Ellee Seymour

Julian Sturdy, who will contest the new parliamentary seat of York Outer for Conservatives, has been getting positive feedback from his grassroots campaigning where all the target seats are held by Lib Dems – for now. We will soon know whether Labour has taken the northern vote for granted, or how much of a struggle it has been for Tories. This is Julian’s report written last night:

“Just got in from another evening of canvassing. My day today started off delivering pledge letters around the York City Council ward of Wheldrake which is one of our target wards currently held by the Lib Dems. This afternoon and evening we have been canvassing in Heworth Without, another target ward also held by the Lib Dems. In fact, all our target wards on York City Council are currently held by the Liberal Democrats and at the moment we have no Conservative councillors – but all that is about to change on May the 3^rd, or in fact actually May the 4^th as we are having the count on the Friday morning here in York, which I personally don’t agree with, but that is another story.

“The reception I have been getting on the doorstep tonight, and all the other nights and weekends I have been out canvassing, is very encouraging. Nationally, there is definitely a lot of dissatisfaction with Tony Blair and the Labour Government and grave concern over the prospect of Gordon Brown being handed the keys to Number 10. Locally here in York, voters are concerned about:

• the levels of anti-social behaviour and the lack of a visible police presence
• the lack of youth facilities in the area and the fact that the local Lib Dems have cut the funding and centralised the youth facilities leaving the outlying villages on the edge of York with very little provision
• traffic chaos in and around the city is an issue which is constantly brought up and the fact that the local council has no long term plan to solve it
• like myself, people are very concerned about our local hospital and the cuts in services it is having to make due to the primary care trust and the fact that it is £35 million in debt leaving us with a health service run on a postcode lottery basis.

“The North of the country is going to be the key to any future general election success for our party and I was delighted that David Cameron took the time to come to York in April to launch our local election manifesto. It stressed how important it is for us as a party to make gains in the North on Thursday and I am confident here in York on May the 3^rd or 4^th, we will have Conservative representation back on the City of York Council after an absence of four years which locally will give us a platform to build on for the future.â€?

*Background: The City of York Council has been a unitary authority since 1995, it has 47 seats. The council is controlled by the Liberal Democrats and has been since the 2003 local elections. Before then, Labour controlled the council, winning majorities in the 1995 and 1999 elections until in 2000 when two by-elections resulted in a hung council. The council is made up of Liberal Democrats 29 seats; Labour 15 seats; Green Party 2 seats and Independent 1 seat.

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While my son James heads off for another day of filming today as an extra in a new ITV drama called The Whistleblower with Carnival Films,  my thoughts are with fearless whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu who revealed the secrets of Israel’s nuclear weapons to The Sunday Times. He faces further incarceration for refusing to be silenced.

He was subsequently abducted in Rome by Israeli Mossad agents and smuggled to Israel, where he was tried in secret and convicted of treason. He spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement. Vanunu was released from prison in 2004, subject to restrictions on his speech and movement.

He now faces a further prison sentence for violating the terms of his release by talking to the media. Since his release Vanunu has tirelessly campaigned for the Jewish state to be disarmed while denying Israeli officials’ charges that he has more secrets that he could divulge if allowed to emigrate.

Vanunu has become a symbol for the international peace movement and activists will continue to highlight his plight. Almost 1,000 signatures were collected during a recent bike ride from Scotland to London and presented to Downing Street, urging Tony Blair to use his influence. It said:

“Vanunu has no secrets. You know it, Israel knows it, we know it. You know that Israel’s persecution of him is wrong. Still, because Israel has the power and the patronage of the world’s most powerful State, it acts against conscience, decency, morals and righteousness. Israel wields its power, not justice, over him. But Might is not Right and the pendulum of power swings fast from side to side. Today’s winners are tomorrow’s losers. What is important in the human family is that values of decency, respect and goodness are remembered by both losers and winners to the advantage of both.

“As cyclists who have pedalled over 500 miles to be here today, we call on you to go the extra mile – use your influence to end the persecution of Mordechai Vanunu.”

So do you believe Vanunu is hero or traitor?  Meanwhile “Cindy”, the blonde who helped snare him in a honeytrap and entice him to Rome, now lives in Florida - her reward, perhaps?

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