IN THE final days before the local election this year, whilst the Conservatives were too busy threatening members of the public with legal action through the media, Labour were turning up the gas on the residents of Queens Park in pursuit of electoral support.
Their hard-hitting ‘vote Labour or die’ campaign saw residents told that they had just 15 hours to save their homes, therefore their lives, and the only way this could be done would be to vote for Simon Blackburn and Gary Coleman.
Quite ironic, really, that less than 6 months after making these veiled threats, Labour are set to do exactly what they claimed the Tories would, and that is to knock down every single one of these homes.
The leaflet campaign was masterminded and promoted by a man named Ben Singleton, the campaign manager for Labour who posts on this site but told us that he wasn’t a member of the Labour Party. Ben has a degree in Politics from Lancaster and a masters in Trade Union Studies from Ruskin College, Oxford. Obviously this came in handy when coming up with ways to manipulate the people of Queens Park through aggressive propaganda.
Following the inevitable election win by Labour, a triumphant Singleton took to the internet to tell the socialist world of his achievement, penning an article titled ‘Lessons on how to beat the Tories’. It’s interesting to note that nowhere in this article does it say that putting a gun to the head of the residents is the best way of getting them to vote for you.
But this is what Labour do; they cultivate and maintain the lowest common denominator. Everything these people have is provided by the state, so like a pack of wolves hungry for political gains Labour reel out the same old rhetoric: if you don’t vote Labour, everything you’ve got in your life will be taken away so you better fucking vote for us. It’s the same hold that Labour have over public sector workers.
People are expendable though. Once they’ve voted, nobody cares about them any more. After receiving the votes of the Brunswick ward residents, within only 6 weeks Blackpool’s Labour council had gone back on their promises and were consulting on demolition. As we know all too well with this council, once they consult on something, it’s as good as a done deal already.
Some Labour supporters might point to the ballot which occurred at Queens Park and claim that the residents are in support of demolition, but on the Queens Park Residents Association’s own website they admit that the turnout for the ballot was so low that they don’t even have 20% of residents in support of this option.
Just goes to show, again, that Labour are not the Residents Party.
They’ve robbed you? I presume by that they mean they haven’t taken money off others to spend on you. And that the Labour government from 1997-2010 and the numerous Labour councils had no responsibility to look after them either? Oh no they don’t they mean only the last 4 years which was a Conservative council. But hang on – as a homeowner which I know a lot of you will be too, do you replace your windows, bathrooms, kitchens and security system every 4 years? I know I most certainly don’t. So why should this be the case for those funded by the taxpayer?
Oh – but now they’re in power they agree and aren’t going to do it. Because it doesn’t matter about keeping your promises – you’ve just to criticise everyone else to get in, then do exactly the same. Because it’s all about power and looking after yourself. Blackpool and it’s people aren’t important at all.
My sentiments exactly, it’s a disgrace that some people think they deserve an affluent lifestyle on the taxpayer.
And before anyone mentions MPs, I tend to agree, but they do make some veiled attempt at doing something called a ‘job’ (albeit mixed in with first class jollies, many thousands of pounds of expenses, creating employment for ‘friends’, and so on).
I think labour have bought the future votes of the Queens park residents by offering them £4700 compensation which after all is tax payers money, no doubt they will be offering them a better standard of accommodation,with new kitchens,bathrooms, latest double glazing and newly decorated and then to top it all a subsidised rent which they would not achieve in the private sector. I know there is nothing they could do about this payment as it is mandatory as the council tenants have more protection than they would be offered in the private sector.
But perhaps the government and council should learn from the private sector when it comes to the rental market,I offer my tenants Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement for 6 months, then if they are a good tenant I extend it to 12 months at a time, that way I can always serve them notice without having to pay compensation if I require the property back, although one still needs to seek an order from the court before you can evict someone if they prove to be difficult. But at least I have control, perhaps the council should treat all new lettings the same.
