Save the Labour Party, vote for Fawzi Ibrahim at the Brent East By-election
Dear Labour Party member,
I can very well understand that being a member of the Labour party you would want to support the Labour candidate at the forthcoming Brent East by-election. You may have spent years building and working for the party and it would go against the grain not to vote Labour.
Under normal circumstances, I would not argue with you. But in Blairite Britain, is it not business as usual. Never before has a government been caught cheating and lying as extensively as has Tony Blair's government. We have been misled into going to war with Iraq. The level of duplicity is just beginning to surface with the Hutton enquiry on the tragic death of Dr. Kelly. Billions that could have been spent on health, education, transport, fighting crime and decent housing have been wasted killing thousands of Iraqis and risking the lives of British soldiers. We cannot pretend it has not happened or that it would not happen again.
Blair's government is imploding in front of our eyes. This is not good for Britain or its people, not to mention the Labour Party. We must restore dignity, integrity and probity to government.
The Labour candidate, Robert Evans is an outsider. He never lived in Brent and has little knowledge of our needs. He was parachuted in because he is a Blairite who, in spite of his protestations, failed to vigorously oppose the war.
A vote for Evans at the by-election would give Tony Blair a pat on the back when in reality he should be given a smack.
A vote for Evans would in effect be a vote of confidence in Tony Blair. It will signal the beginning of the terminal decline of the Labour Party which is shedding members by the hundreds every month. For the sake of the Labour Party, to save your Party, you must not vote Evans at the by-election.
Of course there is no question of voting for the obnoxious Tory or the opportunist Lib Dem candidates and abstention would be an abdication of responsibility. No, the only viable option is to vote for the anti-war pro public services candidate who embodies the Labour values that Tony Blair is so keen to disavow.
Let's use the opportunity of a by-election, and it is a by-election and not a General Election, to give the strongest message to Tony Blair and the government to mend their way.
It is time to put an end to arrogance, smugness and spin. Failing to do this at this time would surely allow the Tories to creep in at the next General Election.
I am a national officer of the lecturers' union NATFHE and have lived and worked in Brent East for over 33 years. I am standing as an independent with no backing from any party or any organisation. I carry no baggage, only deep anxiety and distrust of the manner in which Tony Blair is leading our country. I have the experience and ability to represent the people of Brent East in Parliament.