Thought for the day

Elliott will miss out if Tories win

If the Tories win the general election Putney's Elliott School will miss out on the absolutely vital cash it needs to renovate a rapidly decaying building.

Elliott has been badly treated for years by the Conservative council who waited until the very last tranche of funding from Labour's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme to bid on the school's behalf - and now the man who will be in charge of schools has said that any project without an end date (and Elliott only just about has a start date, let alone an end date) will lose this funding.

This is a crazy decision: even for a Conservative Party hell-bent on making drastic and catastrophic immediate spending cuts. And this from a party that promised us that education funding would be safeguarded if they ever won power.

And instead of a word of objection, or a campaign to save Elliott's essential funding, all residents are getting right now from their Conservative candidates for MP and council is a bizarre letter talking about some airy-fairy notion of establishing a so-called free school on Putney Common - a school that will drain money from existing schools like All Saints, St Mary's and Hotham.

This contast shows, yet again, how out of touch the Conservatives are. I was always taught that you make the best of what you have before starting something new - and that means sorting out Elliott and bringing a 1950s building into the 21st century. Education study after study - as well as common-sense - says that children learn best when they are in a comfortable, safe, clean and modern teaching environment.

Elliott has not been that for decades - and if it doesn't get the BSF money guaranteed by Labour and guaranteed to be cut by the Conservatives it will soon become unfit for purpose. I want to see Elliott thrive, not fail. If you do too, reject the Conservative cuts and renew Labour's mandate to keep investing in our existing schools.

Digital Economy Act

A number of Putney voters have contacted me to express their concern about the Digital Economy Act, which was passed by Parliament in the last week before it dissolved.

I was disappointed at the way Parliament rushed through this piece o flegislation; it was Parliament working at its worst, not its best.

Much of my concern centres on the disproportionate sanctiosn that are made available through the legislation. I oppose the use of disconnection as a blanket punishment for allegations of civil copyright infringements. It is too wide ranging and arbitrary a punishment to be fair or proportionate. I also agree that it is also wrong to implement punishments that would affect everyone in a household, not just the allegedly guilty person.

I share the views and attitudes adopted by two Labour MPs at the time - Tom Watson & Eric Joyce - who both campaigned against the Bill. I would certainly attend the meeting Eric is organising in parliament if we are both elected to the next Parliament.

Putney's MP at the time the Act was passed was my Conservative opponent - Justine Greening. Miss Greening voted in favour of the Bill. I would not.

The Conservative majority in Putney over Labour is 1,700. The Lib Dems are a very distant third place in this constituency and cannot win. It really is a Labour-Conservative two horse race in Putney. So you have a choice between the sitting Conservative MP who voted through the Digital Economy Bill and me, who would have voted against and will, if elected, work with the likes of Eric & Tom to address the problems of this piece of legislation.

Record visits in May

Over five and a half thousand unique visitors came to stuartking.net in April - thank you for visiting and, whatever you came here for, I hope you found what you were looking for.

I've been running this website since I first set out on my journey to become MP for Putney back in the spring of 2007 - you can read every single one of the 1,113 posts I have added to this blog since then by using the monthly archive links to the right, the issues drop-down toolbar above, or the location drop-down toolbar button titled "in my area".

When I first sought selection as Labour's candidate for Putney I didn't imagine that three years would pass before you got the chance to vote for me and one of the gratifying insights this lengthy period has provided has been to be able to see how visits to my website have grown steadily to their current high point.

The blog is just one part of the website - I've tried to be at the forefront of e-campaigning not least because Putney is a young, mobile and transient area - and I appreciate that the traditional ways politicians have campaigned are becoming out of date in this sort of area. We've some way to go in the UK before we get to the sort of online campaigning that US politicians like Howard Dean and Barack Obama pioneered. But equally, I remember the first internet-age campaign in 1997 and how far we have come since then.

On Thursday we will come to an end of a chapter with this website in its current form. That may be because you've chosen to re-elect the Conservative, in which case I cease to be your parliamentary candidate. There is of course a very small chance you'll have picked a representative of the minor parties as your new MP, and the same will be true.

Or you'll have voted for change and chosen me as your new MP, in which case we'll need to make major changes to the website to respond to my new responsibilities and your needs as my constituents. But rest assured that in that scenario, I will continue to champion new technology as your MP and whatever shape this website takes it will remain what it has been since I started it: towards the front of the pack in design, information and accessibility.

What's going to be left?

Shortly after I sent in the 600+ petitions from the Roehampton area demanding action from the Conservative-run council on street-drinking in the Danebury Avenue area, the Tories responded firstly by denying there was any problem - and if there was one they had fixed it (this was in the middle of the coldest winter in recent years).

They said no other council had ever implemented the sort of alcohol exclusion zone I was calling for - yet a straightforward google of those three words provides a great list of councils who have done exactly that.

And they said that even if there was a problem - the same problem they'd just denied the existence of - the same failed policies they'd been applying would fix it even though they've failed for years.

But then the Conservatives decided to take action. First they removed the benches outside the library - a favoured gathering place for the street drinkers admittedly. So they moved across the road to sit on the stone benches outside the post office. A move that made people accessing post office services - especially the ATM there - very uncomfortable.

So now the Tories have taken those benches out too.

