I would have thought that Roz was in favour of Sun Readers - after all , "It waz the Sun wot won it" for dear Tony

Tony's never been ' dear' to me.

Anyway, I think Piglet should outline 5 reasons why he bothered to join the Labour Party, as that would really make interesting reading...

Roz

I joined the Labour Party because when I lived in East Dulwich my MP there (Tessa Jowell) was excellent and very helpful.

When I moved to Forest Hill my MP is Jim Dowd but as you know he is not interested in helping or campaigning on behalf of constituents.

Anyway I am coming to the hustings tonight and will make my views known loud and clear.

I hope to see you there.

Roz

Just to refresh your memory:

http://www.se23.com/forum-archive/messages/9/630.html

Roz Wrote:

This is the person who refused to represent me in his capacity as MP because I challenged his views on Iraq. The crazy thing is he actually put his verbage into writing.

Indeed but

a) He apologised.
b) He has represented me and my family since.
c) It was 5 years ago.
d) The Iraq war caused a lot of divisions in many areas.
d) He most definitely responded to my correspondence.

So your point is exactly....

The word hypocrisy comes to mind.

If I was your MP I would certainly not represent you!!!!

Nevermind Roz's correspondence with Jim Dowd, what about those BBC articles posted in the archive? The 'punch up' may have been a while ago but these articles seem to say a lot about the culture of bullying in the Labour Party. Sadly, Gordon Brown has only served to reinforce this image in the last couple of days. I turned on the news last night and thought I had stumbled into an episode of 'The Thick of It' !

Ivor, you haven't even mentioned the revelations in Andrew Rawnsleys book! And Margaret Thatcher ran her Cabinet ( and the country) by consensus, did she? Its well known that Gordon is a bit of a bruiser if not in the John Prescott vein, so there's nothing really new here. I'd like to find anyone in a top job who isn't - surely goes with the territory.

Yes the whole thing was surreal yesterday and to be honest from any perspective ( apart from Gordons no doubt) very funny to sit and watch a front door in Rochdale for 45 minutes or so .It was a marketing disaster for Gordon but personally I think he would have been better off not apologising so much afterwards. I doubt if it will do him much harm at this stage as those people who reacted badly to it probably wouldn;t have voted Labour anyway. I'd like to have heard what he said when he realised the mike was still on but thats probably not suitable for broadcast!

Gillian Duffy now appears to be engaging PR firms to represent her. No doubt she'll make some dosh out of this business. Not a bad outcome for her really.

Looking forward to seeing both Piglet and Ivor in action this evening, it should be an interesting discussion!

I am not sure Gillian whatshername is making money from this and I'm not sure even if she did it would make up for being branded a bigot/ becoming a lead on the news when she had no intention of that happening.

The news today said she had to have a minder to go to the hairdressers...

So why hire a PR firm?

To advise her to go to the hairdresser before speaking to any journalists.

Indeed. Very suspicious going to the hairdresser only the day after all that fuss.

Roz wrote:

Didn't Tony Blair and Gordon Brown invite Margaret Thatcher to tea and go on about what a great leader she was? Scary. I have no doubt that she was even more of a 'bruiser' than Gordon Brown but I think most of us who grew up under Thatcher had hoped that New Labour would represent a different kind of politics and a fairer Britain. It is sad that they did not live up to this promise.

I haven't read Andrew Rawnsley's book but I am reading a book by the woman who exposed the MP's expenses scandal. Essential reading for anyone who thinks that there should be less bureacracy and greater transparency in Parliament. Our MP, by the way, has voted strongly against transparency in Parliament.

How did Mrs Duffy's hair appointment go in the end? She didn't go for a blue rinse did she?

I don't have any knowledge of, or feelings about, Jim Dowd (I'm in the Deptford constituency) but did anyone else feel yesterday's 'Bigotgate' was like an episode of 'The Thick of it'?

Especially the bit in the transcripted conversation where Brown thinks 'Sue' was to blame?



Will still be voting for them, though.