It has realy started in earnest now. Before the election was called, we had booked halls for the meeting schedule which you have seen. One of these was Hellesdon High School this Friday, 10 July.
The school has now phoned to say the Governors have decided not to permit my meeting -despite Nick Clegg having already held a by-election meeting there.
This is not just unfair, it is illegal. The Electoral Commissions rules state:
6.1 Once an election is called, candidates are legally entitled to use publicly funded schools and other public meeting rooms for election meetings free of .charge…..
It is happening again exactly as it did in Blackburn, where I was never permitted my entitlement to public rooms. Exactly as in Blackburn, I have followed Electoral Commission guidance and complained to the Returning Officer, who has done nothing. Returning Officers, as with Colin Bland here, are usually the chief executive of the local authority, and as such are normally party loyalists of the governing party. In our current state of politics, I don’t trust them at all.
STOP PRESS
In fact the Returning Officer Colin Bland has now told the school they are not legally entitled to bar candidates, and the school have apologised for not being aware of the legal position. So we are back on. A small but pleasant victory.
It is also worth adding that, while maintaining my distrust of returning officers, particularly chief executives of Labour councils in Labour rotten boroughs, here Colin Bland appears to be doing the right thing so far.
I am also being excluded from candidates’ hustings. The first is a debate on the future of education. I am far more qualified on this than any other candidate. The debate is being organised by the Univerisities and Colleges Union (UCU). This time the excuse for banning me is that I did not score highly in a poll which was conducted before I was a candidate and in which my name was not mentioned!
Hi Craig,
Lisa tells me you are enquiring about our event this Thursday. I took the decision to invite only those candidates shown by our poll to have a chance of winning the seat.
It is nothing personal, or any reflection – either positive or negative – on your platform and I wish you all the best for your campaign.
Best
Matt
I have really had enough.
Matt,
That is not acceptable. Your poll was conducted before I declared my candidacy and as you know well, I was not included in your poll.
As you also know well, at every bookmakers I am currently on shorter odds than the Lib Dems, just behind the Greens and overhauling them in the odds day by day.
As you know, I am the Rector of the University of Dundee and I have a much higher profile on education issues than any of the other candidates in Norwich North. I am also an honorary fellow of the University of Lancaster.
I have played a leading role in anti-cuts campaigns in Scotland’s universities in close liaison with the UCU, and have defended UCU members in individual cases on University Court. For someone who has voluntarily given so much to UCU members, to be kicked in the teeth like this by the UCU over an education debate is completely outrageous.
I will take direct action to take my rightful place in your debate, and you will need to call the police physically to prevent me.
I think the UCU having one of their higher profile allies arrested should be a fascinating spectacle for all. It would be much better if you were prepared to speak to me. I am on 07979 691085.
Craig
They will also need to ask the police to act illegally in stopping me from speaking at Hellesdon High. I have taken enough of this.
It is shocking, quite literally unbelievable that the UCU of all people should ban the Rector of Dundee University from this event – one of the very few elected positions in university governance.
Are you able to get in touch with Paul Mackney, the now retired former General Secretary of NATFHE (and joint Gen Sec of the UCU when first formed), who stood down in 2007? Paul Mackney was a major trade union supporter of Stop the War, and should be well aware of contribution on that matter. Trevor Phillips (not *that* Trevor Phillips, I think) is the current UCU rep on Stop the War’s executive.
This Matt Waddup is acting above his pay grade. UCU have got just over 48 hours to do the right thing, or we have all got to stand ready to force entry to this event.
Correcting the typo: Paul Mackney should be well aware of your contribution to Stop the War.
Outrageous.
I’ve just watched Panorama. We might as well be living in a police state. The institutional corruption is horrendous (although, of course it can, and probably will, get worse).
Corporations and government manipulate the power of the state not according to any principle but simply to serve their own often despicable ends.
This is more of the same.
This stuff has a name.
Fascism, isn’t it?…..at least that’s how Mussolini defined it…….'”the merging of corporate and state interests”
The N-Power protests described on Panorama met this criterion very clearly. The main political parties are 3 heads on one body in my opinion. Without getting into what binds them (the power of high finance on which they depend) too much, it is fair to say that they are in that sense just another corporation.
