[Archived] Has Jack Straw Been Good For Blackburn?

[JAL]

Jack 's been representing Blackburn for many a year but more importantly he's been a high profile member of the government thats been in power over the past decade whilst being Blackburn's representative has he really done any good in that time?.

With the changes that have taken place over the past decade linked with Rovers seemingly inability to attract more fans i ask the question, what isnt quite right with Blackburn area.

I dont want this to end or for anyone to point out the immigration issue but are we.. all seeing... improved education, improved employment, improved prosperity in all things positive in life.

As a resident of Blackburn, the people in my area just round the back of the Fernhurst pub were kindly asked to vote for the people of Darwen and Rossendale by Jack Straw..what was all that about.

Please add your views.

[cletus]

As a resident of Blackburn, the people in my area just round the back of the Fernhurst pub were kindly asked to vote for the people of Darwen and Rossendale by Jack Straw..what was all that about.

what was all that about? can you explain a bit more?

I`ve met Jack on a few occassions. Seems a decent enough guy, although i don`t always agree with his politics. I do feel he tends to pander to asian population of the town ,but don`t want to dwell on that.

During the last election campaign, i bumped into him in Millhill. He was meeting & greeting & kissing babies (the usual stuff) he bounded over to me with fixed grin & asked if i`d vote labour. I shook his hand & said i`d never shaken hands with somebody who`d shaken the hands of a mass murderer.....his grin still fixed, he asked who i meant. I said Robert Mugabe at the UN. Without changing expression he just walked away.

To give him some credit, i do agree on his stance with the muslim veil.....something which may see him getting the boot at the next election.

[JAL]

what was all that about? can you explain a bit more?

I`ve met Jack on a few occassions. Seems a decent enough guy, although i don`t always agree with his politics. I do feel he tends to pander to asian population of the town ,but don`t want to dwell on that.

During the last election campaign, i bumped into him in Millhill. He was meeting & greeting & kissing babies (the usual stuff) he bounded over to me with fixed grin & asked if i`d vote labour. I shook his hand & said i`d never shaken hands with somebody who`d shaken the hands of a mass murderer.....his grin still fixed, he asked who i meant. I said Robert Mugabe at the UN. Without changing expression he just walked away.

To give him some credit, i do agree on his stance with the muslim veil.....something which may see him getting the boot at the next election.

When the new housing development of Oakdale was being built Jack Straw made all the people who live on Oakdale vote for the constituents of Rossendale and Darwen so much was his fear of not gaining their vote. I dont know if that also applies to the residents of Fernhurst farm.

[yoda]

When the new housing development of Oakdale was being built Jack Straw made all the people who live on Oakdale vote for the constituents of Rossendale and Darwen so much was his fear of not gaining their vote. I dont know if that also applies to the residents of Fernhurst farm.

carefull JAL, when i posted something that included JS it was deleted by the mods, even though it was factual!

[Grabbi Graeme]

i can see where this thread is heading, are we taking bets on how long this thread stays open

[thenodrog]

As a resident of Blackburn, the people in my area just round the back of the Fernhurst pub were kindly asked to vote for the people of Darwen and Rossendale by Jack Straw..what was all that about.

Please add your views.

He was advised that the new residents were likely not to vote Labour so he pulled rank on Darwen MP Janet Anderson and dumped em into her constituency. Dirty game politics.

[thenodrog]

i can see where this thread is heading, are we taking bets on how long this thread stays open

Not long imo.

So for what it's worth should anybody care to purchase a Tardis and go back to the town in the 1960's under his predecessor Barbara Castle through the 70's/80's when he took over to present day they will see that his and Castle's tenure has been a complete and unmitigated disaster for the citizens and the area. A constant and creeping degenerative malaise for the whole area. The only good being that we got rid of polio and the Walkers sold their steel business to the govt.

Firstly there are lots of good people in Blackburn and there used to be lots more! Over the years I have seen countless thousands leaving for one reason or another. Obviously and there can be no argument here that mass immigration is the big issue and the issue which has got to be laid at the door of Jack Straw and central govt (and both ruling parties). Straws tenure is however intertwined with decades of Lab controlled local govt (who replaced civic pride with an administration steeped in an almost totalitarian bitterness and retribution) has punished the town by bulldozing the old town centre, replacing it with concrete and steel and destroying any character and charm that existed before. Added to that the disproportionate distribution of funding to certain areas, comprehensive education the demise of industry and it is plain that Blackburn has become a run down depressed town with little or chance of future prosperity.

