Thirty five years ago I watched in awe as Sheffield United romped through the fourth division finishing a fantastic season as champions, breaking records along the way. As a member of the junior Blades I was able to watch in wonder from the terribly named “pen” for just 70 pence a game. My hero, Keith Edwards was top scorer in all four divisions notching up 36 in all competitions. I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of years ago for a blog article and he remembered the season as warmly as I did.  It was the first season that 3 points for a win was introduced and United managed to reach 96 points, winning 27 matches and scoring 94 goals. They lost just 4 games all season and were unbeaten at home. Liverpool were crowned League champions that year, with 87 points after scoring 80 goals and winning 26 games. Obviously one could argue that Liverpool were playing against much better teams but most Blades fans of a certain age remember that season fondly as it was the first trophy they had won for 29 years and the last trophy the club lifted. In the final game of the season away at Darlington the attendance was in excess of 11,000 with some claiming 10,000 of those were travelling Blades fans. In the previous game some 23,923 packed into Bramall Lane to see the final home game. I knew that day that I too would one day be a professional footballer – I was wrong.

The previous season had been a disastrous one. Neighbours Wednesday finished 10^th in the old 2^nd division while United finished 4th from bottom in the 3^rd division (in those days the bottom 4 went down). In the final game of the season, just needing a point for safety against a Walsall side also in the relegation battle, former Republic of Ireland international Don Givens missed a penalty in the dying minutes consigning the Blades to a 0-1 defeat and relegation to the bottom tier for the first (and only) time in their history.

Last season Sheffield United finished 11^th in league 1, winning 18 games and struggling to 66 points. They scored 64 times. After 6 years in league one the fans were becoming hostile and the club seemed in trouble. Following the appointment of Stocksbridge born, former player Chris Wilder, this season has been reminiscent of those 4^th division glory days.

With two games remaining United have already been crowned champions, and have won 28 games. If they win the last two matches they will reach 100 points. They have scored 86 league goals. Top scorer Billy Sharp has netted 27 times and is just one away from his 200^th career goal. He is the top scorer in all 4 divisions and the team have more points than any other. Their average home gates have been in excess of 21,000 with that number set to rise even higher with a sold out last game of the season against relegated Chesterfield.

Hopefully it wont be another 35 years before Sheffield United fans experience another title winning season but I wonder if Wilder, Sharp and the team realise the size of their achievement and the impact a season like this could have on thousands of young fans that have adored their heroes this term.

Blaming immigrants is the oldest right-wing game in history says Former Europe Minister.

Denis MacShane is a former journalist and MP. He was the youngest president of the NUJ in 1979 and went into exile when Margaret Thatcher was elected to work for the international trade union movements helping the Solidarity union in Poland, black trade unions in South Africa, Lula’s metalworkers in Brazil and the unions whose general strike in South Korea toppled the military dictatorship in 1987. He is unusal amongst British political activists in speaking European languages.

While an MP he was Minister of state for Europe. An active campaigner against antj-semitism while in Parliament, the former Rotherham MP who left the Common in 2012 was once chair of an anti-Semitism think tank called The European institute for the study of contemporary Antisemitism.  He wrote a book Globalising Hatred: the New Antisemitism in 2008. The BNP targeted him for attacks because of a chapter exposing its leader anti-semitic record. Since leaving office Dr MacShane is working “pretty much all the time on Brexit”. He says he writes or speaks on Brexit almost every day and has spoken on the subject all over the world from Washington to Tel Aviv. In January 2015 he published his book Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe, which predicted the outcome of the June 2016 referendum. He has written a new book on what happens next, which will be published in June 2017, on the anniversary of the referendum.

As a respected authority on the EU and Brexit, MacShane is well placed to answer the questions I put to him;

Was immigration the biggest factor in the Brexit vote? I asked.

“Yes. The focus of the anti-Europeans was on the number of European workers in the UK. The slogan “taking back control’ was direct from the UKIP line that the UK and to “take back control’ of its frontiers. At the Tory Party conference in October 2015, Theresa May, then the Home Secretary said “The number of immigrants coming in from Europe is unsustainable’ to thunderous applause. Staring with William Hague in 2001, then Michael Howard in 2005 and David Cameron in 2010, the Conservatives took the old language of Enoch Powell and updated it against European who came to work in the UK. There were some who genuinely did not like the EU and saw the problem as one of sovereignty but the dominant issue in every meeting and on every doorstep or in every radio phone-in was immigration”.

I asked if the referendum result had led to genuine rise in race related hate crimes or if the reports were being exaggerated? He told me “The police have stated quite clearly that the up to 100 per cent rise in hate crimes have clearly linked these attacks to the xenophobic attacks on the presence of Europeans in the UK which was at the core of the Brexit campaign. The Community Security Trust which reports on anti-Semitic attacks in the UK has also noted a major increase in anti-Jewish attacks since the referendum campaign with its focus on xenophobic themes”.

But did the electorate really understand the consequences when they voted to leave the EU and did they think that the cost (yet to be seen) a price worth paying or were they mislead into voting for something different to what they will end up with? Not according to Macshane, he says “the plebiscite it is now widely acknowledged was won on the biggest lies ever seen in a national vote - that £350 million a week would be available for the NHS, that 75 million Turks were about to arrive, that the Queen’s Speech was mainly written in Brussels or that a European Army was about to be formed. There was no effective discussion on the costs because we will not now these until the middle 2020s. The referendum was lost 15-20 years ago when a well-funded political campaign was launched with support from the Conservative leadership - forget UKIP – and powerful off-shore owned media networks to rubbish the EU and create the climate which made Brexit inevitable”.

The Labour party recently managed to hold on to Stoke on Trent in a bi-election, where UKIP’s new leader Paul Nuttall was a candidate. I asked the former member of Tony Blair’s cabinet if the victory signalled a change of heart and the beginning of the end for UKIP. He told me “Ukip is finished in March 2019 assuming that a political Brexit is unavoidable and the UK will elect no more MEPs to the European Parliament. UKIP is a one pony party. It has no programme for national or local government. It is simply an anti-European party with two linked demands - to win a plebiscite and to use it to amputate the UK from Europe. David Cameron conceded the former and UKIP fellow travellers like Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, David Davis and Michael Gove are hoping deliver the latter”.

Are we yet to see the consequences touted before Brexit around the stock markets crashing and the pound falling or were the claims just scare mongering?

Dr MacShane says “We have not left the EU so Brexit has not happened and the economic impact will not be known until the middle 2020s. But the announcements about moving work to Europe to guarantee access to the Single Market are not scare-mongering but cold reality. The Brexit devaluation is feeding into higher prices and inflation and the Government has had to abandon its economic programmes to increase debt and deficits to keep the economy afloat. Brexit is causing uncertainty in all sectors of economic activity and above all in FDI which only comes to the UK on the promise that any firm investing in Britain would have full, unfettered access to 450 million middle class consumers in Europe. Brexit breaks that promise”.

If UKIP are finished, I asked Can Labour win back the voters from UKIP or are they likely to go to other parties such as Conservative or more far right groups?

“Labour won back voters tempted by anti-immigration populism from Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher. Labour needs a convincing offer for many who feel with justification they are losers in the modern economy. Blaming immigrants is the oldest right-wing game in history - Jews in the 1930s, West Indians in the 1950s, Indians and Pakistanis in the 1970s and 1980s, Kosovan and asylum seekers in the 1990s, Poles, Slovaks, and other citizens of new EU member states in the last 15 years. When Labour has convincing policies and convincing spokespersons it will start to do well again!”

Ranieri sacked just 9 months after Prem success.

 

 

 

When Leicester City sacked Nigel Pearson and replaced him with Italian Claudio Ranieri many fans raised an eyebrow. Yes, he had managed some of the biggest and richest, most glamourous  clubs in the world; Napoli, Fiorentina, Athletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Monaco, but he had also been dismissed from a series of failed reigns, including a spell in charge of the Greek national side, where his team lost to the Faroe Islands.

In 2003 as Chelsea manager, he spent £120million on players including Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo, yet finished runners up to Arsenal.  During his time at Monaco, Raneiri took the French outfit to the Ligue 2 title for the first time in the clubs history. The following year his team finished runners up to PSG but his contract was not renewed.

In July2014 Rome born Ranieri took over as Greece manager on a 2 year,  1.6m euro deal. He lasted just 4 games before been relieved of his duties following the humiliation of losing to the Faroes. So when in July ’15 he took over at the midlands club Marcus Christenson of the Guardian called his appointment baffling. The man he replaced, former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough defender Nigel Pearson had taken the club from 12^th in the Championship to the Premier league but was sacked after a series of bazaar incidents including calling a journalist an Ostrich and grabbing an oppositions player by the throat during a game.

Ranieri  inherited a team Pearson had put together, narrowly avoiding relegation under Pearson after putting together an impressive run the season before, the bookies gave generous odds of 500-1 on premier league success.  To put that into perspective, the odds currently being offered on non-league Lincoln City winning the FA Cup this season are currently 250-1. Despite the doubters and the odds being heavily against Leicester they went on to win the Premier league by 10 points in an amazing season that saw the Foxes qualify for the Uefa Champions League for the first time.

Their 2-1 defeat in that competition to Sevilla on Tuesday night, just 9 months after winning the Premier league was Ranieri’s last game in charge. Tonight he was sacked with Leicester 1 point above the drop zone with just 21 points from 25 games and apparently in free fall. Early favourites for the job are former Palace manager Alan Pardew and the man that took the team to the Premiership Nigel Pearson.

Former Leicester striker and Match of the day pundit Gary Linaker, who famously said he would present the show in his pants if they won the title, said “after all Claudio has done for the club, to sack him now is inexplicable, unforgivable and gut wrenching”.

The Daily Mirror are claiming that it was the players who knifed their manager the back after complaining to the board but Match of the day presenter Ian wright tweeted “wonder how I’d feel if I was a Leicester player right now – could I have done more?”

Alan Shearer posted “wow. Staggering” on his twitter page.

It is sad that there is little loyalty left in the game. With so much money at stake in the game clubs can no longer afford the luxury of patience. Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, the longest serving manager in the premier league, currently in his 20^th year is a rarity. The second longest serving premiere league manager by comparison has been at Bournemouth just four years.

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life; a man who lives a full life is prepared to die at any time" - Mark Twain

When most of us lose a loved one there is no chance to celebrate the achievements of their life. It is perfectly normal when we suffer a bereavement to feel sadness, emptiness, even anger and often guilt. There are often thoughts of “I can’t go on without her”, or “if only..” or “why didn’t I tell him”. There will always be people saying to us “it gets easier” or “remember the happy times”, I’ve heard people say that it’s the circle of life, if a grandparent dies before their children and their children’s children it’s a good day- that’s how it should be, none of which of course make it any easier.

2016 has finally been carried out and left us to our thoughts at the wake. A miserable year, in which we voted to leave the European Union and saw terror attacks murder innocents all around the world. It was undoubtedly one of the worst years for losing celebrities in a very long time. The world mourned Bowie in January and George Michael in December, but do we really grieve celebrities that most of us have never and will never meet or know. Yes, we will miss out on any new materiel they might have made but many of those that have passed away have been relatively inactive for years and most have already made their impact on the world.

Bowie is often mentioned as an influence by modern musicians and no doubt a generation growing up the 80s will always remember Wham! and George Michael. They were both talented and gifted artists and their death gives us a chance to celebrate their work. What we always seem to forget though is that behind the flashing lights and the headlines, these are real people that have left behind loved ones that will miss them as real people. Those who died in ’16 will have been someone’s Son, Daughter, Mum, Dad, Brother Nephew, Niece or friend. We would do well to remember that.

David Bowie, Terry Wogan and Alan Rickman all died in January.       

                                     

In February critically acclaimed author Harper Lee passed away. Her 1^st book, to kill a mocking bird won the Pulitzer prize in 1961 yet her second book, the sequel Go set a watchman was only published in 2015.

TV Agony Aunt Denise Robertson died in March. The 83 had pancreatic cancer. Ronnie Corbett and magician Paul Daniels also died in March.

It’s hard to believe it was April when the world said goodbye to Prince. He passed away in his recording studio soon after apparently suffering from flu. 62 year old comedienne Victoria Wood also passed away in April.

Bread creator Carla Lane, who also wrote classics Butterflies and Liver birds died in May.

June saw the passing of boxing legend Mohammed Ali, he was voted sports personality of the millennium. The former world champion had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for decades.

 

In July comedy actress Caroline Aherne lost her battle with cancer she was just 52. She starred in the Royle Family as well as playing her alter ego Mrs Merton. As Mrs Merton she famously asked Debbie Mcgee “what first attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?”.

August 29^th saw us lose comedy actor Gene Wilder. The 83 year old was best known as Charlie in Charlie and the chocolate factory as well as roles in Blazing saddles and Young Frankenstein.   

  

 

 

Alexis Arquette, actress and transgender rights activist passed away on 11^th September aged 47.

LA Confidential director, Curtis Hanson died on 20^th September. The Oscar winner also directed 8mile and Wonder boys.

Golfing legend Arnold Palmer died on the 25^st September. He is considered by many as the man responsible for turning game from country club pursuit to one enjoyed by the masses. He was 87.  

   

Dead or Alive frontman Pete Burns passed away suddenly on October 23^rd. The following day US 60s idol Bobby Vee died. He was 73.

Singer song writer, Leonard Cohen died on the 10^th November. He was best known possibly for the hit Hallelujah .

 

 

 

 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Robert Vaughan passed away on November 11^th aged 83. He enjoyed a glitzy career, appearing in classic Western The magnificent Seven and The blockbuster Supermanlll. He was known in recent years as Milton in Coronation Street.

Comedy actor Andrew Sachs , most famous for his hilarious role in Fawlty Towers died on the 1^st day of December. He was 86.

 

Greg Lake, part of 70’s super group Emerson, Lake and Palmer died on 7^th December, his track, I believe in Father Christmas is a seasonal favourite.

Hollywood legend Zsa Zsa Gabor left us on December 18^th aged 99. The Hungarian born actress shot to fame as an actress although to many she was possible more well known for marrying and for the many delightful quotes attributed to her. She is quoted as saying “a man in love is incomplete until he is married, then he is finished” and “being jealous of a beautiful woman is not going to make you more beautiful”. She also quipped “I’m a marvellous housekeeper- every time I leave a man I keep the house”

 

 

On Christmas day we settled down in the evening, full of dinner and Christmas cheer to the news that George Michael had died at lunch time. The former Wham star apparently passed peacefully at home aged just 53.

 

 

On December 28^th we lost Debbie Reynolds tragically just the day after her daughter Carry Fisher. Reynolds was described as Hollywood royalty, staring in musicals such as Singing in the rain. Fisher of course had suffered years of addiction but seemed to be back on track when she had a heart attack on board an aircraft two days before Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                             Jean Holyhead 1946-2016

 

 

 

 

                

 

 

                                            

                                 

 

 

 

Football abuse shame

We are often critical of our footballers. Over-paid, prima donnas, stupid money grabbers, out of touch with reality, drunks, womaniser’s etc. etc.

We worship them from the terraces and sing their names when they play well for our favourite team or for our country but woe be tide them if they step out line. If they dare to leave our favourite team for a fatter pay cheque, we give little thought to their short lived career and the fact that they will probably be retired by their mid-thirties at best, but instead we call them mercenaries and worse. We pin our hopes on them before big tournaments, filling the back pages of our newspapers with their picture then slap them on the front page for going for a drink or a kebab after the game.

Whether this is just a British phenomenon where we like to build our celebrities up so we can knock them down or if it’s simple jealousy I’m not sure. Most of us boys grew up wanting to be footballers. I remember playing for hours every day, wishing I was as good as some of my peers never mind my heroes. I have often wondered how some of my peers didn’t make it to the big time when they were so talented. The truth is of course that it is incredibly difficult to be a professional footballer. Talent is not enough. It takes sacrifice that most of us are unwilling or unable to make. Strict diets, exercise, missing nights out with our friends, girls, boys are all just part of the reason most of those that might just have been good enough didn’t make. Of course, there is also an element of luck. As a teenager playing for a Sunday league team I wrote to Manchester United, suggesting that they might want to come along and watch me as I might just be the next Bryan Robson. They politely replied saying that if my team were to get to an area final they might send a coach along. As my team was losing every game by half a dozen goals every week, that was rather unlikely. Does that experience make me a little bit jealous of those who were lucky enough to get spotted and whipped from obscurity to fame and fortune? Probably!

There have been many hard luck stories published with sad regularity about former players turning to gambling, drugs, alcohol and tragedy once their illustrious careers finish but we seldom feel any real pity for them because they had it so good while they were playing. My heart bleeds for you-must have been awful having all that money to blow on booze and drugs..

 

This week though we learned about the dark side of the game that until now has never really been revealed. 18 police forces are investigating historic abuse of children and young men by football coaches at over 50 professional and amateur clubs.

Gary Johnson revealed that Chelsea football club paid him £50,000 to keep quiet about abuse at the hands of his former coach, Eddie Heath. Heath is now dead and unable to face charges but many other coaches it seems were doing similar things to vulnerable young boys while it seems some clubs turned a blind eye or simply failed to notice. The NSPCC who have set up a dedicated hot line, have received more than 860 calls as a series of ex-players have come forward.

The really shocking and scary part is that it could have been any of us. As I said, like many of my friends I played schoolboy football and innocently invited clubs to come and watch me. It never crossed my mind for a second that it might be a predator that came along to take advantage of me. I was lucky, Ashleigh United getting trounced 10-0 kept me safe but there were thousands of other boys up and down the country at any given weekend who were there for the taking. Someone said when the news first broke that this was footballs Saville moment. There can now be no doubt that this goes beyond football. Cricket, athletics, dance classes, basketball, in fact almost all sports have been guilty of failing to protect its participants.  It’s not good enough to say it was a different time with different attitudes. I’m certain that unless strict controls are put in place the abuse of children will continue. The FA and our football teams have a responsibility and the financial clout to take action and fast. It has taken great courage for some well-known ex-players to come forward and speak up after keeping their secret for decades. Finally, our heroes deserve our sympathy and we must encourage anyone who has or is still suffering abuse to speak so that action can be taken. These sick, manipulative, bullying, men must be stopped and punished. Sexual abuse does not make a kid a better player and it can never be excused.

 I am determined to play my part in delivering effective opposition and, ultimately a Labour Government.

Last year I was able to congratulate Sarah Champion, Member of Parliament for Rotherham, on her appointment to Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet as Shadow minister for preventing domestic violence and abuse. I asked her then if she thought of herself as a Westminster politician or a local MP. She told me unequivocally that she was elected by the people of Rotherham to represent the people of Rotherham. As she was one of the 36 MP’s to nominate Corbyn when he initially stood as leader, I asked Ms Champion if she thought he could lead the party into the next election. She said “looking at the major climb down the government has had to do over tax credits, yes, if we keep going in this vein, I believe Jeremy can lead us to the next election and victory”. With this in mind I was rather surprised when she stepped down from the shadow cabinet following what turned out to be a failed coup. She was however one of the first to return, before Corbyn was re-elected. I asked her if her decision to return was based on a belief that Jeremy was the right leader or if it was a determination to give support to the people who desperately need it. She said “I resigned following the PLP's vote of no confidence as I felt the leadership could not continue without a fresh contest. Once this contest was called I felt duty bound to return to my crucial work in supporting victims and survivors of abuse. It was for members to decide who should lead the party and I endorsed no candidate. I am pleased that this issue has now been so conclusively decided and am looking forward to working with Jeremy to hold the Tories to account and deliver a Labour Government”.

After such loyalty I asked Sarah if she was disappointed to not get a more high profile office but she told me “ I was delighted to be appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. I have been a vocal campaigner for equality all my adult life and in particular since my election to Parliament. This government talk the talk on equality but has failed time and time again to deliver. Our country is becoming more divided and less equal. 85% of all Tory cuts have been at the expense of women. One in four young gay people experience homophobic bullying online. There has been a rapid increase in rates of domestic violence and violence against women in the last six years. Disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people. Labours work on this is more vital now than ever before and I am thrilled to be able to play my part in securing a fairer, more equal society. I am also particularly grateful for the personal support Jeremy has given to me in the last few weeks”.

Now the miserable summer is over and Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected and has formed a new Shadow cabinet consisting mainly of Northerners and including several women and Trade unionists, I asked Sarah Champion MP if labour could put the summer behind them and raise a serious challenge for power.” I am delighted the disruption of the leadership contest is behind us. Jeremy has a clear mandate to lead the party and it is vital that we unite to take on the Tory Government. The issues we face in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the European Union are too important to allow internal division to prevent proper opposition and scrutiny of the new government. I am determined to play my part in delivering effective opposition and, ultimately a Labour Government. I know my colleagues are committed to do the same” she replied.

Ms Champions constituency in Rotherham was the scene of the shocking child abuse crimes involving hundreds of girls and her role in the shadow cabinet will inevitably lead to a great deal of involvement in those cases . I asked Sarah if South Yorkshire police can ever recover its reputation after systematically failing those girls and the recent revelations about the so called battle of Orgreave, the Rotherham 12 and Hillsborough. She said “South Yorkshire Police is obviously facing a difficult time. There has been serious criticism of its conduct over Orgreave, Hillsborough and more recently over its handling of child sexual exploitation. It is absolutely vital that the people of South Yorkshire can have faith in their Police. The first step to restoring that faith is ensuring that the truth about the force’s past conduct is fully known. That is why I have vocally called for inquiry into events at Orgreave and supported the work of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and the new inquests into the deaths at Hillsbrough”. Since this conversation of course new Home Secretary Amber Rudd has ruled out the possibility of an inquiry in to the events at Orgreave but I am cheered by Sarah Champions determination to do the right thing by her constituents and those who put their faith in a Labour party that will stand up for people like them. She told the Telegraph she was beyond about this. She told them “I am incredibly frustrated for the people who will never see justice, for years research has been done by the Orgreave Truth and Justice committee, and evidence gathered by the IPCC, and this feels like a complete snub for the people of South Yorkshire.

