Clean Campaign Pledge In Reading West

Well it was a good start, but I don't think it will last very long. Today Daisy Benson(LD) joined Alok Sharma (Conservative) and myself signing the clean campaign pledge.

The LD feel hurt by Labours leaflet that implies Daisy is 'too busy to care'.


As smears go thats actually pretty silly, Daisy is known to work hard. By comparison she got off lightly, a few years ago Labour tried to link us Greens to terrorists; it was so ridiculous that the media didn't pick it up. Another year they claimed we were linked to the BNP! In a sense I prefer their smears to be so ridiculous, it made them look foolish. Aside from Richard Mckenzie, this year I have seen no mention of us from Labour. I think their tactic may have backfired. Richard is being a bit slow on the uptake. Indeed his PPC has been saying “Vote Red, Get Green”! Tell that to the Cow lane allotment holders where Lab want to build a road, or the small shops where Lab have brought in giant supermarkets.

Daisy in her blog writes

"I met up with Alok Sharma (Conservative) and Adrian Windisch (Green Party) earlier today to sign a 'Clean Campaign Pledge'. I think it's important that we strive to mount a positive campaign attacking policies not people. The Labour candidate doesn't appear to have signed the pledge so far, which is a pity. I drove along Oxford Road today and saw the latest Conservative posters looming down from billboards - they feature a creepy photo of Gordon Brown smiling alongside claims of Labour 'failure'. I think it was supposed to be ironic but I just thought they looked cynical. Lots of people will look at the those posters and think 'they're both as bad as each other'. In fact, that's what people have already said to me on seeing them."

They say to me that all parties are all as bad at each other, and they have a point; in many ways the big ones are similar. Why the LD think they are somehow different I don't know, there position is so often between the Lab & Cons. That may be due to triangulation, which has lead Lab and Cons to claim the centre ground, leaving no room for the LD. All were named in expenses scandals.

I don't mind her writing this, but it is a little amusing that it comes so soon after saying 'we strive to mount a positive campaign'. I did agree with her point 'attack policies not people'. Now I often discuss on here other political parties, but I do it by quoting them, as I have above. No made up 'facts', no misrepresentation. I ask questions about them, I compare what they say at different times, I compare policies of one party to the next.

I must admit I'm not so strict on twitter, there isn't room for one thing. I once retweeted a comment about Ashcroft funding Alok Sharma in Reading West. A Tory told me it was wrong, that I should check my facts. Well it takes some months for the donations to appear on the electoral commission website, so not easy to check. By retweeting, I was saying it was interesting, not that it was correct. So it may be wrong, if so sorry, but it wasn't personal.

The LibDem Reading East PPC attacked me a few months ago 'The fact is that anyone our LD members select to fight Reading West will have much firmer green credentials than Lab and the Tories could muster between them and the credibility lacked by the maverick Green candidate there.' Well he is entitled to his opinion, but it is a personal attack on me. Since then things have calmed down between us, I suspect his comments didn't win him any support. I have not attacked him in return, but I do continue to comment on other parties.

For example I did a series on the big three parties policies on wind farms. Tory, Labour and LibDem