Election Diary - Post 3 - Still not quite finished that lot yet

I’m sitting at home typing at 16:20.  If you’d asked me yesterday what I’d be doing now then I had no doubt that I’d be out finishing off that letter delivery.  However I woke this morning & my legs were aching.   Problem is when there isn’t an election looming then I’m not one for healthy living & exercise.  I walk to work most days, but that’s only 20 mins up the road.  It hardly compares to being out for several hours at a time, climbing countless tenement stairs.  It’s a bit of a shock to my leg muscles when they are suddenly forced into action every few months.  This time next week I’m sure I won’t be having this problem.  Just got to get into the swing of things again.  Ah, he just lay about all day.  He’s getting his excuses in at the start I hear you say.   But you’d be wrong.  The idea here is to make a post every time I do something as an activist.  So if I don’t electioneer then I won’t post to the Campaign Diary.  I’ll not waste your time by having you read empty excuses.  As you’d expect I did watch PMQs before I went out.  Angus Robertson as always was a credit to the party & the country.  I don’t intend to write a review of it so I’ll just make a couple of brief comments.  Our MPs were guid.  Cameron as usual didn’t answer a single question that was asked by an SNP MP.   Jeremy Corbyn was as unimpressive as always.  I’ll refrain from commenting more on Corbyn for now as he probably merits a proper blog posting at a later date.  Needless to say though, the Labour Party won’t be causing us any sleepless nights any time soon.

Right, that’s PMQs out the way.  Once the Austy was walked I could get back out on the streets.  I only did Iona Street, Iona Street Lane (lovely wee bit that, the properties are nicely done) and Sloan Street South.   I received much the same reactions as yesterday, but maybe less people in.  But I suppose that doing 2 sheltered housing schemes maybe skewed the results a bit as they’re less likely to be out at work.   All in all nothing too exciting to report back on.  Given how my legs feel just now I’m going take things a bit more gently over the next couple of days.  The plan tomorrow is to get Easter Road done.  Then on Friday on the way home from work I’ll do MacDonald Road & the surrounding bits then finish off Leith Walk.   As I said earlier, there is quite a lot of folk not in during weekday afternoons.  So the pile that’s building up of undelivered envelopes can get done on Saturday afternoon & failing that then an early evening on Monday or Tuesday.  I was clearly too ambitious on Facebook the other night when I said I’d get the lot done on Tuesday.  Lesson learned.  Part of the reason that it is taking me that bit longer is that I’m making a point of knocking every single door.  So I do end up standing about waiting for folk to answer.  Anyway I’ll not ramble on too much today.  Besides I think I deserve a beer.  Slainte folks. 

Election Diary - Post 2 - Targeted Letter Delivery

I have a confession to make.  My name is Andrew and I am a news addict.   Fair enough it may not be the worst of vices but it does get in the way of things from time to time.  This morning for instance, I woke with such good intentions.  Sitting downstairs in my SNP coloured YES satchel were 338 introduction letters for identified supporters.  I’ll get the lot done nae bother.  It’s about 09:20, I switch on the telly & it’s 601 (BBC News) straight away.  Bloody hell, the Turks have shot a Russian bomber out of the sky!  I remember that Turkey are a member of NATO.  This is serious.  The footage is mesmerising.  This isn’t some movie.  This is real.  That ball of fire in the sky is the plane.  Those parachutes are real people.  Those pilots will be bricking it at the thought of what the Syrian rebels will do to them.   For the next hour or so I couldn’t tear my eyes off the screen.  I’m like this all the time.  It doesn’t even have to be a major news event.   Wednesdays it’s Prime Minister’s Questions.  Thursdays it’s First Minister’s Questions.   Pretty much every single day The Daily Politics is on.  Even when there’s no politics on telly there is always rolling TV news.  I can’t even say I love it.  I just find it hypnotising.  As I said it does get in the way of things.   It was about 12 before I finally left the house. 

