Friday, January 22, 2010

Labour MP Ed Balls is scared, the BNP is haemorrhaging the Labour vote, the Tories are ploughing in resources to defeat him, he plays the race card



















Dear All

Labour MP Ed Balls is scared.

The fear is, losing his seat at the General Election.

As a desperate man he is trying to woo the anti-immigrant vote to fend off the Tories who are on the up and a real threat to his bread and butter.

Ed Balls is talking up local immigration concerns in his area by issuing “immigration surveys” to local residents and holding local meetings focused on the subject.

This is a direct appeal to the card carrying BNP members in his area, it seems that Ed needs to try and get the racists on board to stay in power.

If Balls is slotted at the election, it will be akin to the Michael Portillo moment that defined the 1997 election.

Balls is a key Brown advisor so he is a target of opportunity, a pressured Balls will have less time to help Labour nationally.

Balls will haemorrhage working class votes to the BNP as they have according to some a popular candidate in Chris Beverley, a Councillor for Morley South. He is said to come across as “an upright citizen who cares for the issues of the town”.

And he isn’t dumb a resident said;

“He never talks about race and has been very clever about assisting in the town, shopping for elderly people during the snow, which is what people like.”

For the Tories, this could spell good news as if the BNP take enough Labour votes; they could slip in and capture the seat, expect them to throw resources into this seat.

Tory MP William Hague has visited so it isn’t just money that the Tories are pouring in, but personalities as well.

Cameron is expected to visit also.

Playing the race card is danger for the Labour Party as people will see through this as disingenuous, given their failure to address the immigration issue in the past; I suspect this will backfire for Balls locally.

It is the act of a desperate man in desperate times.

The Labour leaflet is far from clever as it asks people to agree with Labour policy which they have already admit is a failure.

This contest will be an interesting one to watch.

And wouldn’t it be funny to see the look on Balls face if he was slotted?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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