I had a look around but could not see this posted anywhere (if it has apologies and delete if necessary).
YNWA
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=242330.0
I know this is quite long, but to give it some credence, Tony Barrett and Anne Williams have both seen the idea and have come back with positive responses. Here we go:
There is a General Election next year and my politics; like many on here, are very much left of centre. But what is the real choice? Gordon Brown against David Cameron and then Nick Clegg for the Lib Dems. For the neutral much of a muchness, for the labour voter, not a great choice - for the Conservative voter, not a great choice either, and the Lib Dems don’t have a chance of outright government and just hope to be able to influence the incoming government in a hung parliament. For most people, party allegiance will take its usual course and the majority of Liverpool constituencies will stay Labour. Most people accept that whoever the victor, things are going to be pretty similar anyway as they are all a bunch of lying
anyway. What if there were one issue that would persuade you to change party allegiance? Would you be prepared to do so? Could you put up with, say David Cameron or Nick Clegg for a term if he were to guarantee resolution to that issue that is so important to you?
Well what about Anne Williams case that has just been denied a hearing in the European courts. The case whose success opens a can of worms for the government to the benefit of Justice for all the families. Is that case important enough for you, as a single issue, to vote against your political feelings? To change your vote from Labour to Lib Dem?
If the answer is ‘Yes’, then we just need approx. 26,000 like minded people to make a difference. Less than the number of people who turned up for this year’s memorial service. That is all.
What a coup it would be for the Lib Dems to secure seats safe labour seats in Liverpool, and with a swing of 26k people, they can have all 5. With a similar logic, they can also have 10 of the other 11 Merseyside seats and guarantee keeping the Southport seat they already have. How disastrous would that be for Labour? How much publicity would that get the Justice Campaign? How big would the message be that we are serious and will not rest until Justice is achieved? Labour would have to act before the election to save those seats and by action we mean the actual re-opening of the inquests – it is too late for electoral promises
To put it into perspective, the 5 Liverpool constituencies had the following results last time out:
Garston- Lab 54.04%, Lib Dem 33.47%, Labour 9.79%
Riverside- Lab 57.55%, Lib Dem 24.81%, Labour 9.11%
Walton- Lab 72.76%, Lib Dem 15.63%, Labour 5.93%
Wavertree- Lab 52.43%, Lib Dem 27.72%, Labour 6.63%
West Derby - Lab 62.83%, Lib Dem 12.85%, Labour 8.43%
Garston, Walton and Wavertree have never been won by the Lib Dems or any of their previous forms. The last Liberal MP in Riverside and West Derby were both in was in 1923 - obviously people were still
celebrating our 4th league title. The last non Labour MP in Walton was back in 1950 when Conservatives got in – obviously people were still drowning their sorrows after the Cup Final defeat. The last one in Wavertree was 1974 when Conservatives won (still from the demolition of Newcastle at Wembley) and the last one in Garston was 1979 (Still from celebrating our devastating 1979 league winning side). That is 30 years of a labour monopoly in Liverpool. Any yet they still lie to us. They still keep governmental papers regarding Hillsborough secret. They still will not give us Justice. Well enough is enough.Coming into the next election, which is likely to be pretty close, Labour cannot afford to lose these 5 seats; the Lib Dems would love to win them. By getting Nick Clegg on board in the quest for Justice would really make Labour sit up and listen – it would have to. And if they didn’t, then they risk a losing 16 Merseyside seats, and perhaps even others in the Ribble Valley and other Merseyside bordering seats within the Liverpool FC catchment area.
Can it happen? Deffo. I will concentrate just on the 5 Liverpool seats, but the other Merseyside seats work with the same theory (although perhaps fewer numbers). If we take the difference between the Lib Dem vote and the labour vote in each constituency, and split it down the middle, that will be enough to worry Labour considerably. That is the 26k Labour voters to change to Lib Dem on this issue (see figures below). On top of that, we then have the possibility of mobilising some of the 175,000 constituents of voting age who did not vote in the last election, to cast their vote in support of the one single issue. Let me repeat that. Nearly 175,000 people in the 5 constituencies did not feel strong enough on all things political to cast a vote last time. What percentage of that 175,000 would vote based on their strength of feeling on the Hillsborough Justice issue?