It was a crisp, sunny morning.  Perfect for leafleting, or letter delivery as was the case.  Harris Tweed bonnet, tartan scarf & 2 SNP badges on my usual M&S jacket.  I reckon I get the look no too bad.  I’m trying to not to look like a politician, but still need to be smart enough that I’ll not scare folk off on the doorsteps.  If it was just a normal leaflet run then I’d maybe not bother so much with the smart jacket.  But this wasn’t a normal leaflet run.  On Saturday when I took the satchel Ben says “I’d like you to knock these in.”   Nae bother, I replied.  But as I’m walking up to the first door on Duke Street I realise I’ve not been given a script.  A number of profanities filled my head.  Luckily there’s nobody home the first few doors.  Gives me a bit of time to think.  Then, Duke Street Glebe a man opens the door.  “Er… Hello” I nervously smile “I’m Andrew, from the local SNP.  Er… I just wanted to hand you this..” thrusting the 2 envelopes into his hand.  “The election is on May the 5^th.  If you have any questions then please just give us a shout.”  He smiles back, thanks me & closes the door.  The whole encounter lasts only seconds.   That went awright, I think.  That’s what I needed.  Break the ice, remind myself I can do this fine.   I’ve not door canvassed for a while.  I know I’m out of practice.  The next few doors there’s no body in.  Good, make up a bit of time.  There is one guy at the end of Duke Street who barely opens the door, looks really suspiciously at me & snatches the letter from my hand, closing the door before I’m halfway through the spiel.   This is Leith.  I’m going to get the occasional odd one.  But hey, I don’t know what’s going on behind the door.  I can’t judge.  Besides, he’s an identified supporter.  He’s a good guy.  All our supporters are, obviously.   Then round to Gordon Street & the 2 sheltered housing schemes.  It’s supposed to be secure entry, but I wander straight in.  I say wander in, but I’m nearly floored by the wall of heat that hits me.  It’s like walking into an oven.  Note to self, take off the scarf & hat next time.  I was sweltering by the time I left.  The first door I buzz it just clicks.  I’m faced with a smiling, silver haired woman, someone’s granny, maybe great granny.  I smile, handing over the letter.  “Hello.  I’m Andrew, from the local SNP.  I just wanted to hand in this & remind you the election is coming up.  It’s on May the 5^th.  If you have any questions or queries or if there’s anything at all we can do to help, then please let us know.”   She continues smiling back, replying “That’s good of you.  But don’t you worry son.  You’ve always got my vote.”   The rest of the run goes similarly.  By the end of the street I’m almost buzzing.  Got to remind myself that these are all identified supporters.  Don’t get carried away.  But given I’ve not knocked any doors for a while this has done my confidence the world of good.  I’ve been out for about an hour & a half.  Head back home for a tin of Irn Bru and a roll, take Austy the Golden Retriever across to the Links.  Then I’m back out to Hairmyre Street by ten past 2 or so.  I’m in the swing of things now.   Dickson Street, Lorne Street, Lorne Street Square & it’s getting dark now.  Most folk are still at work so most of the letters are going straight through the letter boxes.  I get the occasional odd look as I rattle out the finely honed script that’s in my head, but it’s all smiles & assurances of support.  It gets to about half 4 or so.  It’s proper dark.  I’m on a roll & quite enjoying myself.  Sloan Street is where the first letter is refused, but only because the woman’s boy is away at uni.  Finally I can open one of these envelopes & see what I’m actually delivering.  It looks good.  It looks exactly as it should.  We’ve got it right.  Then one woman asks “What happened to the girl?  Is she no standing again?”   …. “The girl?  Oh, you mean Shirley Anne Somerville, who stood last time? Well she’s not standing this time.”  I reply.  “Are you the high heid yin this time?”  she asks.   “Er, no.  I’m just one of the minions.  The candidate is Ben Macpherson.  The letter there is his introduction.”  

This encounter has me chuckling out on the street.  So when the next stair door opens I’m still a bit distracted.  I manage to catch the satchel strap on the handle & it tears right off..  Baws!  Knowing it’ll be a pain to do Easter Road & Leith Walk with the bag tucked uncomfortably under my arm, I decide to call it at night at the top of Sloan Street.  A cheeky wee ciggie on the way home, my only smoke of the day, but I think I deserve it.  I’ve done a fair amount, albeit not as much as I’d planned.  I’m home by 5, so that’s a good few hours I’ve been out.  My legs are sore but I can’t stop smiling.  As I sink into the couch with another tin of bru I’m already looking forward to the morning so I can get back out again.  If I don’t switch on the news then I can be out by ten, back for 12 for PMQs then back out after the 1 o’clock news.  Good times.

Election Diary - Post 1

It’s the Saturday before payday.  It’s about a month till Christmas.   That’s exactly what most folk are thinking about just now.  Given events over the last week in France, Syria, Lebanon, Mali to name just a few, some of the more empathetic of you may well be thinking about what a tragic state the world seems to be in just now.   I’ll not be touching on those in today’s post.   It’s not that I haven’t given much though to those things this week.  Indeed, if you are as much of a news addict as I am then you can’t avoid it.  My own Great Granddad was a refugee to this country just over  a century ago.  So the whole debate about ethical foreign policy and treatment of migrants is something very close to my heart.  I do intend to write a piece regarding these issues, but I need a wee bit more time before I do.   It certainly is not a blog piece I want to rush.

