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Leaflet error is attacked by rival
12:57pm Wednesday 9th April 2008
Comments (43)
THE campaign for the May 1 council elections has got off to a stuttering start after a red-faced Labour candidate forgot how to spell his own name.
Jim Grant, the Labour candidate for Western ward, sent out a leaflet urging residents to vote for Jim Gant'.
But Mr Grant said only a small number of leaflets had gone out with the printing error.
He also criticised the Conservative-led council for plans to spend £52 on the canal project.
But Peter Heaton-Jones, the Tory contender for the seat currently occupied by Mayor Michael Barnes, said the "gaffe-riddled" leaflet showed the Labour group were in a blind panic about the elections.
"By missing out the second letter, it's clear the Labour candidate doesn't know his Rs from his elbow," said Mr Heaton-Jones.
"He's asking the people of Western to trust him with an extremely responsible job, and yet he's so careless that he can't even get his own name right. It's extraordinary."
But Mr Grant hit back. "There were a few printed that were wrong. We put some of them out but they have now been retrieved and are being re-printed," he said.
"This is rather a frivolous complaint though, and just highlights the fact that Peter Heaton-Jones has failed to address any of the issues I raised in the leaflet.
"We must assume that he is for the canal project - despite the Adver's recent poll showing that two thirds of the people of Swindon are not in favour.
"Presumably he can also defend spending £34,000 on water for council officials.
"He says nothing about relieving the traffic congestion in Swindon or battling anti-social behaviour.
"We want to discuss these issues rather than seeking to score cheap party political points."
Mr Heaton-Jones said: "Of course the Labour group will say this is a bit of trivia but I can assure them we are happy to talk about the issues.
"The canal - if it happens - won't cost a penny of council taxpayers' money to build.
"And anyway it's only an idea at the moment. At least the Conservatives have a vision for Swindon's future and are asking residents for their views.
"The Labour Party has no ideas and can't even get the basics right."
Also standing in Western Ward are Clive Hooper for the Liberal Democrats, Greg Heathcliffe for the UK Independence Party and Michael Morton, who is standing as an independent.
Your Say YourSwindon Advertiser
DarkAuror, Swindon says...
1:53pm Wed 9 Apr 08
However, what concessions would be given to developers to encourage them to fund the MINIMUM £52M (at 2007 prices) for this project.
Why did the council spend £50,000 on a feasiability study from Halcrow (Labour, please note the spelling as you didn't in Central Outlook) when Wilts & Berks Trust already paid for and completed two feasiability studies?
LordBelacqua, Swindon says...
2:20pm Wed 9 Apr 08
He also criticised the Conservative-led council for plans to spend £52 on the canal project.
(bold is mine)
If that's all it'll cost....ha ha!
steve-o, Swindon says...
2:23pm Wed 9 Apr 08
malkym, OK Corral says...
2:49pm Wed 9 Apr 08
malkym, says...
3:15pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Big Mac, says...
3:36pm Wed 9 Apr 08
For a start, the £52m for the canal project would be money that was raised via a Section 106 placed on the developers of new homes in the ares as part of their planning application being approved.
It is NOT Council Taxpayers money, not in the strictest sense anyway.
Although, myself and thousands of others would prefer it to be used to provide Swindon, finally, with purpose built music/live event venue.
But, of course, neither Labour or the Tories are talking about that - at all.
Secondly, Mr Grant goes on to laughably state:
"He says nothing about relieving the traffic congestion in Swindon or battling anti-social behaviour.
Mr Grant, it is your Labour government who - via the directives of that eminent statesman, Mr John Prescott - that has forced almost limitless building of flats and apartments in town centre areas. It is this, and nothing else, that has caused the devastating traffic congestion we now endure.
As for anti-social behaviour, only this week we had the report that youth crime is up by 66% since Labour came to power.
That follows the damning report about the massive increase in crime thanks to Labour's 24-hour drinking legislation.
This comes after the reports on the massive rise in knife crime and gun crime in the UK since Labour came to power.
And, let's not forget there are now more people in prison than ever before even though Labour are doing their best not to send anyone there and are letting serious offenders out early to free up prison spaces.
All of this is directly attributable to Labour's belief that criminals should receive their full support and beneficence, while the victims of crime are cynically expected to just 'get on with it' and believe the lies that 'crime is going down'.
Any Labour politician, or councillor, who DARES to make crime and anti-social behaviour a point with which to slate any other party is an absolute fool, not to mention an insulting disgrace to the electorate who have to suffer the consequences of a government who have been soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime for well over a decade.
yeti, swindon says...
