Last week Martin Salter MP described me as a failed politician, presumably because he got more votes than me in my first attempt at a westminster election in May 2005. I was looking at Gordon Browns biography at his website http://pm.gov.uk/output/Page12037.asp and noticed that he lost his first general election in Edinburgh South in 1979. So Martin is calling his 'dear leader' a failed politician also.
I expect most politicians didn’t win their first election, big parties often expect newcomers to prove themselves in a difficult seat before giving them an easier target if they do well. After Gordon Browns failure he was sent to a safer seat, Dunfermline East in 1983. Tony Blair was sent to stand in a by-election in Beaconsfield in 1982 where he also lost, before standing in the safe seat of Sedgefield in 1983. www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page12006.asp
I must admit Martin Salter has been one of my inspirations for becoming involved in politics; he has convinced me that most people could do a better job. I contacted him about bio fuels and received such a poor answer that I joined the Green Party. It was a pleasure to stand against him in 2005, and I am enjoying opposing him again. He often appears in the media with a sound bite, often being rude about an opponent, but he rarely has anything informative to say. Even his own website is lacking in campaigns, at www.martinsalter.com/campaignform.asp only two are listed, and they haven’t changed for years. He has campaigned for banning violent internet porn, but doesn’t mention this for some reason on his website. In the news section his website lists only 2 items for 2007, nothing yet for this year. He is very good at getting media attention, what a shame he doesn’t use this to make a better world. His website says he is the 'hardest working MP we've ever had', the others must do very little indeed for this to be true.
As Vice Chair of the Labour Party for the environment, he is a position to do a lot of good, but he does little except promote fishing. In Reading West we are about to loose allotments, post offices, but he will do nothing to reduce Labours plans to build roads and privatise the post office, education and health service.
In October 2007 Martin broke parliamentary rules, though he now claims that the complaint against him was rejected. This is a matter of public record, and I will not be silenced by him, despite his attempts at bullying. See www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmstnprv/1071/107103.htm
or /www.parliament.the-stationery-office.com/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmstnprv/1071/1071.pdf
His voting record tells a different story to the image he likes to project, he is loyal and not a rebel. He wishes to reduce the amount of information the public have on their MPs, but wants them to know all about us with expensive intrusive i.d. cards. Rather than being against the Iraq war he missed a crucial vote, only turning up for an amendment that wouldn’t make any difference, but he doesn’t want us to find out what happened there to learn lessons for the future. He is against hunting with hounds, but supports fishing and shooting, so he isn’t interested in animal cruelty but rather the political persuasion of those doing the killing. He was against student top up fees, then changed his mind, he enjoyed the days of grants himself, though he didn't actually complete his degree at Sussex University.
From www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/martin_salter/reading_west#votingrecord
# Voted very strongly against a transparent Parliament.
# Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban.
# Voted strongly for introducing ID cards.
# Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.
# Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.
# Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
# Voted moderately against the Iraq war.
# Voted very strongly against investigating the Iraq war.
# Voted very strongly for replacing Trident.
# Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.
# Voted very strongly for equal gay rights.
I’ve written before about being attacked by Martin, he does seem to make a habit of this. Is it because the other parties are largely in agreement with him, and the Greens are the ones rocking the boat calling for far more action. See for example http://greenreading.blogspot.com/2007/08/martin-salter-attacks-constituents.html where Martin attacks me and then accuses Polish people of being thieves.
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