iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,813
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Post by iang on Sept 20, 2024 13:51:37 GMT
To be fair, Reform is an effective libertarian party - you don't vote for Reform if you want an MP to solve your problems for you. Anderson pointed out that Farage is yet to set up shop vis-a-vis constituency surgeries. If there's a a risk of a Martin Horwood or Stephen Timms or David Amess type attack, then I would say, why bother putting your staff at risk. MPs are also employers and not one man bands. I don't even canvass on my own - I'm sure I'd want to be 100% certain that I and my staff are safe if I was doing surgeries. Even as Chancellor, I'm seriously considering a bullet proof chancellor mobile so I don't get shot at a la John Paul II or Ronald Reagan. You don't mean Martin Horwood - you are thinking of his predecessor in Cheltenham, Nigel Jones. It was Nigel Jones who was attacked at a surgery (and his assistant, Cllr Andrew Pennington killed). And this presumably wouldn't have been different if it had not been a "walk-in" surgery, as the assailant was somebody Nigel Jones had been dealing with for some time |
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iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,813
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Post by iang on Sept 20, 2024 13:54:56 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? |
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Post by timrollpickering on Sept 20, 2024 14:02:52 GMT
I just wish that anybody who justifies the actions of any councillor/MP/MEP by saying that people knew what they were voting for would extend the same license to all other parties. There is a massive difference with a party whose entire raison d'etre is to tear down the system (or at least our part in it) not make it work and individual elected representatives in conventional parties. And they represented their electorate with the same disdain towards the whole EU system that their electorate held. One of the side effects of PR is that members wind up formally only representing those that voted for them (and those who don't get a member elected don't get any representation) whereas under single member systems the member is there to serve the whole constituency. They managed to get a good number of YouTube hits but beyond that did anyone seriously think a) there would be a majority of MEPs voting to expel the UK (even if it was pitched as "this is the only way to get Farage out of here") and b) that even if such a vote did happen it would make a blinding bit of difference to our membership? The Lib Dems are not known for being terribly democratic when it comes to all things EU. My recollection (and this may go back to the previous incarnation of this forum; the search function isn't always great) is that their MEPs emphasised their work in enhancing various directives whereas other mainstream MEPs I heard from emphasised working to weaken them to better serve the national interest. I try to remember when the Lib Dems were actually standing for the EU Parliament on an explicit manifesto of working for Brussels's interests not the UK's. In 2014 they ran on supporting membership and got one MEP, in 2019 they ran on stopping Brexit through a neverendum. Before that my distant memory of generic Lib Dem positions. |
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Post by LDCaerdydd on Sept 20, 2024 14:08:56 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? MPs will still be inundated when a large charity runs a campaign or when some idiot creates a chnage.org petition. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 20, 2024 15:03:39 GMT
Change.org petitions and similar aren't casework, the most effort they require is drafting a standard response and sending it to anybody who signs the petition.
Actual casework is, as the name indicates, specific to the case and hence bespoke.
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Post by matureleft on Sept 20, 2024 15:12:07 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? Bear in mind my experience ended in 2010. Email traffic was fairly heavy then but will have multiplied. And many charities or lobbying groups had used postcards before that. Constituents didn’t have to take too much trouble to send a card or a standard email. The volume of campaign mail was pretty large (see below) then but could mostly be routinised and most MPs tended to have standard answers. My approach was a little different. I would often reply giving my answer but then asking why they were interested and whether they had some personal experience to bring to bear. Normally this was ignored but it sometimes led to useful correspondence that taught me something. I seem to recall that in a typical year I’d have around 2500 contacts on a wide variety of subjects. Casework would be the wrong word in a proportion - the person wanted to express a view on something or quote a newspaper to me. They didn’t want or need help. Genuine casework came in clumps. Initially the dreadful CSA was a heavy claim and successor arrangements were only a bit better. The appalling implementation of tax credits generated huge amounts of work. And, as a former mining area, coal damages claims (again abysmally managed) occupied a lot of time. Outside periods preceding elections when, as you say, campaign cards and emails were common, that correspondence perhaps amounted to 5-10 % of mail but that may be more now. |
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Clacton
Sept 20, 2024 17:17:59 GMT
via mobile
Post by LDCaerdydd on Sept 20, 2024 17:17:59 GMT
Change.org petitions and similar aren't casework, the most effort they require is drafting a standard response and sending it to anybody who signs the petition. Actual casework is, as the name indicates, specific to the case and hence bespoke. I’m fully aware of what casework is. I was responding to a query about the amount of correspondence an MP is likely to receive now there isn’t a live election campaign on. Mass email campaigns will have slowed down since 4th July but will continue year round especially when contentious issues such as assisted dying etc come up. |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Sept 20, 2024 17:40:45 GMT