It is hard work being a pacifist in a society that seems all but lost and with dissembling slimeballs like Matt Wadupp around who happily continue to sink us further into the fascistic sh*t.
If any of these actions are not legal and you complain to the returning officer and he takes no action, then can’t you have some kind of legal challenge to the validity of the election process and get it declared null and void or postponed/delayed?
That would certainly up the stakes and get your campaign a lot of exposure.
This is beyond belief. Can we not get a pic of Matty boy at the top of this thread Craig? Named, shamed and mugshotted is the way to go. He’s been named and shamed. Let’s have the mugshot. Just like ‘House Of Horrors’ we can have a rogues gallery ‘Election Of Horrors’. I am not being threatening in the slightest. I just think that’s the way it should be. He needs to do as he should, stand down if he feels he’s being pressured to block you or face public exposure for acting in this manner.
Can anyone muster enough volunteers to picket the place; holding placards etc. to try and get the public made aware of the discriminatory behavior of those in the implementation layers of the current farce they call elections.
to think of it, these shameless bastards were lecturing Iran and the world about “democracy”, and “Freedom”.
Need to get some juices going before these bastards have slapped a section 44 or whatever to stop the “terrorists” and stop any kind of public show in favor of Craig.
This Matt Waddup character is sure as hell like Mystic Meg, he can talk to dead people and see the future too!!!
Apparatchiks the likes of him are two to a penny and as someone has already pointed out are telling of the institutional corruption this country is mired in, thanks to the criminals in charge who are setting the criminal standards as a desirable mode of conduct for the population to follow.
Hi Craig, well, now you seem to be staring into the abyss – an abyss which the British National Party, and other smaller parties, have stared into for many years.
You perhaps (and rather naively) think that we, here in the UK, live in a free and democratic society. But that is not so, and has not been so for many years. For instance, the British National Party are painted out to be knuckle-dragging neo-nazi skinhead types, and this brainwashing is ingrained into the majority of people’s minds, including many who commented on your last blog, so much so that they never check out the truth. The reality of the average member of the British National Party couldn’t be further from the truth, as our Zimbabwe style policians and mainstream media smear, lie and distort the truth, and deny democratic rights to those who choose to dissent.
Welcome to the club matey. Some of us have been denied putting our ideas and policies in front of the public for many many years. As a result, most people have not the first idea of the policies of the smaller parties, unless they choose to find out for themselves the truth, mainly via the Internet.
@Jaded I believe that a picture of Matt Waddup is on this page:
http://www.unions21.org.uk/fotu.htm
“Returning Officers, as with Colin Bland here, are usually the chief executive of the local authority, and as such are normally party loyalists of the governing party.”
That is nonsense Craig. Chief Execs are not party members (if that is what you are implying), and they are expressly forbidden from holding political office or expressing political views in public (don’t you remember that Thatcher introduced the rules to prohibit councillors being senior officers in adjoining Boroughs?). A CEO will work with whatever party is in power and it would be folly for them to get too closely aligned with any party. Come on, get a grip.
Craig,
They really are scared of you! Their dirty tricks say more about your chances than the latest odds from Ladbroke’s.
You have to turn this to your advantage somehow. You can and should fight for your rights, but it seems to me that you run the risk of being bogged down and diverted from your campaign. Which is exactly what the Labour party wants.
How about a poster of you with a gag over your mouth? You need a caption of some sort or even something written on the gag itself. No doubt the wordsmiths here could come up with something punchy. The poster would also remind people of your work against torture.
Incidentally, a Google search for the phrase “honest man” brings up your election site in 13th place – very impressive given how recently the campaign has started.
Something I’ve just noticed: you need to keep the http://www.putanhonestman.org site fresh to ensure it doesn’t start to drop places on a Google search. The last entry on the site appears to be dated 2nd July.
Cheers Mark, but it needs to be linked directly with this story in my view. Right there in the original post.
“Candidates for the Norwich North by-election will take part in a political speed dating session with constituents on Thursday where they will be quizzed over their plans for education.”
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4012
“Education key issue as by-election poll shows Labour and Tories neck-and-neck” (26 June 2009)
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3987
From the above link: “ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 504 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 19-21 June 2009. Interviews were conducted in the political constituency of Norwich North and the results have been weighted to the profile of all people in the constituency. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.”
