Elections Follow

In 1968, the civil rights movement changed the face of politics in Northern Ireland. It sprang up to challenge the discrimination against Catholics — which was rife in housing and employment — and the loaded electoral system that allowed only ratepayers to vote in local elections, while business owners got extra votes.

Many of us in Respect have, like you, always voted Labour in previous general elections. Indeed many of us come from Labour families who have voted Labour for as long as there has been a Labour Party. Some of us have held office in the Labour Party or been Labour candidates.

Police seized fraudulent ballot papers for council elections in Birmingham last year — and then delivered them to the official count, a court heard last week.

Six Labour councillors in the Bordesley Green and Aston wards of Birmingham have been accused of mass vote-rigging in last year’s local elections.

The threat from the fascist British National Party (BNP) has never been greater. They received over 800,000 votes in the European elections and over 90,000 votes in the London elections in 2004, representing the highest ever votes for a fascist party in Britain.

The Left Bloc has just won its best election results ever. We won 6.4 percent of the national ballot and elected eight MPs. That compares with 3 percent of the votes and three MPs at the previous general election of 2002. In fact this time we were only 65 votes away from electing our ninth MP — we hope we can still do it in the recount!

The launch of Labour’s election pledge card has shown just how low the party has sunk in its craven tail-ending of Tory and tabloid racism. The card was originally set to carry five pledges—as in 1997 and 2001. These would broadly cover education, health, the economy, crime and the family—also in line with previous elections. But at the last minute, a sixth pledge was added—"Your country’s borders protected." Labour has promised "ID cards and strict controls that work to combat asylum abuse and illegal immigration".

"Is the prime minister finally emerging from the shadow of Iraq?" asked James Naughtie on Radio Four’s Today Programme on Monday morning. The media briefings pouring out of 10 Downing Street are clamouring in answer: "Yes!"

IRAQI ACTIVISTS have dismissed the idea that the elections held in Iraq are any kind of triumph for George Bush and Tony Blair. "The US should not take any comfort from this result," says Sabah Jawad, secretary of Iraqi Democrats against the Occupation.

There was an item on the news at the weekend where a reporter went out on the streets and read out quotes from Labour on immigration. The reporter asked people, "Which political party said this?" Every single person thought it was the Tories. This is Labour’s strategy on every single issue — welfare, trade unions, war. They’re in the business of winning elections by out-Torying the Tories. But this whole argument on immigration is based on a lie. Every economic study shows that immigrants put far more into the economy in taxes and labour than they take in benefits.

IF IRAQ’S elections had taken place anywhere else, they would have been denounced by the "international community" as hopelessly flawed. If they had happened in Zimbabwe, they would have been cited by the White House as a reason for "regime change" and possible invasion.

GEORGE BUSH and Tony Blair claim the elections in Iraq will usher in the rule of democracy. But we know who will run Iraq even before the results come through—the US is determined to keep control in Iraq.