Gary McVeigh-Kaye
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Why I want to stand as Labour's candidate in Pudsey

4/20/2017

8 Comments

 
After some consideration and discussion with those closest to me I have decided that I wish to seek the nomination to be the Labour Party candidate for Pudsey in this year’s General Election.

This election campaign will be relatively short and it must be fought on issues that are impacting on many people in our constituency right now. The Tories will lead you to believe that this election is all about Brexit; but they’re wrong. It’s about those millions of people in jobs with zero hours contracts. It’s about the millions of families having to visit food banks each year to feed their themselves and their children. It’s about the crisis in funding facing almost every school in the country. It’s about the chaos within the NHS, brought about by lack of genuine investment. 

This election, more than any other, is a binary choice between deeper and wider cuts, as the Tories trample on society with the boots of their austerity agenda, or a genuine alternative with a progressive Labour Party, ready to fight for a fairer and more equal Britain.

This is a Labour Party that will:

•    Introduce a £10 an hour LIVING WAGE
•    Push for FULL EMPLOYMENT
•    Commit to building 100,000 new COUNCIL HOUSES per year
•    End exploitative ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS
•    Integrate a PROPERLY FUNDED NHS and social care system
•    Create a NATIONAL EDUCATION SERVICE 
•    RENATIONALISE RAILWAYS as franchise agreements come to an end
•    Ensure that the estimated £34 to £102 billions of unpaid tax is collected

Under 7 years of Tory Government the national debt has risen to almost £1 TRILLION, that’s 85.3% of GDP. Before the economic crisis of 2008, caused by the free market that the Tories love so much, the % of national debt to GDP under the Labour Government was 39%. The Tories have the audacity to say that Labour cannot manage the economy. The Tories have miss-managed the economy and miss-managed our country.

The Pudsey constituency is a wide and diverse community. When elected as MP I will work my hardest for everyone in this constituency, not just the chosen few.

Living in Horsforth is wonderful and I’m lucky to have friends and acquaintances in many other parts of the constituency. A Labour Government will enable communities like ours to be even better. 

We have a campaign team in place and we’re already out there on the doorsteps, talking directly to voters and delivering the Labour message. This won’t be an easy seat to win but we have a fantastic line-up of Labour activists ready to fight day and night to return this seat to the Labour Party.  I feel I am the right person to take on sitting MP Stuart Andrew. Whilst his party leader runs away from public debate I would relish the opportunity to stand toe to toe with Stuart Andrew and remind him of the woeful mess his party has led us into.

I hope I can count on the support or my many friends and colleagues, I hope I can achieve the candidacy for Pudsey and I hope that I welcome in 9th June as the MP for Pudsey going to Parliament to serve in a Labour Government.

8 Comments
Labouractivist
4/21/2017 10:13:55 am

How many times are you going to delete my comments???? What changed for in two years for you to go from wanting to represent a fanatic party like TUSC to wanting to represent Labour? The fact you can't answer shows the kind of person you are and kind of politician you'll be. The type that runs from difficult questions

Reply
Gary McVeigh-Kaye
4/21/2017 11:43:44 am

OK Tariq, you've made your point. I have NEVER hidden the fact that I stood for TUSC in the local elections in 2015. At that time I thought the heart and fight had been ripped out of the Labour Party. Many people felt the same. I did not want to join another political party but I did want to offer people a left wing alternative. TUSC was a very loose coalition of left wing campaigners. I'll be very honest and say that, on reflection, I genuinely wished I'd stayed in the Labour Party and fought for a more representative party from within at that time. I'm a schoolteacher and I'll tell you this, many people make mistakes in life; we all do it. But this world is about lifelong learning. I'm 47 and guess what, I'm still learning. What I do know is that I'm proud of the traditions of the Labour Party but I'm not blind to some of the faults. I was a Labour Party member for many years before 2012 and I rejoined in January 2016. I want to fight to return a Labour Government that will stand up for the majority of people in this country, not just protect the wealthy minority. This election will be won on the cobbles and I truly believe that I am the person to take Stuart Andrew on and show him and his party up for what they really believe in. At the same time, our party has some amazing policies that will bring an end to austerity and make the lives of most people much, much better. None of us can change the past, but we can shape the future. Now, you can to continue to gripe and undermine me, that's your choice, but as I've explained I made a decision with all good conscience in 2015, I now accept it was not the correct decision but that's life. Let's fight together to rid our country of this vile and divisive Tory Government.

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Labouractivist
4/21/2017 10:19:54 am

Are you trying to turn Labour into a mockery???

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Pudseylocal
4/21/2017 10:38:55 am

Just googled this guy and just googled TUSC. Labour are back to its militant days. Do you actually think you can win a Tory marginal 😂

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Gary McVeigh-Kaye
4/21/2017 11:45:57 am

Please accept my apologies for the curtness of this reply, I'm busy marking A Level coursework, but YES, I do believe that that Labour Party will defeat Stuart Andrew and take this seat back for the people.

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Labouractivist
4/21/2017 11:52:14 am

Labour have a good shot in Pudsey actually. Hopefully people see a positive anti austerity message rather than a left wing/right wing divide which is toxic.

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Nick84
4/21/2017 07:50:07 pm

If you expect Pudsey locals to vote for you how do you expect them to believe your not a militant or Trotskyist. If I'm correct TUSC was founded by a former militant Labour mp, holds eurosceptic views and has an ideology closer aligned to communism. What is this malarkey. At this rate I rather not vote. What are your opinions on the EU?

Reply
Gary McVeigh-Kaye
4/21/2017 08:53:47 pm

I'd like the people of Pudsey to vote for me because I stand up for core Labour principles and values. The values we will take to the doorstep during this election. I am not a militant in any sense of the word, I was a bit too young for all those shenanigans in the 80s. I'm not quite sure what you think a Trotskyist is. It's very easy to band around these terms as a means of discrediting people but I have read political theory wide and long and I am open-minded enough to take interesting and progressive ideas from a number of political and cultural theorists. Prof Brad Davies is a current academic whose work I admire a great deal. So in your very narrow terms, I am please to confirm that NO, I am not a Trotskyist. In terms of Europe, I campaigned and to remain in the EU, realising that fundamental changes needed to made to the inherently unrepresentative system. Whilst I was disappointed with the Referendum result I fully accept the democratic will of the voters, unlike the Lib Dems who appear to want to disregard an election result simply because they feel that is the only way they can distance themselves from the damage they caused during their 5 years of coalition. I am a proud socialist, very much distinct from communism I'm sure you'd agree. If elected I would work tirelessly as a constituency MP to represent ALL people in Pudsey, not just protect the vested interests of the few. Whatever happens in the selection process, I will be speaking to hundreds of people over the next few weeks. I'm sure that when people speak to me face to face they'll quickly realise that I'm not some Stalinist monster, rather a decent principled politician who will not shy away from answering straight questions.

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    Gary McVeigh-Kaye has been involved in politics at many levels over the years. As a committed activist and staunch socialist he has spoken at many demonstrations and been involved in union activity.

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