Labour ballot box 'tampered with'

[T_i_B]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8005377.stm

The Labour Party has called off a hustings to choose a parliamentary candidate after discovering a ballot box had apparently been tampered with.

The contest in the Erith and Thamesmead constituency in south east London had already provoked controversy when it was taken over by the central party.

That led to complaints that non-local candidates were being favoured.

Sitting MP John Austin, who is retiring, has previously lodged a formal complaint with Ray Collins, the party's general secretary, over alleged rule breaches by campaigners encouraging local members to sign up for postal votes.

[Frau Schmidt]

1. Rotten from top to bottom

[non sociopath skin]

2. Cross-fertilization?

http://freebritannia.6.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=11981

The Skin

[Frau Schmidt]

3. More Erith & Thamesmead shocks

Labourhome has learned that the E&T Ballot Box with the broken seal was in fact being stored in a cupboard at Labour's Victoria Street HQ at the time.
Furthermore, the ballot papers inside were torn up.

With both an active, high-level, Georgia Gould campaign and an active Unite campaign led by Charlie Whelan, operating against Gould, it will be almost impossible to nail down a likely culprit for this vandalism.

However, whoever committed this act may yet have done the party a favour as tonight's now cancelled selection was almost guaranteed to end up in controversy or even court.

With this selection, we have seen a microcosm of the blairite/brownite rivalries of old. This act of interference could yet be found to be the work of an activist simply upset by the operation of this whole selection.

http://www.labourhome.org/story/2009/4/18/44759/5764

[Liberal Elitist]

4. Getting more like Zimbabwe by the day...

"Ballot Box with the broken seal was in fact being stored in a cupboard at Labour's Victoria Street HQ at the time. Furthermore, the ballot papers inside were torn up."

Police accidentally kill someone, dodgy pathologist tries to cover it up

Law making taking photos of police illegal

Tourists forced to delete photos of tube stations from their cameras.

Opposition MP arrested and office searched, told by police to expect Life if he's convicted


Much as I hate the fucking Tories, I think I'm going to have to vote for them next time because this lot aren't worthy of the name Labour.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Like Zimbabwe? That's OTT!

And why vote for the fucking Tories as you rightly call them? There are other alternatives: Green; LibDem; etc.

I haven't voted for either Labour or Tories since the early 90s.

Or are you yet another incarnation of Bulldog/Albus/etc.?

[non sociopath skin]

6. An interesting thought. That would make three of him at present ...

... though a Tory Loyalist like him wouldn't be dishonest enough to pretend to be a "floating voter," I hope ...

The Skin

[T_i_B]

7. I don't think that one is Bulldog

The problem is, with the government in such a mucking fuddle people are going to be looking to cast their votes elsewhere, even if the Tories are little better (if not worse).

Mind you, the candidate selection issue is not a new one. A number of people in my family left Labour in the 1950's due to a parlientary candidate being parachuted in over somebody local, disgusted over the behaviour of those parachuting said candidate in.

And the problem goes beyond Erith and Thamesmead. The selection for Calder Valley is turnbing pretty nasty too.

http://grimmerupnorth.blogspot.com/2009/04/dirty-game.html

[fedsron2us]

8. The problem is that the rot in British politics runs across all the major parties

Labour are just grabbing the headlines at the moment but if you look beneath the surface you will find the Tories are still squabbling over the same issues that divided them in 1997. Moreover, if the shennanigans about the de-selection of County council candidates in the South Coast is anything to go by they have their own issues over ballot fixing to worry about.

[non sociopath skin]

9. Don't know a lot about that, Feds.

Any chance of a link?

The Skin

[T_i_B]

10. Tessa Jowell 'offered Olympic cash in bid to get Georgia Gould seat in parliament'

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1173566/Tessa-Jowell-offered-Olympic-cash-bid-family-friend-seat-parliament.html

Labour was plunged into a fresh storm last night after a leaked email suggested that Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell promised money from the 2012 Games in exchange for the selection of a family friend as a General Election candidate.

Miss Jowell is accused of trying to 'bribe' party members in the Erith and Thamesmead constituency by telling them that if they selected Georgia Gould, the area would be in a good position to benefit from the £9billion Olympics budget which she controls.

In an email, written the day after the April 7 meeting, Miss Gould - the 22-year-old daughter of Tony Blair's poll guru Lord Gould - wrote: 'I hosted a great meeting last night for Tessa Jowell, the Minister for the Olympics. Tessa spoke with real passion about the opportunities for investment that will result from the Olympics.

Miss Jowell is one of several senior Labour figures connected to the Gould family who have supported Miss Gould's bid to win selection to the safe seat in a deprived part of South-East London, including Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell. The contest has been dogged by a bitter dispute within the party, with accusations of attempted vote-rigging and claims that Miss Gould is exploiting her powerful political connections to secure victory over local candidates.

[LeftishBrit]

11. I wouldn't trust the Mail on such issues..

not that I trust New Labour either; but the RW press is even worse.