3:40pm Wed 9 Apr 08
all these tit for tat snipes do nobody any favours in my opinion.
heaton jones is a moron anyway.glad i'm not in his borough.
Big Mac, says...
3:44pm Wed 9 Apr 08
yeti wrote:
who gives a flying fart about a miss spelling.it is the candidates credentials to represent the ward properly which is important.
I suppose it doesn't matter to the usual type of Labour voter - who probably thought he'd spelt his name correctly anyway.
yeti wrote:
all these tit for tat snipes do nobody any favours in my opinion.
heaton jones is a moron anyway.
Oh the irony.
And, if a 'moron' can manage to spell his name correctly, just what does that make Mr Grant I wonder?
yeti, swindon says...
3:49pm Wed 9 Apr 08
no irony there!
DarkAuror, Swindon says...
3:50pm Wed 9 Apr 08
malkym wrote:Guilty as charged, should have spell checked and proof read my comment before submitting it. However, why does it need 3 feasibility (thank you Malkym!) studies?
Why did the council spend £50,000 on a feasiability study from Halcrow (Labour, please note the spelling as you didn't in Central Outlook) when Wilts & Berks Trust already paid for and completed two feasiability studies? err Presumably because it was feasible to conduct a feasibility study!
malkym, says...
4:09pm Wed 9 Apr 08
DarkAuror wrote:Goodness knows DA!!
malkym wrote: Why did the council spend £50,000 on a feasiability study from Halcrow (Labour, please note the spelling as you didn't in Central Outlook) when Wilts & Berks Trust already paid for and completed two feasiability studies? err Presumably because it was feasible to conduct a feasibility study!Guilty as charged, should have spell checked and proof read my comment before submitting it. However, why does it need 3 feasibility (thank you Malkym!) studies?
malkym, says...
4:15pm Wed 9 Apr 08
yeti wrote:I'm with you on the P H-J front oh furry beast!Couldn't stand him on GWR or was it Radio Swindon - who cares!-seems he had to come back because even his native Aussies didn't want him long term lol!
who gives a flying fart about a miss spelling.it is the candidates credentials to represent the ward properly which is important. all these tit for tat snipes do nobody any favours in my opinion. heaton jones is a moron anyway.glad i'm not in his borough.
Donkey, Swindon says...
5:08pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Typical of how it can highlight a nothing story about a few leaflets, which were apparently ordered from a local printing company, and splash such a one-sided over-embellished whole page of our 35pence waste of good paper pulp with it.
Things like this just about endorse the view that newspapers can crucify those who are not of their own particular beliefs.
It would not surprise me if there has been sabotage and mischief-making in the release of these misprints.
About time the Adver did not kowtow to every whim of the Conservatives and allow fair play as in democracy without interference ... but that will never happen, I know.
Mind you, it does make Heaton-Jones into a spoilt schoolboy having just grassed up a smoker behind the bike sheds!
Cjones1234, Swindon, Peatmoor says...
5:12pm Wed 9 Apr 08
as someone who lived in weszt swindon we had to sign to enable proceeding to go ahead just not all that well publicised because of the time is will take to happen.
steve-o, Swindon says...
5:24pm Wed 9 Apr 08
steve-o, Swindon says...
5:27pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Big Mac, says...
5:27pm Wed 9 Apr 08
I notice you never complain about the daily fluff that the Adver carries about Snelgrove and Wills, you know, saving the Japanese whales and such like, yet the moment the Adver prints a locally related story you whinge about Tory bias.
Donkey wrote:
It would not surprise me if there has been sabotage and mischief-making in the release of these misprints.
More comedy gold.
Are you seriously suggesting that, even if your baseless allegation were true, that a supposedly credible Labour councillor would allow his printed propaganda to go our without even proof-reading it first?!?
As usual, your immediate attempt to defend the indefensible gives you away.
You know **** well that this is highly embarrassing for Mr Grant.
Big Mac, says...
5:30pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Cjones1234 wrote:
an outdoor music venue is going ahead in west swindon its been under devlopment for some years now.....they cant proceed untill they have fully grown trees ect to block out some of the noise from the venue.
Is it April 1st again?
Do you seriously believe that a modern, sound-proofed music venue cannot be built until they wait 10 years for some trees to grow to provide sound protection?
Please could you let us know exactly where this music venue is going to be, what you signed and from whom the papers you signed came from?
Don't tell me, you've been sworn to secrecy...
Captain T, Swindon says...
6:20pm Wed 9 Apr 08
(read the article)
jo-ent, Swindon says...
8:05pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Just imagine if the boot was on the other foot: if the Conservative candidate had delivered leaflets getting his name wrong, and the Adver phoned Mr Gant. Are you seriously suggesting he would have said "ooh no, don't want to comment, bye!". Of course not.
