The day after the elections I deliver wages to a credit union member on North Bransholme. They are living in an ex Council house sold to them by someone who made a killing buying cheap off the Council and selling higher to, as it turns out, a shit of a ‘private landlord’. The Council charges about £60 per week for houses this size. They are paying £85 per week and the woman who appears to act as the agent for the two owners is demanding £100 per week all of a sudden. These people survive on minimum wage (thanks Tony & Gordon) cleaning jobs; these people have given up on housing benefit because it’s just too complicated and hassling and catches you out and winds you up in debt (thanks Tony & Gordon). This is why someone invented socialism; this is why someone invented social housing; this is evidence that Blair world is some other world; this is why closing HIHAC (housing aid centre) is sacrilege; these are people for whom £200 a year in school meals charges means something; these were children whose future health and well being would have been improved; this is why Liberal Democrat–family–monopoly in Hull is a damaging game played by lazy cynics and babies in the face of serious deprivation.
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- Andy Dorton
- I'm in the middle; age wise, class wise. I'm of a type, married with two kids; got a stable job; came to University here and stayed; seemingly in continuing rebellion against Dad's politics. I'm on the edge... as far out as you can can get and still be in it....North Bransholme in Hull. I have an a-typical employer, the Church of England.... and a one-off job around here 'Social Responsibility Officer'. My self-defense is: I've driven knackered Alfa (and other) 'sports cars' for over half my life; it's not a mid life crisis. The final straw impetus for starting this blogging thing is that I've been Labour's candidate in Avenue Ward (Hull) for the past few elections and I hope this blog might enable me to say things to others that leaflets and door knocking don't allow. This blog is mentioned on leaflets published as part of my campaigning, and gives you a means of contacting me. So, to be clear, this site is promoted by Andrew Dorton on behalf of himself at 16 Harlech Close, North Bransholme, Hull HU7 5DB. Alternatively, please post a comment on the site!
2 comments:
I'm not intending to have a dig here necessarily, but there are a few questions I'd like to ask.
1) Are you aware that school meals are means tested and many families who can not afford them already qualify for free meals anyway?
2) If HIHAC is sacrilege, why has one of Hull's Labour MPs put the wheels in motion for it possibly being replaced and why have the Labour activists within the CAB betrayed HIHAC to try and get themselves a better deal?
3) Commiserations on your election result, but why, if you live in North Bransholme and are concerned about the lives that people there are forced to lead, do you not stand for election there?
4) If you are trying to make serious points, why do you have to destroy your own arguments by resorting to silly personal attacks on your opponents? If you honestly believe that people in political parties other than your own care nothing for the people they represent and are in some way evil and self serving, then you are a very sad man.
Thank you.
A voter, Clumber Street
Hopefully Andy will respond to the Clumber Street comment above but in the meantime. Those a few pence above benefit level do not qualify for free school meals, it doesn't mean they're rich, the cut-off level is very arbitrary and if your real aim is to help the kids then it should be irrelevant to whether they are properly fed or not.
The CLAC issue is complex but its stupid to have a go at Diana Johnson when she's played a big part in bringing a significant extra amount of money into Hull for free legal help and advice.
Any citizen of Hull can stand anywhere in Hull, some of us have a slightly less parochial outlook than this and in any case since Cllr. Woods lives in Boothferry should he stand down, or is the fact that Boothferry's maybe a bit posher than N. Bransholme the key factor here?
Andy doesn't make attacks on people because of their personalities in my experience but if a Councillor does something wrong they merit criticism for that, for example maybe abusing their position and Council money to communicate with all their residents (voters) just hours before the election's called.
John Robinson may very well care about Hull he just doesn't care about it enough in the right way. Watching him dive into the free buffet at the end of a council event yesterday which he hadn't actually attended was most instructive. Do as I say not as I do maybe, which brings us four square back to free school meals.
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