Do you have any examples of him saying he would hold surgeries? If not why would anybody assume that he would? And yes they knew what they were voting for. Farage is one of the most well known politicians in the country, few will have thought he had any interest holding surgeries for the assorted spastics, trouble makers and undesirables that turn up at such events. I can't remember any other MP refusing to hold surgeries and that's why people would assume that he would. It's the natural default position and therefore it's not really incumbent on candidates to say they will hold them if elected but it's definitely required that lazy grifters say that they won't. Just because ignorant and stupid people like yourself are unaware of something does not mean that it doesn't exist and just because you think something is a default position it doesn't make it so. Eric Forth did not hold surgeries and the voters never seemed to have a problem with it. How many people in the country have ever attended an MPs surgery? I would wage fewer than 1%, essentially the mad, the bad and the sad. They are not remotely representative of the wider electorate and their tedious opinions are not worthy of respect. The people of Clacton will make their judgement on Farage's performance as their MP at the next election, if he chooses to seek re-election. There will be numerous factors in how they make that judgement but their concerns will not be close to the same as those like you with a deranged obsession over Farage. |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Sept 20, 2024 17:44:04 GMT
I'm still waiting for someone to explain just what difference would have been made for the better had Farage attended more of those fishing committee meetings. What could he have actually achieved in the room? More than being a perpetual dissentient vote. It probably would have made no difference at all if Farage had attended. Anybody else then maybe. It didn't stop him taking up the pla(i)ce though. Your question can probably be best answered with a rhetorical one in return. If committee appointments make no difference then why are Reform UK making such a fuss about the current allocation? Because Farage knows how politics work, he won and you lost. He needs no lessons from you on how the game is played. |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Sept 20, 2024 17:45:54 GMT
Treating the electorate as a dirty group of nobodies whose only role in life is to elect you into a job that allows you to fly to America every other month is bold, I'll say that. MPs who only want a seat to get access to the Commons and influential people is very 18th century of him. Are you still triggered ever time you see Farage on TV? Does it remind of you of the utter agony that losing your EU citizenship caused you? |
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Post by batman on Sept 20, 2024 17:56:58 GMT
I can't remember any other MP refusing to hold surgeries and that's why people would assume that he would. It's the natural default position and therefore it's not really incumbent on candidates to say they will hold them if elected but it's definitely required that lazy grifters say that they won't. Just because ignorant and stupid people like yourself are unaware of something does not mean that it doesn't exist and just because you think something is a default position it doesn't make it so. Eric Firth did not hold surgeries and the voters never seemed to have a problem with it. How many people in the country have ever attended an MPs surgery? I would wage fewer than 1%, essentially the mad, the bad and the sad. They are not remotely representative of the wider electorate and their tedious opinions are not worthy of respect. The people of Clacton will make their judgement on Farage's performance as their MP at the next election, if he chooses to seek re-election. There will be numerous factors in how they make that judgement but their concerns will not be close to the same as those like you with a deranged obsession over Farage. people who attend MPs' surgeries will very often have a particular problem which they need their MPs' help with. It is not by any means just people who wish to sound off with what you call their tedious opinions. When I have contacted my MP it has been for a problem which I think she as my MP can help me with, not to expound my views, most of which she will be aware of as I am quite a prominent figure in my constituency and well-known to the most active Lib Dems which would include her. As it happens I have contacted her via e-mail rather than attending her surgery. |
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cathyc
Non-Aligned
Posts: 1,101
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Post by cathyc on Sept 20, 2024 18:11:58 GMT
I can't remember any other MP refusing to hold surgeries and that's why people would assume that he would. It's the natural default position and therefore it's not really incumbent on candidates to say they will hold them if elected but it's definitely required that lazy grifters say that they won't. are unaware of something does not mean that it doesn't exist and just because you think something is a default position it doesn't make it so. Eric Firth did not hold surgeries and the voters never seemed to have a problem with it. How many people in the country have ever attended an MPs surgery? I would wage fewer than 1%, essentially the mad, the bad and the sad. They are not remotely representative of the wider electorate and their tedious opinions are not worthy of respect. The people of Clacton will make their judgement on Farage's performance as their MP at the next election, if he chooses to seek re-election. There will be numerous factors in how they make that judgement but their concerns will not be close to the same as those like you with a deranged obsession over Farage. Ignorant and stupid people like myself at least know the names of MPs they are citing as examples. I assume you mean Eric Forth. About as bad a case of a malign Member as you can get. He had to move round the country in order to get re-elected - from Essex to Birmingham, to the Cotswolds and then outer London. In a marginal seat he would have been out on his ear and at one point failed to get re-selected by his party. If he didn't hold surgeries then it was probably because instead he would spend hours of time deliberately using procedural tricks to delay and obstruct Parliamentary business late into the night and on Fridays would slouch about on the backbenches with fellow do-nothings like Christopher Chope to block perfectly reasonable back-bench Bills while offering nothing constructive in its place. If that's your one example of someone who doesn't hold surgeries it's pretty desperate. Unless of course you really do mean Eric Firth, in which case you might well have a point. |
