Labour Candidate Helen Holt finds out she is not good enough as a coalminer's daughter but Gordon Brown aide fiancé is, nepotism?

Dear All

I would like to return to my continuing theme that Britain is a corrupt country.

As an example of how corrupt this country is under Gordon Brown; Jack McConnell being given a job without an interview as High Commissioner in Malawi.

So much for meritocracy under the Labour Party; the Prime Minister Gordon Brown practices nepotism and cronyism while spouting about fairness and equality.

Gordon Brown doesn't believe in fairness and equality!

Now, a new row has flared up as the daughter of a coalminer is found to be 'not good enough' because the fiancée of a close aide to Gordon Brown wants a seat.

And when we are talking close, we mean Jonathan Ashworth, Gordon Brown’s deputy political secretary.

Ever noticed that the ‘best candidate’ in the Labour Party is a close family member or relative of a sitting Labour MP or high ranking Labour official?

In Glasgow, Mohammad Sarwar MP is standing down; the ‘best’ candidate for his seat turns out to be his son, Anas.

Labour Candidate Helen Holt believes she has been the victim of dirty tricks campaign by supporters of Emilie Oldknow who won the seat near where her boyfriend is also standing to be an MP.

She said;

“I feel I have been totally stitched up. My face does not fit. I believe I am being used in a process that from the outside looks fair but is a way of parachuting a candidate into the position because she has family links to Gordon Brown.”

So is there any merit to her claims given Labour’s history?

Here is what she is complaining about;

Holt claims her campaign has been repeatedly obstructed and undermined.

She says party staff hampered her attempts to file her application form

claims she was mucked around when she tried to visit the constituency chairman

states she wasn’t informed that a crucial hustings was brought forward and party officials failed to tell her it had been.

It is also claimed she was verbally abused by Oldknow’s father

That Oldknow exploited her access to party databases.

The Labour Party doesn’t change and this affair has shades of the Georgia Gould affair were the daughter of Labour architect Philip Gould was attempted to be parachuted into a safe Labour seat.

Does she have a reasonable case?

I would say yes but having a reasonable case and being right doesn’t matter in New Labour Britain.

It is not what you know but who you know!

What a pity that Ms. Holt put so much time and energy into a party that operates as a clique and practices discrimination.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University