I'm constantly surprised and dismayed by how many people won't vote Green because we won't win. It seems to me to be a self fulfilling prophecy, that if everyone who said that did vote Green we'd probably win.

Knocking on doors yesterday in Godington Park the general mood seemed to be that no-one's decided how to vote, except most people have already ruled out Conservative and Labour! So it would seem that the Green Party's challenge is to get our policies out there, as there are still some that think our one policy is "Save the trees, man!"
That's not our only policy...

The Green Party manifesto is out this week, and I'm in YourAshford this Wednesday, but many of our policies have already been voted on. In a "Blind Election", where people vote online for the policies without knowing which party they come from, the Green Party wins hands down! The simple message: The Green Party have the best policies, and that is what people should be voting on.

It's also interesting to note that we are the furthest left party available, the BNP are the rightest, and you can trace the popularity from left to right:


I was also disappointed to hear that Chris Took had to put up with heckling and abuse from the Conservatives and UKIP during his Q&A session in town yesterday. We turned up out of curiosity and to say hi, but we did not gatecrash, hijack, heckle or even wear our rosettes. Maybe the right wing parties are less secure with own policies and have to rely on aggressive and frankly childish behaviour. Chris and his campaign officer, Kelly, were very accommodating, and were quite happy to introduce me as the Green candidate, even though it was their day.

No, there will not be a Green/Lib Dem coalition, but that's no reason to not get on.

Conversational gem of the day:

"Good morning, we're representing the Green Party..."

"Yeah? Well you can sod off mate!!"

Fair enough.

CONning themselves?

As I admitted a while ago, I'm not entirely comfortable with numbers, but it occurs to me that the Conservatives wish to cut public spending by sacking lots of people, thus denying these people the right to pay tax and forcing them to claim benefits...am I missing something?

The Greens, on the other hand, want to raise tax and NI, but also raise the National Minimum Wage, so we'll all be better off whilst at the same time rescuing the economy, paying for a state pension of £170 and a Citizens' Income. And, with our Green New Deal, that's one million more of us in work and off benefits.

Now that makes sense!

Junk Shun 10, Eh?

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM ASHFORD GREEN PARTY

REJECT JUNCTION 10A
Steve Campkin, Green Party Candidate for Ashford, rejects the idea of
spending £100 million on Junction 10A. He says:
“None of us ever voted for Ashford’s expansion. As traffic conditions
within and around Ashford worsen due to housing expansion, the best
environmental policy for Ashford is to prevent further greenfield site
house building which will lead to more traffic congestion and air pollution(1).
“Construction of housing planned for areas like Cheeseman’s Green cannot
take place without an additional junction. Good! Ashford Green Party has
long opposed the construction of this new junction, believing that it will
be environmentally very damaging and that resources intended for it are
really needed for health care, schools, and facilities for the elderly and
young people.
“I urge people in the Ashford Borough to write to their General Election
candidates and local councillors opposing spending £100 million on Junction
10a.”

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Campkin on 07964 867589 Contact address:
37 Beecholme Drive, Kennington, Ashford TN24 9AA. Published for Kent
Green Party and promoted by M.Sansom, Gorewell, Old Wives Lees, Chilham,
Kent CT4 8BD.

Notes:
1. Air pollution, mainly from traffic, kills about 24,000 people a
year in the UK and damages the health and quality of life of thousands of
others.

The Budget.

I don't like Budget day, it's got numbers in it, and I don't get on with numbers. So I'll keep it brief.

Listening to Jeremy Vine yesterday we were presented with two points of view: raise taxes or cut public spending. And I couldn't help thinking "What about re-distribution of wealth?"

Both scenarios amount to nothing more than robbing the poor to placate the rich, the very opposite of the Robin Hood Tax Mr. Darling cynically referenced. Why? Because the poor don't fund air-brushed election campaigns!!

So we're faced with cuts to the NHS, privatisation of the post office and a right-royal shafting to pay for it, while the bankers still get their bonuses, more troops are sent to kill/die/both in foreign countries and our redundant and possibly illegal nuclear arsenal is completely re-vamped (£97 Billion).

Because "we must protect the economy, it's suffering, it must be revitalised".

IT'S NOT A SENTIENT BEING!! WILL EVERYONE, PLEASE, STOP WORSHIPING THIS THING LIKE IT'S SOME MONOLITHIC, JEALOUS GOD?

"I am the Economy. Bow down, voter!! You shall suffer, but I am a merciful god, thus you get a choice of how to suffer! Mwa, ha, haaa!!!"

Or there's the Green Party. (Yes, Jeremy, there are more than three parties) Who will raise the national minimum wage, shorten the working week, actually create jobs, raise pensions (£170 pwk, £300 for couples) scrap Trident, oppose road building, and war, and introduce a real Robin Hood Tax, one that hits the target, saves the day and gets the girl!!

Probably got carried away with the analogy there.

Herne protect us!

With the date of the election still not officially announced the campaigning has already begun.  It looks like we've got six candidates in Ashford (in order of personal preference):

Yours truly, Green Party;

an Independent as yet unconfirmed.