Here are a few figures based on Lib Dems achieving the difference between its vote and the Labour vote, bringing both sides equal:
Liverpool Garston
Total Votes 34974 Difference 50% of Diff
Labour (Seat Held) 54.04% 18900 Lab v Lib
Lib Dem 33.47% 11706 7194 3597
Conservative 9.79% 3424
Electorate 63671
Turnout 54.93%
Liverpool Riverside
Total Votes 31194 Difference 50% of Diff
Labour (Seat Held) 57.55% 17952 Lab v Lib
Lib Dem 24.81% 8677 9275 4637
Conservative 9.11% 3186
Electorate 75148
Turnout 41.51%
Liverpool Walton
Total Votes 27931 Difference 50% of Diff
Labour (Seat Held) 72.76% 20323 Lab v Lib
Lib Dem 15.63% 5467 14856 7428
Conservative 5.93% 2074
Electorate 62042
Turnout 45.02%
Liverpool Wavertree
Total Votes 35174 Difference 50% of Diff
Labour (Seat Held) 52.43% 18442 Lab v Lib
Lib Dem 37.72% 13192 5249 2625
Conservative 6.63% 2319
Electorate 69185
Turnout 50.84%
Liverpool West Derby
Total Votes 30465 Difference 50% of Diff
Labour (Seat Held) 62.83% 19141 Lab v Lib
Lib Dem 12.85% 4494 14647 7323
Conservative 8.43% 2948
Electorate 64585
Turnout 47.17%
Total Votes cast 159738
Total Lab voters 94758
Total Lib voters 43536
Total Con voters 13951
Others (Socialist Labour, UKIP, Liberal, Green etc.) 7493
Total Electorate 334631
Not Voted 174893
Total Lab-Lib swing 25611
Yes it really can be that simple. 26,000 people who voted Labour and are prepared to vote Liberal will do it. Or, 52,000 people who didn’t vote at all prepared to vote Lib Dem on the issue, or a mixture of the two. It can happen.
All we need to do is get Lib Dem backing and get Justice on the political agenda. Due to the recent efforts from RAWK, just about every MP in the country has a copy of “Hillsborough - Context and Consequences” and with the Anniversary it is still warm on the political agenda. If Nick Clegg knows that backing us will mean potentially 15 new seats, I am sure he will be keen. That is without considering the possibility that there may be enough Liverpool supporters in other constituencies to make a difference there too.
So how can we achieve this?
If people think it is a good idea, these are how I believe we can make it happen:
We need someone who is much better at computers than I am to set up an electronic petition for the 5 Liverpool constituencies, another for the remaining Merseyside constituencies, and perhaps a further one for the national constituencies.
Once we have enough signatures, we approach the Liverpool Lib Dem Party and present our idea and the strength of feeling behind it. They will understand the issues and can then present it to Nick Clegg himself. Once he puts it in the Lib Dem manifesto that pressure will be put on the government (if Lib Dems do not get in) for inquests to be reopened without any cut off time (should the individual family so desire), without any further review and delay. He should also be aware that any broken promises will guarantee a low Lib Dem vote in the following election.
We continue to spread word amongst the general public through the internet and through personal contacts in order to achieve mass support in the Merseyside area (and potentially nationally).
We then lobby Labour and let them know what we are doing and get them to act – possibly timed with Anne Williams next submission to the Attorney General. Any failure on Labours part will result in them losing these seats )if support is strong enough)
Hillsborough has changed the way we watch football, the way police and emergency response training is carried out with a whole new attitude within the organisation, the laws in relation to turning off life support machines and may other things. Why can it not change the political map in our country forever too?
Please pledge your support and ideas within this thread in the first instance naming your constituency. As stated earlier, this idea has been given to Tony Barrett and Anne Williams as well as the parents of Paul Clark who died on that day, with positive responses from all of them. If anyone has connections with Trevor Hicks, please forward the idea to him too to gauge the HFSG reaction. I will email this article to Sheila Coleman at the HJC and post it on TLW, RAWK, RAOTL and OTK )one of which you are reading now) but would also be grateful if someone could post this thread on any other Liverpool websites including the official, and perhaps even Blue Kipper and other Everton sites to gauge support from our Cousins in Blue. When people do post elsewhere, please put the link on this website so that we can follow it.
If anyone will volunteer for the production fo the petition, please PM me.
People, with enough support, we can really make this happen.
Thanks
Andy