As much as I’ll use this blog to talk about some of the big issues like immigration, Scottish Independence (of course), Scottish politics, Westminster Politics and the rest of it, I also want to use it as a rough election diary.   Some of these entries might be relatively small, some might have a photo or two.   I’m pretty sure that every time I’m out that something will catch my eye or spark a thought.  Before I begin I should make clear that I am not an office bearer within the SNP, nor do I have any official role or responsibility within the local campaign.  I am simply a fairly hard working activist (or so I tell myself).   Having said that, I have been an activist in the SNP for near enough 20 years.  So if you do have any questions or points to make then feel free to use the comments section below & I’ll do my best to respond.    Remember folks, I am NOT a neutral.   I will not always be completely objective.   I do not make any apologies for that…. Wait a minute, I’m missing something here.   That’s right, I need to shout out two things.  Firstly, the election date is May 5^th 2016.   Don’t forget!   Thursday the 5^th of May 2016!   Polls are open from 0700hrs to 2200hrs.   Then the whisky gets opened, unless you’re lucky enough to be going to the Count.  Secondly, Vote SNP on that day.  If you happen to be lucky enough to live in the Edinburgh North & Leith Constituency then the man to vote for is Ben Macpherson.    You’ll be hearing that name a lot over the coming months in this blog.   But that’s because I intend to work bloody hard for Ben.   This is a campaign I’m particularly enthused about.   It’s not just that the polls are looking great.   It’s not just because we have such a good candidate here.   The biggest factors are my love of this constituency & the primary goal of this campaign.  Edinburgh North & Leith is the only constituency seat that the SNP did not win last time round.   This is the only seat that Labour managed to hold onto.   I accept that Malcolm Chisholm is a competent constituency parliamentarian.   But at the end of the day he still represents Labour.   As a party they do not deserve to hold this seat.   Their candidate, Cllr Hinds certainly does not deserve to hold this seat for her party.   I desperately want to play my part in the team that wins the constituency for the SNP & gives Leith the representation in Holyrood that it deserves.   WE are the only party that can deliver that.   As I said before, I really love Leith.  I have never felt more part of a community than since I moved down here.   I’ll not bombard you with stats & facts about Leith at the moment.  I’ll bring the relevant ones to your attention over the coming months when appropriate.   This is not meant to be an election address, that’s Ben’s job.   It’s not my job to tell you why he’s such a good candidate, he is more than capable of doing so himself.  That’s why we chose him, go & have a look at his website.  

Given this is supposed to be a diary entry I really should tell you what I did today.   I stood at the Kirkgate from 11am till just after 12:30.   As per usual we had the stall & a decent number of activists.   Indeed we had about double what Labour managed, who were just round the corner.   After about 15 minutes I couldn’t feel my toes.   There was a bit of chat amongst fellow activists & I spoke to a couple of people about the forthcoming election.   Let’s face it, for most folk the election is a long way off.  The last election was only in May & we had the referendum just a few months before that.   Most normal people have had their fill of politics for a wee while.  They just want to get on & enjoy the festive period.   It’s for that reason that we were fairly un-intrusive today.   We pretty much stood back & let people approach us as opposed to forcing leaflets into hands.   Today was about showing that we are here as a branch week in, week out.   It was about showing that presence in the heart of the community.   Given that we had double the activists that Labour did & that none of the other parties had a presence in Leith I’d say we achieved what we set out to.   We also had our photos taken at the stall.   Have a look at the Leith Walk &  Leith branches Facebook pages for those photos.   I realise I’m maybe not selling this whole activism thing too well.   It might not be the most exciting activity in the world.  But it is important & it does make a difference.    Political parties win elections this  way, through lots of minor activities.   In the democratic system we have a party wins by engaging with the community.   That’s what we’re doing in Leith.  That’s what Nicola Sturgeon does on a national level.   That’s how we are the major success that we are.  