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:
“Candidates should pay close attention to this poll.”
I wonder how much the poll cost and who paid for it.
Eddie,
Everybody knows that local authority chief execs are not supposed to act politically. Everybody knows that in fact, they very often do.
Craig said that CEOs “are normally party loyalists of the governing party.”
You said that Craig was talking nonsense, and you said that “A CEO will work with whatever party is in power.”
What you said effectively means just the same as what Craig said.
To coin a phrase: Get a grip.
If the returning officer is not taking action to ensure that the election is being carried out in accordance with the rules then isn’t that simply a matter for the police to deal with?
This is political dynamite worth front page news on a Tabloid National.
Are there any uncontrolled ones left – or do the Fascists control the lot?
I hope you’ve got someone ringing round trying to get this story picked up.
Michael Jackson is dead meat now – and is being buried without his brain.
Tony
Andy
Many thanks. That confirms the poll was taken before we started campaigning.
For what it’s worth I have sent a email complaint to Matt Waddup. I think it would be useful to have details of other people to complain to, both within the UCU hierarchy and in connection with the school ban. For example, does the local authority have legal officers who can be challenged to confirm the legal duties of the returning officer?
Also, what grounds did the school governors give for refusing the booking?
“For instance, the British National Party are painted out to be knuckle-dragging neo-nazi skinhead types, and this brainwashing is ingrained into the majority of people’s minds” – yeah, unfortunately it’s a lot more sinister than that now. bnp members are making it harder and harder for us to spot them. so it was handy when that membership list got issued last year. GTF.
andrew,
The list of the names and addresses of the members of the BNP was quite hard to find unless you know how to use a search engine. Its much easier to find the names and addresses of the real fascists in control. The BNP are just a sad irrelevance. The fact that the BNP are even being discussed here is an abuse of Craig Murray’s server time – but I guess he is much more liberal than he should be.
Tony
I’ve just emailed this to every regional and national officer of UCU listed in contacts on the UCU website.
Sorry it’s long but I’ll post it in full. It now needs to get to ordinary members of the union in individual universities and colleges (especially in Norwich) and other elected people (members of the NEC and so on). If anyone is a member of UCU and can assist, please let me know.
Dear Senior UCU Activist
UCU is organising a education-focused hustings event for candidates in the Norwich North by-election in Norwich on Thursday 9 July. I am writing to protest at the exclusion from that event by UCU of Craig Murray, the Rector of Dundee University and Independent candidate in the by-election.
If you don’t know him, Craig Murray is the human rights activist, writer and former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan. He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Lancaster School of Law, and was elected by the students of Dundee University their Rector in 2007.
In 2004 he was hounded out of his post as British Ambassador to Uzbekistan because of the stand he took against the British Government’s use of intelligence gained from torture by the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan in pursuit of the US/British “War on Terror” policy.
In the 2005 General Election he stood against his former boss, the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Blackburn. His platform was to highlight the illegality of the Iraq War and the illegal torture policy. After a bruising campaign, which featured extraordinary attempts by Blackburn Council to prevent Craig Murray getting his message out to the people of Blackburn, he polled over 2,000 votes ?” including substantial numbers from individuals in the Muslim community who had otherwise lost faith in the British political process – saving his deposit.
In 2006, after delaying tactics by the Foreign Office, his book Murder in Samarkand was finally published, telling the story of his time in Uzbekistan. It was accompanied by publication on the internet of official Foreign Office documents proving that Jack Straw had personally authorised the policy to use “intelligence” gained from torture.
In 2007 Craig Murray was elected Rector of Dundee University on a platform of opposition to cuts to University departments and services. He has subsequently worked with UCU on the anti-cuts agenda and defended UCU members on the University Court.
Throughout the period, most recently at the massive Gaza demonstrations in January 2009, he has shared a platform with UCU speakers at Stop The War Coalition demonstrations and rallies. He has also spoken at numerous schools and universities worldwide over the past five years to inspire students with the message of taking a stand for what is right. As the Nobel Laureate the late Harold Pinter said: “Craig Murray tells the truth whether the authorities like it or not. I salute a man of integrity.”