Bottom line is: this has damaged the credibility of the Labour candidate...no mistake there.
WTF?, Swindon says...
8:23pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Therefore, all of us are paying, yet again, for another labour mistake!
Tony Hillier, Old Walcot says...
9:43pm Wed 9 Apr 08
The list of 1 May candidates is on Council website :
http://www.swindon.g
ov.uk/yourcouncil/el
ectoralregister/your
council-electoral-el
ections2004.htm
Tony
WTF?, Swindon says...
10:10pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Tony Hillier wrote:Crikey Tony, that's by far your best poem yet!
For information : The list of 1 May candidates is on Council website : http://www.swindon.g ov.uk/yourcouncil/el ectoralregister/your council-electoral-el ections2004.htm Tony
WELL DONE!
Justin Tomlinson, Taw Hill, Swindon says...
10:53pm Wed 9 Apr 08
WTF? wrote:To be fair to the Labour candidate they can't claim the cost of their leaflets from their Councillor expenses. (In addition Jim Gant isn't a Councillor either) So the reprint (and possibly 2nd reprint - when it rains hey?) will have to be paid by themselves - I'd imagine they were won't enjoy settling the bills post election.
Do you all realise that the councillor will claim for the printing cost of his campaign leaflets, whether printed correctly or not, through his expenses. Therefore, all of us are paying, yet again, for another labour mistake!
It is only MP's who have a 'Communication Allowance'. Labour recently increased this to a staggering £10k per year and is used by MP's to promote themselves. In North Swindon just as Brown planned his aborted snap election, a mass mailer was sent by the Labour MP, at the expense of us the tax-payer. We (Conservatives) will scrap this 'ego allowance'. We will also make sure the local tax-payer know how much has been spent over the next few years.
It is a disgrace for tax-payers money to be spent on political leaflets.
As you can tell I get really annoyed by this! It is not hard for local parties to raise the money from membership, events, donations etc. Enough people don't want to hear politicians as it is, that is their choice (and our choice to accept many will just be recycled) - so don't make people pay for it to!
Donkey, Swindon says...
10:54pm Wed 9 Apr 08
jo-ent wrote:There's a clever fellow ... I'll tell you what ... we are talking about the letter 'M' which is missing after the £52!
I've just seen a copy of the "corrected" leaflet which Mr Gant says is now being delivered. Yes, he has indeed corrected the spelling of his own name. BUT...it still says the canal will cost "£52". What a joke. People WILL care that a candidate who is seeking such a responsible position is so careless and irresponsible that he allows a leaflet to be delivered with so many mistakes. Just imagine if the boot was on the other foot: if the Conservative candidate had delivered leaflets getting his name wrong, and the Adver phoned Mr Gant. Are you seriously suggesting he would have said "ooh no, don't want to comment, bye!". Of course not. Bottom line is: this has damaged the credibility of the Labour candidate...no mistake there.
What a complete load of tosh to pull a decent man apart for such a minor typo / printing error.
What you have to realise is that Labour, locally, stand for, and within, their mutually well-respected communities, which is more than can be said of certain Tories in this town. Labour candidates are not funded by huge amounts of bank-rolling cash as are the Conservatives, however their sincerity is such that even without the massive campaign funding of the Tories, they deliver INDIVIDUALLY PREPARED leaflets with reference to their own campaign. We are talking many thousands of leaflets, is Mr Grant expected to read through every one of them? The process from draft copy to printing has failed him, he has not failed in his own ability and to suggest this is no more than the insult which one would expect to come from those spouting on about it.
So what, you might say? But, let's see what have the Tories distributed ... a single double sided, very predictable , boring, back-slapping, pack of lies about how Labour put up the Council Tax, which they are still utilising to pay their bills, leaflet, professionally, full colour printed by a Conservative press which IS NOT appertaining to their candidate's local ward in which they are standing.
It refers, as a panacea, for all the lot of them. Many tens of thousands of leaflets across the borough, totally identical, with no personal message at all, being prepared for them and scrutinised ... I guess the candidates had absolutely nothing to do with their written propoganda, maybe Mr Bluh could not trust his candidates to prepare their own material.
Where, might one ask, is the individual message from Conservative candidates?
It has been prepared for them ... at least Jim Grant and his supporters have used their own initiative to highlight their own message ... cannot the Tory candidates write their own piece, then we would have a parallel, would we not.
Until then, there is no discussion and the Adver should not have given such coverage to a nothing story.
Justin Tomlinson, Taw Hill, Swindon says...