 

Coming later this week… Targeted letter delivery!   Ben wants me to knock them in, so nae doubt get something good for the blog.   In the meantime away & have a look at Ben’s page…

http://benmacpherson.com/

Defence of The Sunday Herald's Front page 15/11/15

 

https://twitter.com/NeilMackay/status/665668703690883072

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, hopefully I can keep it up over the next few months.   I’ve been jolted into action as a result of a todays Sunday Herald front page.    There cannot be a sane minded person who doesn’t find that photo deeply disturbing & sickening.  Of course the image is extreme.  Of course the image is difficult to look at.  It’s supposed to be.   Is the image sensationalist?  Arguably so.  I know that many people whom I respect deeply are saddened that The Sunday Herald chose to run with this front page.    But I do feel very strongly that they have made the right call here.   Facebook is currently awash with French flags just now.   I’ve also seen people make a real effort to kick back against the terrorists.  The attacks were on cultural & social activities.  The attacks, like all attacks of this kind, are designed to spread fear across the globe.   One way of combating that has been to post images of cultural significance, to show that we will not let terror affect how we live our daily lives.     The outpouring of solidarity with the French people is heartening to say the least.  The parties, with the exception of UKIP , a handful of Tories & the usual rag tag of right wingers, have put party politics aside to condemn what happened on Friday the 13^th.   In fact, aside from a small minority we’ve seen exactly the sort of response that I’d hope to see.   For instance we’ve seen lots of posts on social media making the point that these acts of violence have nothing to do with religion.  It’s been said many times & it’s worth saying again.   The vast majority of migrants are fleeing homicidal maniacs.  

So, if people are generally reacting the right way to acts of terrorism then why the need to ram the horror into folks faces?   Well, the same question could be asked of Children in Need.   Over the last week we have been bombarded with stories & images of children living in & through some horrible circumstances.   Now we all know that these cases exist.  Do we really need to be shown the stark reality of these kids lives while we eat our tea?   Given that the appeal apparently raised a record amount of money this year it would seem so.   People need to be shocked, saddened or enraged by something before they hand over their cash or give up their time for something that does not directly benefit themselves.   The Ethiopian famine in 1984, the Vietnam War, 9/11, Bloody Sunday & far too many other incidents, wars, atrocities to mention.   They all have one thing in common.  They required deeply unsettling images in the media for most people to sit up & really take notice.   It is one thing to know that something terrible has happened.   It is quite another thing to see it, albeit on the front page of a newspaper or on the telly. 

As most reading this will know I’ve been a political activist for most of my adult life, indeed there is another blog piece from a few years ago that sets a lot of that out.   I get angry when I see bullies.  I get angry when I see unfairness & injustice.   This doesn’t make me unique, far from it, thankfully so.   That’s why I leaflet for the SNP till my feet bleed.  Watching PMQs or FMQs or even just reading the paper in the morning is enough to motivate me.   But unfortunately most people aren’t motivated or shall we say angered as easily as me.   Just look at the rise of the SNP’s membership over the last year.   That’s been because people have been politicized through anger at what happened during & after the referendum.   I hope what I’m getting across is that I just feel that if the media wasn’t self censored quite as much as it normally is then more people would feel more engaged with what’s going on around them. 

Back to the Sunday Herald’s front page.   The question that needs to be answered is this:  What does it hope to achieve?  The cynical answer is more newspaper sales.  However I don’t believe this to be true.  Indeed, by publishing that image it could well result in a drop in sales.   There has been a backlash on social media since the publication of that photo.  A backlash from many loyal readers.   But these are all very politically aware people who are already engaged on a day to day basis with the minutiae of current affairs.  That’s not who the picture is aimed at.   It’s aimed at the ordinary family who aren’t political or community activists, whose only concern is their immediate family.   Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.  But it’s because that’s all they see on a day to day basis.  It’s aimed at exactly the same people that the BBC guilt trip every year through Children in Need or Comic Relief.  I believe it is a bold & noble thing that the paper has done today.   They have shown the disturbing reality of what happened in Paris in a way that hits home at a base level far more than pictures of candle lit vigils ever can.  The photograph is one that cannot fail to bring home to people just how close to home those acts of violence are.  It does not play into the hands of the terrorists to show the atrocities that they inflict.  I would argue that it helps to defeat them.  The outcry against acts of torture by the US military came about as a result of photographs, not words in the media.  I’ll say again, it’s one thing to know or to read about something.  It is another thing entirely to see it in (un)glorious technicolour.  We should be angered by the sight of bodies littered around a public place.  Of course it’s not right.  No one should ever have to see things like that.  But the harsh reality is that people do need to take a stand.  The images represent what happens when the causes of extremism are left to fester.  When I call for people to take a stand I mean I want people to engage more in their own community.  Pick up a bit of litter in the street simply because it’s the right thing to do or make a donation to a foodbank. People do not become homicidal if they feel part of the community.  We need to ensure that young people especially do not become disenfranchised from the community in which they live.   We do this by doing what we can to make them feel that they belong.  Will that image inspire someone make a small gesture in their community?  Maybe not immediately, but it will get them thinking in a way that a photo of a burning candle never will.