Chris Took, Liberal Democrats;

Chris Clark, Labour;

Damian Green, Conservative;

Paul Andrews, UKIP; 

The BNP are apparently not standing.

Your Ashford will be doing a feature in their Q&A feature over the next few weeks, and I think I'm the first featured.  It's out on Wednesdays.

And the Green Party General Election Manifesto is almost ready for release.

Ashford Green Party campaigning has been mostly via Facebook and e-mails to specific questions on policies.  So far I've committed to IFAW, Vote Cruelty Free, BUAV, the Woodland Trust, CPRE, Save the Children, NSPCC and was the first candidate in the country to respond to PAD.

I've yet to respond to others, but have rejected Cancer Research for their stance on animal testing and am ignoring BASC.

"Dear Mr Campkin, will you support shooting?"

"Dear Shooter, I think you're talking to the wrong chap!!"  I was tempted to say poke it up your arse and pull the trigger, but that would be rude.  So I won't.

I fully intend to be out canvassing over the next four to six weeks, so if anyone reading this would like a personal call let us know.

‘No Return to Cruelty’

Press release:

Steven Campkin, Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Ashford,
pledged “no return to cruelty” as he backed an IFAW in Action campaign to
protect the ban on the cruel sport of hunting with dogs.

Five years after the Hunting Act came into force in England and Wales, IFAW in
Action, a part of the global International Fund for Animal Welfare movement, has
published a new report ‘No Return to Cruelty’, and released a three-minute
compilation of video footage showing examples of hunting cruelty before the ban.

The new report and footage were sent to MPs and prospective parliamentary
candidates, urging them to remember the horrific cruelty inflicted on foxes,
deer, hares and mink before the introduction of the Hunting Act and to work to
protect the ban.

Steven said: “Hunting for so called 'sport' is barbaric and repulsive and has no
place in a civilised society. I fully support the hunting ban but would like to
see it better enforced, and would go further and ban any activity that exploits
animals. The Hunting Act was introduced because the majority of the British
public found it abhorrent that animals could be chased and ripped apart for fun.”

Conservative Party leader David Cameron has pledged to allow MPs a free vote on
whether to repeal the Act if he becomes Prime Minister. This is despite the fact
that a return to hunting would be completely out of step with the views of the
majority of the British public, including his own party.

Polling by Ipsos MORI* in September 2009 found strong cross-party support for
maintaining the ban, including almost twice as many intending Conservative
supporters backing the Act as those that want it repealed (62% vs 33%). Overall,
75% of the British public do not want fox hunting to be made legal again.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW in Action, said: “As a nation of animal
lovers, the majority of the British public have long opposed animal cruelty and
do not want the archaic practice of hunting with dogs to return to our
countryside. We urge everyone to visit our website and remember why this vital
ban was introduced.”

To read the No Return to Cruelty report and view the footage visit w where you
can also email your other local parliamentary candidates and ask where they
stand on the issue.

Ends apprx. 740 words

What's the Point?

With the Green Party conference in full swing it's difficult not to feel inspired and aspirational. A fantastic speech from Dr. Caroline Lucas kicked off proceedings, my good friend Stuart Jeffery, standing in Maidstone, was involved with our brand new Green Party health policy, and we've got loads of coverage in national media from radio 4 to the local papers.

Meanwhile I've been sat at home, unable to attend the conference due to work pressures, but answering the first slew of letters from constituents and NGOs. And it was those that reminded me why I got involved with the Green Party in the first place. I was protesting outside the Novartis labs thinking "this is pointless! What we need is representation at the political level."

I was unaware of Caroline Lucas' work in the European Parliament, and Animals Count and the Animal Protection Party didn't exist back then, but I've always believed if you think something needs doing then you're the person for the job so, that evening, I checked out all the political parties for their animal rights policies, to find that only the Green Party actually had one!! (I found out later that the Lib Dems had dropped theirs shortly after the Hunting ban came in, but I don't know how true this is.) So I joined, there and then. Best thing I ever did!

Since then my eyes have been opened to so many other issues that I almost forgot my original reason for joining, but these issues are symptoms of the same problem, and their is only one problem: fear!! And the powers that be feed off and manipulate this fear. Energy deficit, swine flu, terrorism, climate change, etc. Where's the hope, the optimism, the unquenchable fire in the human soul?

It's out there. All these e-mails I'm getting: "will you support us?" "what do you think about this?", "what will you do about that?!", they are from people who live in Ashford who care about Ashford, animals, the environment, child poverty, but not in a fearful way, in a way that gets them up and out and doing stuff, holding the powers that be to account, not just sitting there and taking it. People like me!!

The exploitation of animals must stop, we are animals. The rape of Nature must stop: we are a part of nature. The enslavement of the poor, wherever in the world they are, must stop now! For we only behave like this because we are in turn slaves ourselves: slaves to the capitalist system, to advertisers, to the bankers. To our own fears. And to a parliament full of politicians trying to use the system to line their own pockets, because they are also slaves to their own fears. Set them free, bless 'em, vote Green Party. Or, even better, join us! I've got vacancies...

Maybe I'm caught up in the whole "glass is half full" thing that accompanies seeing your team doing well, but that's when we get up and get stuff done. Positive vibes, man!! They work!