I am defending Paul Maynard on his first class jaunts Phil, but I recently bought a train ticket from London to Blackpool through Trainline website and it was cheaper to travel first class than an ordinary ticket and this is on Friday the 23rd December which I would have thought would have been peak, it cost £138.00 for two passengers against £154.00 for ordinary class.
I seem to remember Simon Blackburn and company saying in there manifesto that they will get Blackpool moving again,obviously to buy votes, it is becoming apparent that they have lied to us as nothing has happened to get Blackpool moving again, I have lost count of how many hours of my time have been wasted this year stuck in traffic jams in Blackpool.
I have numerous complaints from customers about the state of the road layout in Blackpool, seems like the same council officers are running Blackpool as they seem to be able to pull the wool over the eyes of the present councillors just like they did over the previous lot, says a lot about the standard of councillor we have in Blackpool.
Think I need to get active again next year if things don’t improve as my patience is running out with the lack of progress. It seems like Labour are all for looking after the have nots and fuck everyone else who is working bloody hard to pay for there own improvements and being hit with additional taxes to help the ones who think that they are owed a living from the rest of us. Feel better now I have got that off my chest.
On a slightly different note someone informed me today that the owners of the Hounds Hill are in receivership and that the council are thinking of purchasing it, don’t know how true this is but it came from a respected member of the business community. I have not had time to look into it, so it could be a load of dribble.
The thing that really causes resentment is homeowners not being able to do basic repairs on their property due to lack of income seeing next door bought by a housing association and done up to a standard way above that of any other house in the street and the family moved in having two cars, a large dog and every modern convenience you could dream of. No-one wants people to be made to live in cramped hovels – we’d just like to only fund a living standard that is comparable to the general population and no better.
Dave its £75 return from Preston to London standard class. I think you were ripped off.
John,it was not when I was checking, tried the Virgin train site first and then train line,the cheapest was £138.00 which works out at £69.00 each and that was for a first class ticket, maybe if I left it later I may have been able to secure a cheaper ticket, but did not want to risk not having a seat for the journey home as I envisage a lot will be leaving London that day, I might add that this is a single journey from Heathrow Airport to Blackpool North.
Went to London to try and get audience with Ministry of Justice. £23.80p return Preston, Virgin Trains. £20 a nights bed in YHA, Euston Road. Paid for it all myself, not another’s expenses.
Just checked my email receipts from Virgin! The figures are exact.
Maybe they’ll be getting a £5m loan.. you never know! Could be time for another leaflet if so!
So Labour say the Cons will demolish the flats if they won and they wouldn’t. Then all of a sudden they say they will, seems like the officers running the shop again not the councillors. And whos in charge of the officers ? That would be the chief executive, the same CE who was boss of BCH, a housing company, coincidence perhaps ?
So who appointed the chief exec, was it the councillors who read the applications and carried out the interviews, or was it other council officers who made the recommendation and the councillors who blindly rubber stamped the application with little or no input in the recruitment process. As I’ve said before how many applicants for the post were there and what qualifications/experience did they have ?
Who stands to benefit the most from the demolition of the flats and building of new homes, which of course will be managed by BCH, the council, the residents or, hmm let me think BCH whos former boss is now the chief exec ? Then again BCH is after all a council company, albeit an arms length one, hidden agenda or another amazing coincidence ?
Totally agree that this is an officer issue, as the wheels of demolition were in motion well before the election. Labour knew this as well as anyone.
The issue is that based on the above leaflet, Labour misled the residents in order to secure votes. It’s a classic example of politicians saying one thing and doing another.
I don’t have an issue with the demolition though, it does seem to be a waste to put 5k bathrooms and 5k kitchens into these one and two-bed flats, because fundamentally they’ll still be very old, out of date properties that don’t really service the market they’re aimed at.
