Wednesday 19 May 2010

A story in The Sun is being used to stir up racial hatred.

In a story entitled "Three Lions Off My Shirt" The Sun with it's usual talent for misrepresentation has given racists a reason to use the world cup to stir up racial tension.

The metropolitan police department sent a letter out to pubs in the Croydon area giving advice and guidance on tackling trouble during the world cup. Amongst suggestions like using plastic glasses and employing door staff, they suggest "dress code restrictions e.g. no football shirts".

No suggestion of no England shirts, just no football shirts.

No suggestion that it may upset anyone.

Just a suggestion, amongst other suggestions, that you may deter those likely to cause trouble by introducing a dress code.

This is now being used by people with an interest in stirring racial hatred by saying that the suggestion was that the England shirt may cause offence to immigrants.

THIS IS A LIE!

There has never been any suggestion that the England shirt or flag upsets anyone.

DO NOT FALL FOR THESE LIES!

Sunday 16 May 2010

Lib Dem coalition.

I know that amongst my colleagues and also amongst the Conservative party activists there are some concerns about the coalition and what it means to them at the grassroots level.

I would be dishonest if I said that I did not also share some of their concerns. There are real concerns at what this will do to our vote at the next general election.

In the constituencies we fought on the basis that a vote for us would keep the Tories out. With the old "Labour Cannot Win Here" mantra still ringing in their ears, they awake to apparently find that they have a Tory government anyway.

These areas will have some difficult questions to answer next time we go to the polls, not least of which is, why should anyone vote LibDem if all they are going to get is a Tory government anyway.

The answer is staring us in the face...
The answer is in the concessions that the Tories have had to make to form this coalition. The answer is in the policies that we have influenced.

The answer is we do NOT have a Tory government.


We have made progress toward implementing the four key promises of the Liberal Democrats at the last election. We have made progress towards fair taxes, a fair start for every child, fairer politics and a green sustainable economy.

We will not in any coalition get it all our way, but we have delivered on some of our promises.

You do not have a Tory government, you have a Tory LibDem coalition that draws on the policies and principles of both parties.


It is not a total victory, the war has not been won, but the first battle has. We have made progress towards the fairer Britain that we promised.

Our voice is being heard!

And to all of you who may still have doubts it is worth noting that if we are to prove our case for proportional representation then we also have to prove that coalitions work, because under PR this situation will become the norm.

If we want to realise our dream of a truly representative house then we must prove that coalition governments can work.

Friday 7 May 2010

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who supported me, please do not be disheartened, I'm not!

We have increased the LibDem share of the vote and Labour has been pushed into 3rd, we have a good platform upon which to build.

There were 9 candidates that thought, following on from the Sir Peter Viggers duckhouse affair, that they stood a chance of upsetting the applecart and it is clear that only one of us has emerged from this as a real contender to shake the Tory hold on Gosport.

This is not the end of the road, this is the beginning.

We will be back, and the campaign starts now.

If any of you would like to be part of that campaign please let me know.

Once again thank you for your support.

Rob.