I'll give any youngster the same advice that I have given my kids...... If you want anything decent and rewarding out of your life, if you want prosperity, if you want to excel, if you want to live in a place which will provide a future for your own children then get t f out as fast as you bloody well can.

[dave birch]

Not long imo.

provide a future for your own children then get t f out as fast as you bloody well can.

Blah de blah de bloody blahdy blah.

Theno, you continually spout, How about doing something rather than spouting?

You really are a persistant whinger aren't you? I don't mind people complaining, as long as they can give an alternative, but you, shert, you complain,and complain, and complain and don't give a solution.

When was the last time you did something about something you objected to?

Apologies to everyone, but theno should recognise that the world doesn't revolve around him.

Theno, on football things you talk more sense, here, you get way off beam.

[Paul Mellelieu]

If it was only that simple 'drog.

Jack Straw and Castle before him can't he blaimed for the ills visited on the town over the last decades. And of course you know it.

[thenodrog]

Blah de blah de bloody blahdy blah.

Theno, you continually spout, How about doing something rather than spouting?

You really are a persistant whinger aren't you? I don't mind people complaining, as long as they can give an alternative, but you, shert, you complain,and complain, and complain and don't give a solution.

When was the last time you did something about something you objected to?

Apologies to everyone, but theno should recognise that the world doesn't revolve around him.

Theno, on football things you talk more sense, here, you get way off beam.

Quote thenodrog........"Firstly there are lots of good people in Blackburn and there used to be lots more! Over the years I have seen countless thousands leaving for one reason or another."

errr How is life in SYDNEY these days Dave?

[thenodrog]

If it was only that simple 'drog.

Jack Straw and Castle before him can't he blaimed for the ills visited on the town over the last decades. And of course you know it.

Maybe not but every election thay assure us most vehemently that only a vote for them can put things right don't they Paul?

I don't put these people in the firing line they put themselves there.

[SouthAussieRover]

I'll give any youngster the same advice that I have given my kids...... If you want anything decent and rewarding out of your life, if you want prosperity, if you want to excel, if you want to live in a place which will provide a future for your own children then get t f out as fast as you bloody well can.

I've done it mate and I'm glad I've done it.

I hope my children realise the sacrifices we made to ensure they had the future you refer to.

[JAL]

If it was only that simple 'drog.

Jack Straw and Castle before him can't he blaimed for the ills visited on the town over the last decades. And of course you know it.

So hold on a minute, what is Straw and the Governments role, and what do we expect of them, are you saying they are just bystanders to a deteriorating state, if so i find it wholly unexceptable.

What is happening in Blackburn for me mirrors many a town around our country, Preston, when i visited the friendly game showed many signs of neglect you could see the grass along the roadside wasnt being cut as regularly as it should be, rubbish strewn on the streets, people in buildings who obviously didnt have the cash to improve their home.

But its Blackburn were debating, yoda has left like many others i know, but they only leave for a better life why isnt that better life in Blackburn ?

For me the only one person left fighting Blackburn's cause is Margeret Grimshaw or known to others as Margo, she is the only one worthy of representing Blackburn as an MP.

[cletus]

For me the only one person left fighting Blackburn's cause is Margeret Grimshaw or known to others as Margo, she is the only one worthy of representing Blackburn as an MP.

Jeez!! i`ll pack my bags now then ,eh?

Margo for MP.......no thanks.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Im extremely mixed about Mr Straws Blackburn legacy:

On a positive his varying cabinet positions have put Blackburn back on the map both politically and media-wise.

However I have more negatives than positives- although Mr Straw has his open weekly sessions , you cant help but feel that any cabinet ministers constituency will not have the MP’s full energy or time thrown towards the people that originally vote them in.