I left Queens Park when I was 15, I remember some good people who lived there. Miss Miller and Dave Ferguson spring to mind. One (although on a small pension) would always seem to make too much dinner on Fridays and Saturdays so she always took some round to two children who lived three doors down when the kids mother went out drinking and picking up strangers, she knew full well they hadn’t been fed anything decent that day. The other would quite happily take them in to his house after school because their mother wasn’t back from work and she had left the door locked. I say all the above because I am not ashamed of where I was dragged up (after all its not where you begin but where you end) and even leaving the place and moving in with my brother meant I left school with no CSEs or O levels it is still one of the best decisions I have ever made, I say it because there are plenty of people in Queens who are good and decent but it was a shit whole when I lived there and I am told it is worse now. If the council does nothing else in their term of office bit rip it down and build decent accommodation that will keep the decent tenets warn and safe then in my eyes their term of office would have been a success.
There are good people everywhere but none of what you say is exclusive to Queens Park.
You also ignore that Labour promised to save these properties knowing full well that demolition was inevitable. The Queens Park residents were misled by the aggressive Labour rhetoric, which you can understand because they didn’t want their homes to be taken away. The mistake they made was believing Simon Blackburn and Gary Coleman’s leaflet. Believing that Labour would be different to the Tories on this issue.
Labour promised that this wouldn’t happen. They do not have a mandate from the residents of Queens Park. But they’re knocking them down anyway.
Secondly the local media spin from the “residents” is all pro-demolition because the residents group is essentially a grass-roots Labour Party cell. You will have noticed that no Labour councillors have said a dickie bird in the media about it, all we have seen is Gwen King, Simon Blackburn’s big mate and wannabe Brunswick councillor.
And finally you know full well that had the Tories won the election, Labour would be campaigning like mad against demolition and you yourself would probably be coming out with reasons that they should not knock it down. Simon Blackburn himself referred to demolition as “a barmy plan”, but that was before he was council leader.
Funny that.
I am not defending Politicians lying or being two faced or saying one thing and meaning another. All I was saying no matter how this is going to happen it’s a bloody good thing.
“you yourself would probably be coming out with reasons that they should not knock it down” does show you no nothing about me.
The residents don’t agree though john, by their own admission the QP Labour Party don’t even have 20% of residents in support. Should they not have a say? Isn’t that what socialism is all about?
I don’t know anything about you john, but what I do know is that your ideals are left of centre!
I should add that I personally fully support demolition, regardless of which colour council is doing it.
My fiance, myself and my daughter did a shop at Farmfoods near those flats. Talk about chavtown. We had never seen so many scallies, bag-heads and drunken chavs under one roof at the same time in our lives. My daughter, who is thirteen, was frightened to death and we were even worse. Some areas of where we live in Fleetwood are akin to the Bronx but Farmfoods was another ball-game. I even heard swear words at the check-out that would make Gordom Ramsey blush. Most of them already had a wad of cash anyway without the extra 4k. If they are an example of the inhabitants of those flats over 4k each will increase the disorder and the crime rate in that and the wider area exponentially. Another duplicitous idea in action from Labour!
When they pull the high slum compound down, I will attempt to hand back the £248 they gave for my great grandma’s property as the council never fulfilled their part of the contract, to build decent homes for decent people. They built slum boxes and put in slum dwellers, all too many from other boroughs and cities.
I’ve lived and worked all over the world, and it is people who turn property into slums. Even the beggar thieves of Romania built decent houses for themselves, with your’s and mine taxes.
The social experiment of universal equality has failed dismally. It has tended to pull everyone down into the sewer with the slum dwellers, for which I feel very sorry for the few decent tenants forced to live in the cesspit. In the USA they started in 1929 and invested countless billions to relieve the burden on the 4% of the populace proved to be incapable of work. A half century later it was concluded that the experiment was an absolute failure. So it will be with the social experiment in the “Holy City”. The only one to “prosper” will be the council fatcats, bureaucrats and receivers of brown envelopes.