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Post by doktorb🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ on Sept 20, 2024 18:37:05 GMT
Treating the electorate as a dirty group of nobodies whose only role in life is to elect you into a job that allows you to fly to America every other month is bold, I'll say that. MPs who only want a seat to get access to the Commons and influential people is very 18th century of him. Are you still triggered ever time you see Farage on TV? Does it remind of you of the utter agony that losing your EU citizenship caused you? You weren't a member at the time so maybe you've let something slip there, Richard. |
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maxque
Non-Aligned
Posts: 9,299 
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Post by maxque on Sept 20, 2024 21:38:30 GMT
My impression too is that few MPs still conduct open surgeries. My daughter’s MP , Angela Eagle was , or said she was (and I’ve no reason to doubt her) advised by the police to stop face to face surgeries following threats and bullying by leftists when she opposed Jeremy Corbyn. There’s nothing on her website to indicate she has resumed them. It’s a shame of course to see something which we were I think proud of in our country , even if it did feel like a bit of a quaint survival from an earlier time, disappear. But it was inevitable. And frankly no one could honestly expect someone as controversial as Farage to expose himself to that much risk. Whether he has lied or not about it, I have no idea. The real problem there is problem is the incompetence of the police. They are unwilling to protect people and unwilling to arrest people. Modern day police is all about providing income and perks to their staff. |
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john07
Labour & Co-operative
Posts: 15,774
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Clacton
Sept 20, 2024 23:57:16 GMT
via mobile
Post by john07 on Sept 20, 2024 23:57:16 GMT
Who is this (former?) MP, Eric Firth of Forth, people are talking of?
I think we should be told!
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Foggy
Non-Aligned
Yn Ennill Yma
Posts: 6,135
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Post by Foggy on Sept 21, 2024 0:31:23 GMT
Who is this (former?) MP, Eric Firth of Forth, people are talking of? Former MP for Kirkcaldy & Leith. |
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Post by robert1 on Sept 21, 2024 6:03:37 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? Minor correction but I'm not, as yet, a 'former' Parliamentarian!  My experience as an MP is so far back that it is difficult to make a relevant current analysis. But, no mass representations on an issue are standard throughout the year not just at election time. However many MPs put such petitions, circulars etc. at the back of the queue when dealing with constituency cases. |
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iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,813
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Post by iang on Sept 21, 2024 6:32:53 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? Minor correction but I'm not, as yet, a 'former' Parliamentarian! My experience as an MP is so far back that it is difficult to make a relevant current analysis. But, no mass representations on an issue are standard throughout the year not just at election time. However many MPs put such petitions, circulars etc. at the back of the queue when dealing with constituency cases. Quite right - former MPs, I should have said! |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Sept 21, 2024 9:16:32 GMT
Just because ignorant and stupid people like yourself are unaware of something does not mean that it doesn't exist and just because you think something is a default position it doesn't make it so. Eric Firth did not hold surgeries and the voters never seemed to have a problem with it. How many people in the country have ever attended an MPs surgery? I would wage fewer than 1%, essentially the mad, the bad and the sad. They are not remotely representative of the wider electorate and their tedious opinions are not worthy of respect. The people of Clacton will make their judgement on Farage's performance as their MP at the next election, if he chooses to seek re-election. There will be numerous factors in how they make that judgement but their concerns will not be close to the same as those like you with a deranged obsession over Farage. Ignorant and stupid people like myself at least know the names of MPs they are citing as examples. I assume you mean Eric Forth. About as bad a case of a malign Member as you can get. Bah, this bloody keyboard is too small for my clumsy fingers. I typed Firth originally, noticed my mistake, went back and thought I had corrected it but still got it wrong. Far from being malign Forth was an outstanding MP who unlike so many understood that he was a legislator not a jumped up social worker. |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Sept 21, 2024 9:18:15 GMT
Are you still triggered ever time you see Farage on TV? Does it remind of you of the utter agony that losing your EU citizenship caused you? You weren't a member at the time so maybe you've let something slip there, Richard. You have mentioned Brexit several times since I have been here. I don't need to back to 2017 to see how much it upset you. |
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