This is an ingenious plan by the Conservatives. Rather than just ban street drinking in the area, they are choosing to strip from Roehampton every facility used by the street drinkers until there's going to be nothing left. What's the next step - evict all the shops from Danebury Avenue and Roehampton until there's nowhere for them (or anyone else) to buy anything?

We already know the Tories want to concrete over the green beside the library because it was in their crazy demolition plans for Danebury Avenue - so perhaps they'll bring that idea forward so there's no grass on which they can gather either?

They should probably demolish the wall by the library the drinkers are now sitting on, even though it keeps the pavement around the library from subsiding into the green - but why worry about that?

No. The Conservatives have completely lost the plot. They're not removing facilities that only street drinkers use: they're punishing the entire community around the town centre by removing these facilities. It's as if they think it's Roehampton's fault the Conservatives can't or won't deal with street drinkers.

Well it isn't - it's the Conservatives' failure, not Roehampton's. It only becomes the responsibility of Roehampton if, despite all the evidence of Conservative neglect, failure and incompetence, on May 7th the people of Roehampton wake up to the same Tory MP and councillors they've just re-elected.

Why I'm voting Labour

Why I'm voting Labour

Why I'm voting Labour

Why I'm voting Labour

Repost: If you'd like to help and can afford to, please contribute

I've been involved in grassroots politics since 1987 when I joined Labour aged 17. I've delivered hundreds of thousands of leaflets, knocked on tens of thousands of doors, and given my time voluntarily like millions of activists from all parties have done for years and years in our country.

Local activism is the foundation of the British politics I believe in - and that I've practised. The MPs' expenses scandal has devastated trust in politics to the extent than even those of us - like me - who receive no public funding for our work - are suspected of being on the take.

I don't get a salary as a candidate for MP - I only get paid if you elect me as your MP. I am not bankrolled by a trust fund like Zac Goldsmith, the Tory candidate for next door Richmond. My campaign is not bankrolled by a non-dom Belize billionaire - unlike Putney's Conservative MP, who's received 19,000 from this one Tory donor alone.

Everything I do - every Putney Paper I deliver, every survey I send out, every aspect of my campaign - is funded by subscriptions paid by members of Putney Labour Party, or by local contributions from those who want more for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields than the Conservatives offer.

For the first time since 1974 council elections are taking place in the same year as the general election in London. That creates a real chance for change locally: and as a reader of this blog you know that I have big ideas to bring change to Putney. It's probably going to cost over 20,000 - and that's my campaign locally, not the ridiculous sums national parties waste on adverts no one reads and silly gimmicks that don't affect a single vote.

So I've set up a secure site where any British citizen who would like to can contribute to my campaign.

All you need to do is visit www.stuartking.net/donate

...and choose how much you'd like to contribute. Any amount will be gratefully received: as I say, I come from a background of grassroots activism in our community and I value ordinary people giving what they can afford far more than millionaires flashing around their chequebooks with no concept of what money means to the rest of us.

If you can help my campaign, please do so. Every penny you contribute will go to my local campaign: I guarantee it does not end up going to the national Labour Party's coffers or redistributed to some constituency you've never heard of!

Thanks for taking the time to read this message.

My election address

Every household in Putney should by now have received my election address, which sets out my priorities as your prospective MP and talks about why local candidates like me - I was born in Wandsworth, grew up here, went to school here and lived here for 37 years - do a far better job for their patch.

You can read it online - along with all 23 editions of the Putney Paper going back to 2007 - by clicking here.

Putney's better with Labour

Putney progressives should vote Labour to stop the Tories

Here in Putney there are only two candidates who can win the election: the Conservative or me. Putney is one of the most marginal constituencies in the country: it was Labour until the last election and the Tories have it by only 1,766 votes.

Only a vote for me, for Labour, defeats the Conservatives in Putney. A Liberal Democrat vote helps return the Conservatives. And it will mean a Conservative Government too, probably.

But if I win, then the way the national polls are at the moment we'll almost certainly have a balanced parliament and all the progress we've made in Putney these past thirteen years on policing, schools and children's centres, jobs and getting unemployment down, will be protected from the Conservatives' crazy cuts plan.

Liberal Democrats and Labour are part of the same progressive movement that doesn't want to let a Conservative government tip us back into recession. In Putney, all progressives need to vote Labour to stop the Tories, because the worst possible result will come about if you vote Lib Dem, Green or any other party.

Putney schools: better with Labour

Putney's health: better with Labour

A sunny day in West Hill

Why do I want to represent Putney? Well, just look at this fantastic view from Southmead Road at the top of West Hill, for one reason. Despite all the things I want to put right or improve locally, isn't Putney, Roehampton and Southfields a fantastic place?



Click on the photo for a larger version.

Putney Police: better with Labour

2005 General Election result in Putney

Putney families: better with Labour

Only Labour can beat the Tories in marginal Putney

Don't take my word for two electoral facts about Putney:

1) That Putney is a marginal constituency - the Tories hold it by only 1,766 votes and it was a Labour seat until 2005

2) The only party that can beat the Tories in Putney is Labour: the Liberal Democrats cannot win, they got less than half the votes Labour won last time; they have no councillors and are simply not an electoral force in our neck of the woods

...This is how the serious commentators on the election are reporting Putney: independently, impartially, and accurately. So, if you want to defeat the Tories vote Labour - and if you want the Conservatives back in again vote for anyone else.

The BBC:



Sky News:



The Times:



The Guardian:



The Daily Telegraph:



The Political Calculus website:



The UK Polling Report website: