Tulip Siddiq

This article was published on April 9 on the Progress website.

This week I had the chance to spend some time observing Gordon Brown in the flesh. More than being excited, I was curious…

It’s all very well being in the midst of a throng of Labour party faithfuls where you get thanked for all you do but scrutinising him up close and personal is a different ballgame altogether.

The truth is that if every voter in the country could spend two minutes talking to Gordon Brown, Labour would win by a landslide. Forget cycling to work, forget the white opened-neck shirts, forget chilling on a beach in Cornwall. Frankly speaking Gordon Brown actually knows how to run the country.

The clarity of his answers when you ask him questions about Labour’s policies is what impressed me. His ability to relate effortlessly to people from different ages is what assured me. His progressive ideas when it comes to gay rights is what filled me with confidence about the future.

And, finally, his ability to remember all the marginal seats that Labour are targeting (including those in Gloucestershire) reinforced my belief that Gordon Brown is the only credible PPM in this election.

For those of you reading this and dismissing me as a Labour hack – actually I’ve disagreed with a lot of Labour policies and politicians in the past. Just read my previous articles if you’re in doubt. Or better yet, ask my colleagues in the party……!!

It’s been a nail-biting summer, with rumours and questions about whether he would return – and if not, who would lead? Thankfully we now know that Torres is going nowhere, and we can finally relax a little bit!

In all seriousness, it’s been one of the most rewarding, draining and packed summers that I can remember. One thing I have been trying to fit in throughout is a big update to my website – and I’m now going through old websites and newspapers to find articles that I’ve written recently.

I’ll be adding them over the next few days, and then getting back into the swing of updating often! For those who haven’t followed me on Twitter yet, go here to do that -> http://twitter.com/tulipsiddiq

I also have a new Facebook page, so stay up to date with all my updates by clicking here -> Tulip Siddiq on Facebook

Afternoon everyone! Good weekend?

I went out in Hampstead on Saturday after a long time and obviously had to stop by La Creperie de Hampstead. If you’ve never been, you are missing out! Truly indulgent but I thought I deserved it after canvassing all day….(or at least that’s what I told myself)

Anyway! The two major issues I’ll be campaigning on this week in Regent’s Park are –

1) The Crown Estate sell-offs. I went to the fantastic demonstration in front on the Crown Estate HQ last week and you can see my photos here.

2) The proposed High Speed Train coming into Euston. Frank Dobson MP raised his concerns about this proposal during the High Speed Rail debate in the House of Commons and you can read the full debate here.

Following on from Frank’s debate, I wrote to the Ham and High newspaper this week expressing my trepidation about the proposal.

It’s on Page 16 if you’ve managed to get hold of a copy. Otherwise here is it below –

Dear Editor

I am extremely concerned about the route being proposed for the High Speed Train coming into Euston. Although the introduction of the High speed train will give the area a boost, it simply cannot be done at the expense of the residents. The current plans mean that a significant part of the Regent’s Park estate will be affected. It is not an option to destroy people’s homes during this process.

The railway engineers need to have an immediate consultation with the residents in the area. We need to protect their homes and we cannot allow this expansion of Euston to have a devastating impact on our community.

Yours sincerely

Tulip Siddiq

Ps – my Red readers …… Torres Torres Torres!!

Afternoon everyone! I know I’ve disappeared from the blogosphere but I blame Twitter entirely for that. Now that I’m tweeting, I just don’t have time to blog as well. I knew I should have stayed away…

Anyway, if you look on the right hand side of this page, you’ll see my Twitter feed popping up occasionally (thanks as always Oli)

It’s been a busy month …..

On local issues – we had a great Regent’s Park Area Forum where we discussed the effects of climate change.

I’ve been campaigning on tube closures and you can see my letter to the Camden New Journal here.

(You might have to scroll down a bit)

We’ve had an amazing victory with the Albany Street Post Office reopening in Regent’s Park. You can see Cllr Theo Blackwell’s blog about it here.

I’m extremely proud of the Crown Estate Residents’ Association for their inexhaustible campaign on saving their homes. They’ve had coverage in national papers including the Guardian.

