Awwwww, do I really have to 'do ' a Tory Govt all over again

I have the t-shirt, the badges and the 'credits' to just give this one a miss surely ?

Done the demos under the last lot of Tories, Thatcher included: miners strike, section 28, Poll Tax etc . 18 years worth .

I have done the fighting in the Labour Party , from Benn to McDonnell .

Can't I just skip to the next election ? Better still, transport me to a time with a Socialist Government .

Damn, we don't have time machines yet . Well then I'll just have to hibernate in bed, with Dave and a bottle of JD .

Whats that? Need to organise, get out there , start the fight back.

What about after this weekend ? Nope, need to Join the Resistance !!

Oh if you insist .

One request though, if we must go back to the 80s, bring back Spitting Image !

BNP well and truly had their arse kicked in Barking and Dagenham

Not only did Griffin come third , but they have lost All THEIR COUNCIL SEATS !!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and so did the Tories .

It was the wagon wheels wot won it

Really pleased that John McDonnell, for all his doom and gloom, retained his seat. There was only a small swing to the Tories, 1.6%, very good considering this was in the face of the Tory Party coming out against a third runway and the addition of some extra wards with a high percentage of Conservative voters .

John showed that solid Socialist principles, combined with working hard for the local people , won the day .

And the wagon wheels ? Well once supporters fought past the wild garden and into the magical little house on Pump Lane , the "man in the red jumper" had many sugary confections to keep the comrades going, including wagon wheels and doughnuts .

Result

John McDonnell Labour 23,377 54.8 -1.6
Scott Seaman-Digby Conservative 12,553 29.4 +1.7
Satnam Kaur Khalsa Liberal Democrat 3,726 8.7 -1.1
Chris Forster British National Party 1,520 3.6 +1.3
Andrew Cripps National Front 566 1.3 +1.3
Cliff Dixon English Democrats 464 1.1 +1.1
Jessica Lee Green 348 0.8 -0.6
Aneel Shahzad Christian Party 83 0.2 +0.2
Majority 10,824 25.4

What about where there is no socialist candidate?

"The likelihood is that a Tory government will make earlier and deeper cuts in public spending than a New Labour one. A Labour government may also be more vulnerable to trade union pressure not to outlaw industrial action in 'essential' services."

I agree with this statement. It is enough to warrant voting Labour where there is no credible socialist protest candidate, despite New Labour's appalling anti-working-class record in office.

Who made this statement? The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, as part of its founding statement of policy.

I would vote for a TUSC candidate if there were one in my constituency (unless there were an exceptional reason not to vote for that particular candidate), and I would hope that TUSC supporters would, by the logic of TUSC's own statement above, vote Labour in constituencies where neither they nor another socialist candidate is standing.

But will they? The SWP says it will, though it whispers rather than shouts the fact. One TUSC candidate has put his name to the Socialist Campaign to Stop the Tories and Fascists, which advocates a Labour vote. But the Socialist Party will not, apparently. I have even heard of their members saying they would advise people not to vote in Barking, where Nick Griffin in standing, although I have not seen that as the official Party line.

What the SP does say is "There is no fundamental difference between the attacks that a Tory government will inflict on us and the attacks a New Labour government will make", which seems to contradict the TUSC statement at the start of this post.

Sarah Brown and the politics of pedicures

For those stupid and shallow enough to base where they place their X in this election based on what Sam Cam or Sarah Brown wears or does, the Mail helpfully is running daily updates. This may very well be the clincher that sees Cameron walk through the doors of no 10:

The wife of Labour leader Gordon Brown should have been putting her best foot forward when she visited a temple in north-west London today.

Instead she unveiled a rather unsightly problem on her left foot - her little toe and fourth toe crossed over one another.

She has been placed in direct competition with David Cameron's wife Samantha, and this will do little to boost her credential's against 'SamCam'.

In fact, it's the kind of sight that will immediately put the Prime Minister's wife into second place behind the Tory leader's wife.

...

She would have been well aware that her toes were in such a frightful condition, however, and most likely decided against a pedicure...to her detriment.

Oh and Sarah, you really should have got knocked up as well a few months before the election. Very remiss not to do your duty there .

.