11:56pm Wed 9 Apr 08
You say Labour's leaflets are INDIVIDALLY PREPARED, yet say Jim Gant would not have read the leaflet to proof it? Why not, it is his own leaflet?!!
All Conservative candidates have to submit their individual bits, and read their own leaflets pre-printing. They are the candidate, they have the final say on the style and content. I am staggered if you are saying Labour don't do that?!
BTW we do not have huge amounts of funds - wish we did! Nor do we spend a single penny of tax payers on leaflets.
jo-ent, Swindon says...
12:19am Thu 10 Apr 08
And in answer to your question, yes, Mr Gant IS expected to read through his leaflets before they're distributed. I'm staggered that you wouldn't think that was essential. The leaflets are, in effect, an application form for a job with huge responsibilities. If someone gets their name wrong on an application form....well, that's it, next candidate please. End of.
CK, Swindon says...
1:02am Thu 10 Apr 08
Illiterate and brain-dead.
WTF?, Swindon says...
6:59am Thu 10 Apr 08
And, if Labour members are so upstanding and decent, why was Tony Blair the only prime minister ever to have been dragged in for police questioning (about the cash for honours scandal that he somehow, but predictably, got away with) and why was Barrie Thompson caught sipping Sangria in Spain when he was being paid by council tax payers to represent the good people of The Parks?
Labour are the very worst kind of cynical hypocrits. Donkey's bleating posts highlight what many of us thought for a while now: they've been in power for too long and have become lazy, arrogant and believe they're always right.
Well, as Mr '£52' Gant has ably proven, they get it wrong at even the most basic level, constantly.
As jo-ent points out, who on earth would vote for a person who can't even spell their own name correctly/can't be bothered to check the leaflets that represent them?
P S Altery, Swindon says...
7:52am Thu 10 Apr 08
malkym, says...
9:44am Thu 10 Apr 08
WTF? wrote:WTF? You are too harsh - this is the only poem that Tone has penned lol!
Tony Hillier wrote: For information : The list of 1 May candidates is on Council website : http://www.swindon.g ov.uk/yourcouncil/el ectoralregister/your council-electoral-el ections2004.htm TonyCrikey Tony, that's by far your best poem yet! WELL DONE!
Labour Man he can't spell , Tory man says chuffin 'ell! Thinks he'll have a bit of fun -tell the folk what Jim's done, seems our Jim can't spell his name so PH-J decides to play a game,score points against the rival candidate - that's pretty pathetic mate! PH-J you're just not funny - go and sit down on the dunny!
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
10:00am Thu 10 Apr 08
jo-ent, Swindon says...
10:19am Thu 10 Apr 08
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:17am Thu 10 Apr 08
Big Mac, says...
11:46am Thu 10 Apr 08
Ah yes, but how would Mr Gant campaign on that issue when the two local Labour MPs voted to close the post offices and then drove back down the M4 to immediately pretend to campaign to keep them open?
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:23pm Thu 10 Apr 08
swindonlad, swindon says...
12:34pm Thu 10 Apr 08
jo-ent, Swindon says...
4:48pm Thu 10 Apr 08
And the question of whether UKIP candidates affect the overall outcome is not a red herring at all. It's a simple equation: UKIP can't win a seat, let's be honest. So, say X00 people voted for the UKIP candidate. How would those X00 people have voted if there was no UKIP candidate? Some wouldn't have voted at all, I accept that. But if they had voted, it almost certainly wouldn't have been for Labour. So the UKIP candidate is taking away vital anti-Labour votes from the only candidate that can actually beat Labour - the Conservative. The message is simple. If people want to defeat Labour, they HAVE to vote Conservative. Voting for UKIP, or another party, or not voting at all, will just split the anti-Labour vote and let Labour in by the back door.
It may feel good on election day to put the X in the UKIP box....but it'll feel pretty bloomin' awful the next morning when you wake up to find you've let Labour back in. Think about it people.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
7:05am Fri 11 Apr 08
The builder, Old Town says...
10:51am Fri 11 Apr 08
Vote conservative - get rid of labour
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:21am Fri 11 Apr 08
Ankh, Morpork says...
12:47pm Fri 11 Apr 08
WTF? wrote:Hahaha, nice one.
Tony Hillier wrote: For information : The list of 1 May candidates is on Council website : http://www.swindon.g ov.uk/yourcouncil/el ectoralregister/your council-electoral-el ections2004.htm TonyCrikey Tony, that's by far your best poem yet! WELL DONE!
Peter Heaton-Jones with the Labour leaflet
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A Tax Payer, Peatmoor says...
1:27pm Wed 9 Apr 08