The Ham&High newspaper published my letter on the Crown Estate sell-offs but it isn’t online so here’s the text –

Dear Editor

Bravo to the Residents’ Association and tenants from Regent’s Park Crown Estate for the excellent meeting held on monday night! The room was packed with residents who were rightfully protesting against plans to sell the freeholds of their homes. I want all residents to rest assured that local activists like myself will support this extremely important campaign.

I have expressed my concerns to senior politicians including the Housing Minister John Healey and Harriet Harman. I will continue to lobby anyone and everyone about this absurd proposal. We will not allow people to be forced out of their own homes without a fight!

Tulip Siddiq

By the way, if you want to support this campaign, please do sign the online petition. It will only take a minute!

Furthermore if you pick up the Camden New Journal today, you’ll see a quote from me condemning the access to inappropriate websites in St Pancras Library.

Finally, this week I am also campaigning against the proposal for the High Speed Train to come into Euston, against the sale of our council homes by the Tory/Lib Dem council and against the closure of the Whittington Hospital Accident & Emergency Unit.

Thanks for reading and have a good evening.

Ps – Liverpool supporters – it’s going to be a big one for us on Sunday!

Good evening everyone!

Did anyone watch Tower Block of Commons last night? It made me cringe…

Anyway, I wanted to draw your attention to an article I wrote. It’s been published by Progress here.

And if you’re not in the mood to click on any other links, here’s the article:

I don’t tweet. Deal with it.

Apparently people can’t deal with it. It doesn’t matter that I have five email accounts, write a blog, text faster than you speak, obsessively Facebook (or Stalkbook.)…no. Just not good enough these days. Why this obsession with Twitter? Is it because the next election will be the first one in the UK where new media is likely to play a large part?

It’s been said before but I’ll say it again – e-campaigning is in no way an alternative to the original door-to-door canvassing. You simply can’t replace mailshots with emails and Facebook messages, or speeches with blogs and Youtube videos.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good idea to use Facebook but politicians need to ensure that they do it the right way.

Last year when the expenses scandal erupted, reporters utilised Facebook accounts to expose politicians. This article practically bases its argument on Baroness Uddin’s line about ‘east end of London’ on her Facebook profile. Perhaps a technology-savvy politician would have been more aware of how statements can get taken out of context. Similarly an MP’s wife complained about a local restaurant in her husband’s constituency on her Facebook status. It was on the local paper’s website within minutes.

The fact is that these attempts to use technology won’t work unless you invest a little bit of time to explore them. You don’t need a PhD in Twitter but you need to know that if you say anything controversial in your status updates, it will get out to a wider audience very quickly. Merely using new technology won’t help you connect with the youth; you also need to understand it.

Then there’s the issue of “live” website and “static”. I’ve come across countless constituency websites with blogs or ‘the latest news’ on them. Except the ‘latest news’ is actually six months old. The enthusiastic person who took up the initiative obviously got bored (like when I joined my gym… seemed like a good idea at the time) If you don’t have time to update it, have a website with generic information that doesn’t age. Otherwise you look sloppy (or physically unfit in my case)

The moral of the story? If you want to make yourself available, ensure that you carry it through.

I do want to see politicians making better use of this technology. Social networking means better scrutiny of politics and engagement of younger people to a greater effect. It also holds the potential for a genuine mass democracy.

We’ve all seen those annoying Facebook groups ‘If this group gets 1,000,000 members I’ll call my unborn child Spider Pig…’, but these people may be on to something. We have the tools now to mobilise people around causes en masse. This type of mass democracy could provide a refreshing change from our ‘elected dictatorship’ and answer some of the criticisms of over-centralisation of power.

Can I give you a nerdy example? In the US, the Pickens Plan, a blueprint to reduce America’s foreign oil dependence, has recruited 1.5 million online supporters, built a 200,000 person strong social network and produced over 1.1 million emails to Congress and the administration. (push.pickensplan.com if you’re really interested)

Ultimately there is massive potential for politicians to do their job better by using social media. MPs just need to use a range of methods. Youtube and Facebook is successful in engaging the young, but old fashioned techniques are still relevant. My mother prefers writing to Glenda Jackson via snail mail but my teenage sister will email her MP because she’s more comfortable doing so.

Anyway I am off to join Twitter before I lose all my street cred. However, I’m still going door-knocking in my local ward this weekend. Saturday at 2pm in Regent’s Park if anyone wants to help me out…