Forum Topic

Remainers in Acton need to vote Labour

I have received several leaflets and letters from the LibDems saying that Acton Ealing is a battle between Labour and the LibDems with the Tories in third place. They seem to be basing this on some sort of estimate based on the Euro elections. This is of course nonsense! The Euro election results have never followed through into the General Election. The fact is that this is a Tory - Labour battle. The Conservatives held the seat under Angie Bray from 2010 to 2015. Labour then won it by only a few hundred votes in 2015 and then by a bigger margin in 2017. Under our voting system, the LibDems and the Greens have no hope. All the tactical websites are agreed - to have a chance of stopping Remain here people need to vote Labour who have promised a referendum. A vote for the LibDems may result in a win for the Tories who guarantee Brexit on 31st January and then we will most likely have a full no deal exit from the transitional arrangements in December 2020 (this is why the hard brexiteers are backing Boris's deal - they know that there is 0% chance of a trade deal being done in one year, so they will end up getting the no deal they want.The only way to stop this is in Ealing Acton to vote Labour not LibDem).

Patrick Gray ● 2323d17 Comments

You say ‘OUR modelling’What company are you working for?

Dee Cook ● 2312d

Well I could write about fifteen examples of planning fiascos, from The Oaks shopping centre - an opportunity to revive an ailing high street, ruined by accepting a plan that dumped the ugliest gated community in Britain on top of a soviet era shopping mall....all the way through to Friary Park and the lessons not learnt in building high rises with their profound negative affects on communities. The travesty of Goldsmiths Arms. Shall we look at five wasted years with The Old Library standing empty. Etc..etc...etc...

Charlie Mawer ● 2312d

The Economist tries to see through the fog of uncertainty:"Voters face a stark choice between Boris Johnson, whose Tories promise a hard Brexit, and Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour Party plans to “rewrite the rules of the economy” along radical socialist lines. Mr Johnson runs the most unpopular new government on record; Mr Corbyn is the most unpopular leader of the opposition. That leaves a low bar for the Liberal Democrats and, for all their faults, they clear it. Their economic approach is the most sensible; on climate change and social policy they strike the best balance between ambition and realism. Yet they will not win. So why back them? The principled reason is that the Lib Dems are closest to the liberalism on which this newspaper was founded. But there is a practical reason, too. Voters worry that backing the Lib Dems plays into Mr Corbyn’s hands. However, our modelling suggests that votes and seats would come from both the main parties. A Lib Dem surge would be the best way to restrain whoever ends up in Downing Street."

Paul Cronshaw ● 2312d

I'm afraid for me its hold your nose time. The political political debate is atrocious on all sides - with anti-semitism, islamophobia and outright lying almost normalised. I like none of the parties - but will vote tactically to try and find the least worst option.

Richard Grange ● 2315d

Wilson was not neutral in the 1975 referendum. He vigorously campaign for a Yes vote, although he suspended Cabinet collective responsibility to allow those in his government opposed to campaign for a No vote. So not like Corbyn at all.

Vlod Barchuk ● 2315d

Or a big switch from Labour to the Lib Dems could swing it for the Lib Dems.

Susan Kelly ● 2316d

This is borne out by the Yougov MRP poll which has estimates on a seat by seat basis. They predict for Ealing Central and Acton, Labour 49% Conservative 31% LibDem 15% Brexit 3% Green 3%. It's looking safe for Labour but a big switch from Labour to the LibDems could swing it for the Tories! In the 2010 election all 3 got around 30% with the Conservatives just squeezing home

Patrick Gray ● 2316d

What "appalling mismanagement" by the Council are you referring to? Given the huge reduction in central government grants to councils since 2010 (the biggest were those imposed by the LibDem supported Coalition between 2010 and 2015), the council has done a valiant job in maintaining local services. If Nick Clegg and co had done their job instead of rolling over and letting the Tories call all the shots, the council would not have had such a difficult task and local services and community groups would not have come under such pressure.

Patrick Gray ● 2316d

That's all very well, but the fact is that a vote for the Libdems in this constituency is a wasted vote. The voting system means you have to choose the lesser of two evils. For remainers that means voting Labour who have promised a referendum. As for Jeremy Corbyn sitting on the fence, it is perfectly reasonable for him to stay neutral (cf Harold Wilson in 1975 who stayed out of the campaign and allowed cabinet ministers to vote for and against as they wished)

Patrick Gray ● 2316d

@ Charlie Mawer: well stated!Our postal ballots have arrived and desperate to find something positive about this particular general election, let's say we are fortunate to live in an open democracy with the possibility (in Acton) of voting for one of five parties.

Paul Cronshaw ● 2321d

Exactly. This is pretty desperate stuff to try and undermine the Lib Dems here. Have confidence in your own party and your own parties leadership to make a case for you. This "well we are the best of the worst cases" effort is so thin. Rupa on the doorstep saying "vote labour because Corbyn will soon be gone..oh and you need moderates like me to tame him" - also goes in this bucket. Momentum have a stranglehold on Labour so if Corbyn goes, there is still no home for moderate liberals. Equally while this is a national election, for me to put a cross in a Labour box given the appalling mis-management by the council - particularly in Acton - would appear like tacit approval. A vote for parties other than Labour and Conservatives should always be a valid option and don't let anyone browbeat you out of it.

Charlie Mawer ● 2321d

Any vote for Labour is going to be claimed by its leadership as support for its economic policies and as indifference to its racism.

Susan Kelly ● 2321d

It's got to be Rupa (Labour) - she is a remainer - she has voted remain in all the partimentary votes or abstained when appropriate. If you vote Lib, in this constituency you might as well vote for the Con artists because it is going to take votes away from Rupa, and then you get a Con pro-Brexit MP.Wake up! You might not like Labour, but I trust the fab Rups to make the right decisions - as she has done in the past. Sometimes we have vote tactically and trust in a person rather than a party leader.

Urs Esser ● 2322d

The LibDem's universally misleading bar charts are based on data from the EU election, and Prof Hanretty, who is quoted as the source for this data, is on record as saying 'it tells us almost nothing about future general elections'.  The chart also misses out a column for the Brexit Party, which would probably tower over everyone else!

Peter Evans ● 2322d

To discuss all this and more, come to the hustings on Thursday evening - 7.30pm at St Mary's church hall (opposite Morrisons). All the candidates will be there.

Chris Hurley ● 2322d

What a toxic political world we live right now. We are being told and advised who NOT to vote for. We're going to vote for a lesser evil and a party that'll wreak less chaos.Today, Heseltine, a Tory grandee, advises people not to vote for the Conservatives.The Chief Rabbi, in an unprecedented move during an election, denounces the Labour party under Corbyn for being anti-semitic. This last shocking intervention has been supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury.So, Heseltine advises Tories to vote for independent ex-Conservatives and Lib Dem!Labour, under Corbyn, has been too equivocal about Brexit and only now we know he will take a position by sitting on the fence. The Lib Dems have been clear all along: they do not, have not and will not support Brexit.

Paul Cronshaw ● 2322d

Many Remainers think that a Corbyn government would be as big a disaster as Brexit and will not vote for it.

Susan Kelly ● 2322d