FROM A DISTANCE....

It's almost 40 years since as a rather eccentric 12-year-old I was allowed to stay up late and watch the 1970 General Election. The one which Labour was predicted to win - and didn't. This time I will remember the 2010 Election for very different reasons.
Due to family commitments, I will simply be unable to do much beyond observe the next six weeks or so from a distance.
Yesterday, I sat with my dad ( re-located to my sister's with en suite facilities) for the day and listened to the (non British Airways) planes flying in and out of Manchester Airport as we watched escapist telly . We did also catch the news footage of the UNITE picket lines at Heathrow and it's been interesting to see the media drag out folk memories of the 1980s in their bid to discredit union leaders. Equating Charlie Whelan with Arthur Scargill, lots of shots of "union barons" with clenched fists and angry faces. The battleground is already very clear.
What is not clear is the result.
Last Sunday I was able to join the mass canvas in John McDonnell's Hayes and Harlington constituency, which includes Heathrow Airport. It was really heartening to see so many union activists and Labour supporters on the ground and utterly committed to retaining the seat for a socialist MP.
The LRC National Committee last Saturday voted to give the maximum we can afford to the 20 or so left candidates across the country who desperately need our help if they are going to get back to Westminster.
We don't have Ashcroft's millions. What we do have is bodies on the ground and candidates with a fjne track-record. In the last few weeks, they have been joined by Ian Lavery in Wansbeck and John Cryer in Leyton and Wanstead.
In the weeks ahead, the media attacks will become relentless. I am still hopeful that socialist ideals and track records of commitment and hard work at constituency level will see substance winning out over spin and left-baiting . In the weeks to come, the LRC website will be covering all aspects of the campaign. Katy Clark MP is the latest to explain what kind of Labour policies she wants to see after the election.