Category: Community

Community

Greens expected to stand aside to support Lib Dems’ by-election fight

From The New European: The Green Party is expected to stand aside for the Brecon & Radnorshire by-election in a bid to show ‘Remain unity’.

The election was called after a recall petition received more than 10% of support from electors in the constituency.

It followed Tory MP Chris Davies’ conviction for faking expenses claims after submitting two false expenses invoices for landscape photographs to decorate his new office.

In 2017, the Tories held a majority of more than 8,000 in the constituency, but this could easily be overturned in the current political climate.

Labour were in a distant third place in 2017 with 7,335 votes.

The Green Party are expected to stand aside for the vote, with Plaid Cymru considering making a similar move.

[Read full article on New European website…]

Tory MP Chris Davies removed and by-election triggered after losing recall petition over faked invoices

From The Independent: Expenses cheat MP Chris Davies has been stripped of his seat, plunging the next Conservative leader into a perilous by-election. A recall petition easily cleared the 10 per cent threshold for triggering a by-election, with 19 per cent of local voters – a total of 10,005 people – demanding Mr Davies be removed.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Tory members happy to trash UK economy and destroy their own party to get Brexit, poll finds

From The Independent: Conservative Party members would happily support the break-up of the UK, “significant damage” to the British economy and even the destruction of their own party in order to secure Brexit, a poll has found.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Campaign Together crowdfunder: Stop the Tories at the next election

From Campaign Together: “Campaign Together is a grassroots movement of people from all political parties and none that want to stop the Tories from winning the next election. Last year, we flipped two seats away from the Tories and helped to elect left-wing candidates in Bristol and Oxford. We bring together people who want to stop the Tories and use political science, community organising and tactical voting to spread the message about which party can best stop a Tory government.

“We use ‘big organising’ techniques which means instead of relying on massive staff teams we distribute tasks across a network of volunteers.

“A General Election is closer than ever. Theresa May’s Brexit deal is collapsing and Jeremy Corbyn is calling for the public to go to the polls. Now is our chance to stop the Tories.

“If we are going to stop them, we need to get organised and we need to Campaign Together.

“We’ve put together a plan that will flip the results against the Tories in 50 constituency but we need some cash to pay for the resources, events space and two staff members to help make it happen. Can you chip in?”

[Crowdfunder link…] [Campaign Together website…]

Labor secures stunning re-election victory in Australian state of Victoria as voters ‘reject fear’

From The Guardian: The Labor Party will return to majority government in the Australian state of Victoria, with as many as 16 more seats following the election result that shocked even the winners.

The right-wing Coalition lost half of its seats and calls were being made for senior conservative party figures to resign.

Andrews told party faithful at Labor party headquarters in Mulgrave that Labor was “the most progressive government in the nation” and that voters had “in record numbers rejected the low road of fear and division. And for that, I am very, very proud.”

The federal Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, said Victorians had “comprehensively” rejected the tough-on-crime messaging of the Coalition, which he said had the potential to “divide the Australian community” and “attack” multiculturalism. “I thought the Victorian community said very loudly and clearly: ‘We reject a campaign based on fear and division’,” Di Natale added. “I want to congratulate Daniel Andrews and the Labor party.”

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

Labour gains three-point lead as May’s Brexit plan hits buffers

From The Observer: Labour has opened up a three-point lead over the Tories as Conservative Leave supporters appear to be deserting Theresa May’s party in droves, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

Compared with a month ago, the Tories have dropped five points to 36% while Labour has gained three to stand on 39%. The Liberal Democrats have fallen by one point to 7%, while Ukip has gone up two to 8%.

Opinium found that the Tory decline was primarily a result of Leave supporters deserting the party. Last month (on 11 October) 59% of Leave supporters said they would vote Conservative.

But in Sunday’s poll, conducted entirely after details of May’s Brexit deal were made public last week, the proportion of Leavers backing the Tories has dropped by 10 points to 49%. Labour’s support among Leavers has risen by four points to 26%, while Ukip has surged by six points among Leavers to 16%.

The poll will encourage Jeremy Corbyn’s party as it tries to push for a general election as the means to end the Brexit chaos.

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

US Midterms 2018: Record number of women elected as Democrats seize House

From The Independent: America’s political landscape has undergone a transformation, after a new crop of politicians – more diverse, more female and more progressive – helped Democrats seize control of the House of Representatives and place Donald Trump under unprecedented scrutiny.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Liar Liar Pants on Fire Pin Set

From Girl Gang HQ: “She’s a liar liar, you can’t trust her. No no no noooo. We’ll let you come up with the moves (probably best not to copy hers)

“In our times of double speak and spin this hard enamel pin set says it how it is.

“Exclusively designed and sold by GGHQ – 15% of all profits will be donated to food bank charities in the UK.”

[Buy pins now on Girl Gang HQ online store…]

Trump speech to UN draws mocking laughter

From The Guardian: In one of the more remarkable moments in the history of the annual United Nations General Assembly, the chamber of world leaders broke out in spontaneous laughter at Donald Trump’s claim that “in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country”.

Clearly taken aback, Trump said: “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s OK.”

The UN General Assembly Laughed at President Trump Over His Boasts

The UN General Assembly literally laughed at President Trump for bragging about his administration

Posted by NowThis Politics on Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Momentum begins press training for Labour activists

From The Guardian: Momentum is aiming to circumvent national news outlets by training Labour activists to place news stories in local newspapers, citing concerns that party activists could have ignored a crucial part of the media industry in the last general election.

The Labour-supporting campaign group has unveiled the training programme, which will teach campaigners the basics of pitching relevant news stories to the regional press and ensuring local journalists are kept informed and supplied with material about events, campaigns, and protests.

The programme will be piloted in a number of marginal seats – including Middlesbrough and Stevenage – before being rolled out to around 40 constituencies across the country in the autumn. These will include constituencies with high profile Conservative MPs such as Iain Duncan Smith, Boris Johnson and Amber Rudd, along with a series of marginal seats in the midlands and Scotland.

During the 2017 general election, the Conservatives spent substantial sums buying wraparound adverts on local papers in marginal constituencies – reaching both the people who buy the paper and those who simply see them on display in local shops.

Read more

Labour is Britain’s richest party – and it’s not down to the unions

From The Guardian: Some argued that the dead generated more income for the Conservative Party than the living, because subscriptions from the party’s 124,000 members produced a paltry £835,000 for the party’s national accounts, which was half the £1.7m the party received from legacies and wills.

So concerned were the Conservatives about the idea that the party was literally dying off that the party deputy chairman, James Cleverly, tweeted on Wednesday night that local associations retained the bulk of membership subscriptions, amounting to a total of £4m a year. In any event, the claim is only true if the party’s living donors, such as the JCB owner, Anthony Bamford, and Lord Ashcroft, were excluded from consideration. Donors raised £34.3m between them, three-quarters of the Tories’ total annual income.

It also helps explain why the Tories have to spend so much time publicly fundraising. At this year’s fundraising Black and White ball, one person paid £55,000 to spend a day shadowing Theresa May; another paid £12,500 to have home-cooked dinner with the environment secretary, Michael Gove, and his wife, Sarah Vine.

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

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