This week I received my election papers that enable me to vote who I would like to lead the Labour party. As a trade unionist I was relieved to have not been banned from the vote like many of my colleagues.  If I had been banned I would not now be faced with the dilemma that I do face. Who should I vote for?

Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership race after Ed Miliband quit following defeat at the last general election. Miliband had been attacked in the media for months leading up to the election and I believe acted with grace and integrity in the face of the very personal attacks he suffered. I mention this because the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn have been much worse.

While there was the occasional muttering of descent from MP’s under Miliband, the majority of his critics were in the media. TV and newspapers regularly lined up to take a shot at him for a variety of reasons, be it his Fathers heritage or the way he ate a bacon sandwich but on the whole rarely were there public assaults from his colleagues.

Corbyn faced criticism almost immediately from the moment he was put on the leadership ballot. Many believed he was put there purely to make a point and had little chance of being elected. He won the contest by a long way. The kind of scrutiny he has faced since has been unprecedented. Comments he made decades ago have been dug out and taken out context – as they would be 20 years later. His private life, his voting record and his beliefs have all been strewn across our papers and social media sights for months. Opposition politicians and business men are queuing up to slate him, not to mention the constant barrage from members of his own party.

He faced a mass walk out as the majority of his shadow cabinet resigned following the brexit defeat and then there was a vote of no confidence from many of his MP’s.

The actions and comments of some of those MPs have absolutely disgusted me. I’m not suggesting they should be loyal to the leader no matter what, after all Corbyn himself has been a habitual rebel. What has disgusted me the most has been the attitudes of many of his fellow Labour MPs towards the very people that elected them. The infighting and offensive remarks on twitter and facebook  and in the papers about Corbyns supporters has been nothing short of appalling. Labour is supposed to be a broad church, supporting and standing up for working people and the poorer people in society, unable to stand up for themselves. There have been sustained criticisms of the movement Momentum, and accusations that the new supporters aren’t real supporters but left wing nutters hell bent on destroying the party. While I’m sure there may be an element of truth in this- some of those supporters will undoubtedly have far left attitudes but there will also be a huge number of them that are simply inspired by Corbyns anti establishment image- it didn’t do Nigel Farage and his UKIP party any harm.

I voted for Corbyn at the last leadership election because I firmly believe that there is an appetite in this country for more left wing, anti austerity politics from the party. I think people are fed up of being punished for the state of our country that they did not cause. Bankers, businessmen and politicians have made this country be a country of haves and have not’s. The likes of Cameron and Farage have done a great job of creating divisions up and down the country with their propaganda pitting rich against poor, English against immigrant, working against lazy black against white. The fact is that not everything is black or white and the choices that people make do not have to be binary choices. I take great exception at been called a raging leftie or even a Corbynista. I am a trade unionist from a working class family that believes in equality and fairness and thinks that those in the position to help the less fortunate should. I’m not a socialist nor do I wear any other label. I just want a kinder politics where the people we elect to represent us do so with respect for each other and those who elected them. I expect that from who ever I vote for within the Labour party, it is essential.

We, the group of people who believe that everyone deserves an education, a roof over their head and rights in the workplace should be stood side by side, fighting those who do not share our beliefs, not those that do. Call it naivety, but I expect those things to be on the agenda of either candidate. I have seen little if any criticism about policy. Apart from those who disagree with Corbyn on Trident and borders, most people actually agree with his policies on traditional Labour values such as wanting to bring our railways back into public ownership and wanting to protect the NHS from privatisation.

My fear is that rather than uniting the party, which ever candidate is successful may lead to deeper splits in the party. The majority of trade unions seem to back Mr Corbyn and as the unions are the biggest financial contributor to the party, it worries me greatly what might happen if as some predict the party does split. People on both sides of the party seem to see this as likely. Some think that if Corbyn wins the MPs who oppose him will split and set up their own group and others believe that if Smith wins the Unions might take their money away and set up their own group. What we need if we are to persuade the electorate is Unity and support for who ever wins but people must put the welfare of the party before their own agendas.