In 2009, Craig Murray is standing as a candidate in the Norwich North by-election as an independent. The by-election has arisen because of the MPs’ expenses scandal, and his candidacy is partly based on giving a voice to the point of view that the expenses scandal is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise, and that the established parties are part of that problem, not part of its solution. His platform is aimed at those who want to clean up politics, and don’t trust the major parties to do it. Even those who don’t agree with that position would agree that it has a right to be heard, and represents a point of view that is held by a large proportion of the community.
The UCU National Head of Campaigns and Organising, Matt Waddup, has decided to exclude Craig Murray from its hustings event on Thursday on the basis of a “decision to invite only those candidates shown by our poll to have a chance of winning the seat”. This poll was taken before the by-election was officially called and Craig Murray declared his candidacy and kicked off his lively local campaign. He was not an option respondents to the poll could choose. At the present time his odds at Ladbrokes stand at 25/1, just behind the Greens at 16/1 and ahead of the Liberal Democrats at 33/1.
The principle at stake here is pretty basic. The purpose of a hustings is to allow voters to hear what all the candidates have to say. If those candidates have something of interest to say, then all the better. On education, Craig Murray is guaranteed to be interesting, and to bring education issues to the attention of voters in the way UCU intend by holding the event.
If UCU only looks to invite candidates with a good chance of winning, then the hustings should take place with the Conservative candidate only, whose odds at Ladbrokes are 9/1 on (1/9). But that would hardly be in the spirit of free speech and democracy.
UCU can reverse this decision and give Craig Murray a place at the hustings event on Thursday. I am asking you respectfully, now, whether you will support this. I would politely ask you to give this matter your urgent attention, given the shortage of time, and to copy your reply to Sally Hunt and Matt Waddup.
Hopefully this Matt Waddup, will change his decision. But if not, good luck if you take direct action.
Strategist,
Your words are completely brilliant, but unfortunately it is July and the vast majority of your target audience will be away on holiday.
I suggest you modify it only very slightly such that Journalists Realise You are Addressing them Directly.
Many Journalists publish their personal email addresses with their articles.
You should be able to find a large list manually. Ideally this could be done very quickly with a simple search script. Ask a sober techie.
Tony
Interesting that this is happening to Craig also at a time when this story is emerging:
“Britain, torture and shocking new claims”
‘MI5 offered bribe to convicted terrorist if he dropped collusion accusations’
http://tinyurl.com/l5oa5x
and in the Guardian here:
http://tinyurl.com/kockd5
They must be feeling some pressure …
I think you need to call in the international UN election monitors as quickly as possible
Strategist,
You could start by asking for help from the NUJ. Their primary responsibility is to their journalists – and you have got a very newsworthy story for their members. If some of them write it and photograph it some of them will get paid when their work gets published.
media.gn.apc.orgslashnujone.html
The slash is a forward slash
Tony
Did someone say “free and fair election” ?
Free = what the two party system can buy
Fair = only if you are aligned to one or t’other of the two parties…
No room for an independent….too much trouble mate….no more George Galloways in Parliament or Craig Murrays for that matter. Press on mate, expose ’em, and all the best!
It would be interesting to see a video of you trying to inspect the list of suitable meeting rooms the LA must have “available for candidates and agents to inspect during reasonable hours” under this rule:
3.17
The Electoral Registration Officer of each local authority in England and Wales and the (Acting) Returning Officer in Scotland must keep a list of the location and availability of suitable meeting rooms in the electoral area. To help candidates find out which rooms are available, the local authority will make the list available for candidates and agents to inspect during reasonable hours … [Schedule 5, RPA 1983, as applied by Section 96(4), RPA 1983.]
That’s an unbelievably petty and cowardly act by Matt Waddup. Is that what all his predecessors struggled and got sacked and jailed for? So officials in independent trade unions could become parrots for the government line? What has the government done for UCU members lately? I doubt he’s asked his members for their opinion on this and that’s an excellent reply you’ve written Craig.
If they continue with this childishness then send press releases to the Independent and other newspapers on all the cheap tricks they’ve pulled, providing them as evidence that the Labour party is on the run from you and is afraid you’ll win if you get fair coverage – and add it to your leaflets too.