem candidate is merely a "paper candidate" as Lib Dems usually poll less than 200 here, but I rather fear that ANY Lib Dem ANYwhere in 2012 will be little more than a "paper candidate" such is their unpopularity. (Naughty of me, I know.)

Even traditionally "Tory" papers seems to be turning
on the government

Still, as I sit down again to ponder a new blog, I am driven to ponder that the 20 days since my last blog entry is an awfully long time in politics. Since I last wrote, we have had THAT budget. Tax breaks for the richest millionaire friends of our cabinet, an end to tax credits that will hit 40,000 families in the south west, the "granny tax" that asks pensioners to pay more while the wealthiest see their taxes FALL by 5%, and - as my holiday in Cornwall could never let me forget - the confusion on almost "Carry On" proportions regarding what does or doesn't constitute "hot" food under the dreaded "pasty tax". Confusion seems the order of the day in government as leak after leak betrays new government agendas. Francis Maude's advice for people to stock up on highly flammable fluids in "jerry cans" in preparation for the strike that never was led to accusations of ineptitude and arrogance - not everyone has a garage, Francis. Then more recently, it was a leak that let us all know that the government was hell-bent on monitoring emails, web use and mobile phone calls. Even for the government's own libertarian back-benchers this was a step too far. Former Tory leader hopeful David Davis opposed the Bill publicly, and (as ever) the Lib Dems are all at sea on the issue. Lynne Featherstone says the Bill is misinterpreted and we have nothing to worry about, while Lib dem president Tim Farron is saying they will oppose the Bill. (As they so successfully proposed the NHS Bill, presumably!)

A poster from a Cornish campaign against the "pasty tax"

Why is all of this so relevant to Pinhoe? Well, I have been out and about with my team (and I DO mean "team" - I have been humbled by the number of volunteers who have been coming out with me) and I am finding again and again that people are raising national issues on the doorsteps. People are angry about just how out-of-touch this government appears. Whether it is petrol shortages, pasty tax, or top-rate tax cuts even the Tory press is turning on Cameron & Osborne as being spectacularly inept at reading the mood of the nation. The opinion polls, which have previously been oscillating wildly are stabilising, offering Labour a lead of between 6% and 10%, depending on the polling organisation. People are angry. 

"All in this together?" Hm. Maybe not.

This has been reflected in the voices we are hearing on the doors. We have started at the "village" end of the ward, and are working our way west towards the "Whipton" end of the ward. Traditionally the "village end" is the more challenging for Labour, yet we are seeing people who will openly admit to backing the Tories in 2010 pledging to support Labour in May. Most have a personal story to tell. The civil servant approaching retirement who will be personally worse off under Osborne's pension plans, the long-serving police officer who is devastated to see so many frontline fellow officers sacrificed on the altar to the austerity rhetoric or the passionate NHS consultant who, despite standing to be personally wealthier under the new NHS commissioning systems, could see that the NHS Bill was bad for patients and bad for tax-payers. None of these were "natural" Labour people. Yet all, having considered their options, feel the Tory party that benefited from their support in 2010 had got things badly wrong. Whether a protest vote, or something more, all have decided to support Labour in May.

It would be churlish to complain about support based on national issues in what is, after all, a local election. Yet it is not all about national politics. Since my last newsletter went out, I have been busy dealing with "casework" that has arisen from people being under the impression that I am already a councillor. Whether new road links, charges at recycling centres, damaged pavements, flytipping concerns, cuts to local youth services, or issues with anti-social behaviour, I have been addressing it. One constituent contacted me after my last leaflet went out to raise the issue of fly-tipping locally. 

"I am happy to help," I explained, "but you do know I'm not your councillor, don't you? I am the Labour and Co-operative candidate."

"Oh I know, dear, " came the response, "but I've read your leaflet, and I've spoken with a friend who met you in your day job, and she says you will get things done."

I am interested in, and involved in, national politics as well as local politics. But politics matter most when they impact directly on people's lives. That is what drives me; being an activist that can work together with local people to change things for them in their families, in our communities, in our city and our nation. That's why I am standing on May 3rd, and that's why I want you to vote for me.

Tory Campaign Success! (for Labour)

Heartfelt thanks to Exeter's Tories for their campaigning efforts in Pinhoe recently (no, really.) On Saturday I attended a Labour councillors' coffee morning at the United Reformed Church hall in Old Pinn Lane, where I had the pleasure of meeting some of our new supporters, volunteers and members.

Cllr Saxon Spence, Cllr Moira MacDonald, former Cllr Val Dixon
and I at the United Reformed Church in Old Pinn Lane

It was a particular pleasure to meet Mr & Mrs T who live not too far from me, and were recently called on by local Exeter Tories. They were signed up to a postal vote and spoke to the Tory team for a while...

...They then immediately got in touch with Exeter Labour and asked how they could join us and help our campaign.

So thank you to Exeter's Tory campaigning operation. Whatever it is you are doing, please do keep it up!