Negative: His polarising stance that he has taken over the years with the local immigrant population will affect relations between the indigenous and migrant populace for decades to come. At first he seemed to be completely pro-immigrant, then as the popularity of BNP grew he weakly tries to look tough by with his stance on the hijab

[blue phil]

I shook his hand & said i`d never shaken hands with somebody who`d shaken the hands of a mass murderer.....his grin still fixed, he asked who i meant. I said Robert Mugabe at the UN. Without changing expression he just walked away.

You were lucky . I've heard of two seperate occasions when persons raising the question of immigration at his famous public Q @ A sessions have been led away by the police ......

.....and no , I wasn't one of them

[blue phil]

Jack Straw and Castle before him can't he blaimed for the ills visited on the town over the last decades. And of course you know it.

Of course they can be blaimed (sic) .

Both were high ranking cabinet ministers . Both failed utterly to raise the profile of the town above that of a depressed Northern town . Both encouraged mass immigration to the extent that we now have two communties living entirely seperate existencies - at best tolerating each other with indifference and at worst with downright hatred .

You may , of course , be implying that Straw and Castle are/were themselves powerless pawns in the political process . In which case you must have sympathy for those who feel so isolated by politics that they don't bother to vote.

[Billy Castell]

My parents met him when he was a militant member of the NUS or something when there was a sit-in at Swansea teaching college. This was the mid 70's and according to my parents, he was pretty damned radical. As Father Ted once said "Isn't it funny how you get more right wing as you get older?".

As for whether he is/was good for Blackburn, as a non-resident he has raised the town's profile by being the MP for Blackburn, whether he has done anything to help I'm not so sure. I don't know how much time a big hitting cabinet minister can spend on issues local to Blackburn,such as a new bypass, ward closure etc. I also don't know what Blackburn council's powers are, and how councillors relate to their MP and follow the party line. One thing I am sure of is that by being Foreign Minister during the time we started the war in Iraq, he can't have helped 'community relations' in Blackburn.

[cletus]

On a slight side-note, i was talking to a lorry driver at work the other day & he said he`d been into Preston the previous night & was suprised at how good a night he`d had (i work in Preston) I said i wouldn`t know, as i lived in Blackburn & didn`t do Preston. The driver commented that he`d been to Blackburn several times & had always found the town an unfriendly place with an undercurrent of 'tension' about the place.

Just an outsiders view.

[blue phil]

An "undercurrent of tension" is about as good as it's ever going to be !

[blue phil]

His polarising stance that he has taken over the years with the local immigrant population will affect relations between the indigenous and migrant populace for decades to come. At first he seemed to be completely pro-immigrant, then as the popularity of BNP grew he weakly tries to look tough by with his stance on the hijab

Any so called tough stance by Straw is a little too late . The damage has been done .

LIBERALS GO SAME WAY AS LABOUR

PART 2

The bad news .......the Islamic dominated Labour Party could regain power .

Meet the new boss , same as the old boss...... :ph34r:

[Billinge End Blue]

Although long since disillusioned by this government’s general approach and political priorities, I think Jack has been one of the better and more honest ministers.

Perhaps he’s not been as focussed on his constituency quite as much as a backbench MP might’ve been though…

Interesting Blackburn-related link from the Guardian (admittedly from nearly 5 years ago):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/northsouth/artic...,866540,00.html

[blue phil]

Interesting part of that which is worth quoting.....

"The well-meaning majority in Blackburn say: "my hope lies in the young people. Maybe after a couple of generations they will become like us". Thirty years ago, Barbara Castle, then Blackburn's MP, advised me "don't play up the race issue. It will die down with time. They will become like us". Become like us. Forfeit their faith, abandon the networks of kin, lose a sense of belonging, jettison solidarity? Is that how we are? Is that what is required of people if they are to "fit in"? "

The fact of the matter is the "race" issue has got worse over the past 30 years - and worse still in the last 5 years since this article was written .

The Islamic community are neither like what we are now nor even what we used to be before . They are simply replacing whatever it is our culture represents (or could represent) with their own way of life . No integration has ever been attempted on their part , nor will it ever be . It's no wonder their presence is resented ; those who argued in the past that it should never have been allowed have been proved correct .

Castle was wrong then and Straw is wrong then . Politicians looking for short term electoral advantage at the expense of true British people - that's all either of them ever amounted to.

[blue phil]

Integration Asian style ......