It seems Rosie Duffield isn’t the only one, so we need to ask: why are Labour election candidates ducking democracy by avoiding hustings?
Ms Duffield cancelled all her planned appearances at any hustings events last week. Her statement declared:
“Sadly the actions of a few fixated individuals have now made my attendance impossible. The constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation from certain people – having built up over a number of years and being pursued with a new vigour during this election – is now affecting my sense of security and wellbeing.
“Since the start of this campaign, myself and many other candidates have had to be mindful of our own safety and the safety of our campaign teams… This has a very real effect on democracy and MPs should be able to meet with and talk to all of their constituents, particularly during an election period.”
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This Writer was hesitant to comment because I know Ms Duffield has a chequered past – she has done questionable things, and I saw that residents of the Canterbury constituency were unhappy with her for withdrawing.
But it seems there was some substance to what she said. See the context note appended to this X post:
Now it seems she is being joined in her boycott of hustings events by other Labour candidates – and this time there seems to be no readily-apparent justification:
This is anecdotal, of course – it may not be true for all Labour candidates.
But the fact that people are commenting on it suggests that it deserves investigation.
“Labour aren’t doing hustings all over the country, they are doing pledges. Their manifesto said so little of note. Looks like they aren’t really doing democracy when they think they might be asked to commit or explain….” tweeted Rupert George on X.
And Marc Lungley suggested a possible sensible alternative: “Why not do it online it would be very easy to set something up. He’d be totally safe, it does seem a lot of the Labour PPCs seem to be a frit. The big debate I’d like to see is not Starmer/Sunak but @Keir_Starmer /@andrewfeinstein but the Labour Right will never allow that.”
Andrew Feinstein has commented several times on Keir Starmer’s reluctance to take part in any political debate with him (they are rivals for the Holborn & St Pancras Parliamentary seat).
Put it all together and This Writer can only support the following conclusion, as espoused by Rupert George: “Labour aren’t doing hustings all over the country, they are doing pledges. Their manifesto said so little of note. Looks like they aren’t really doing democracy when they think they might be asked to commit or explain.”
Would anybody from the Labour Party like to tell us what’s going on?
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The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
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Why are Labour election candidates ducking democracy by avoiding hustings?
It seems Rosie Duffield isn’t the only one, so we need to ask: why are Labour election candidates ducking democracy by avoiding hustings?
Ms Duffield cancelled all her planned appearances at any hustings events last week. Her statement declared:
“Sadly the actions of a few fixated individuals have now made my attendance impossible. The constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation from certain people – having built up over a number of years and being pursued with a new vigour during this election – is now affecting my sense of security and wellbeing.
“Since the start of this campaign, myself and many other candidates have had to be mindful of our own safety and the safety of our campaign teams… This has a very real effect on democracy and MPs should be able to meet with and talk to all of their constituents, particularly during an election period.”
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
This Writer was hesitant to comment because I know Ms Duffield has a chequered past – she has done questionable things, and I saw that residents of the Canterbury constituency were unhappy with her for withdrawing.
But it seems there was some substance to what she said. See the context note appended to this X post:
Now it seems she is being joined in her boycott of hustings events by other Labour candidates – and this time there seems to be no readily-apparent justification:
This is anecdotal, of course – it may not be true for all Labour candidates.
But the fact that people are commenting on it suggests that it deserves investigation.
“Labour aren’t doing hustings all over the country, they are doing pledges. Their manifesto said so little of note. Looks like they aren’t really doing democracy when they think they might be asked to commit or explain….” tweeted Rupert George on X.
And Marc Lungley suggested a possible sensible alternative: “Why not do it online it would be very easy to set something up. He’d be totally safe, it does seem a lot of the Labour PPCs seem to be a frit. The big debate I’d like to see is not Starmer/Sunak but @Keir_Starmer /@andrewfeinstein but the Labour Right will never allow that.”
Andrew Feinstein has commented several times on Keir Starmer’s reluctance to take part in any political debate with him (they are rivals for the Holborn & St Pancras Parliamentary seat).
Put it all together and This Writer can only support the following conclusion, as espoused by Rupert George: “Labour aren’t doing hustings all over the country, they are doing pledges. Their manifesto said so little of note. Looks like they aren’t really doing democracy when they think they might be asked to commit or explain.”
Would anybody from the Labour Party like to tell us what’s going on?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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