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Mystery as party backs Hastilow
Wednesday 7th November 2007, 11:33AM GMT.
A Black Country Conservative who quit over his views on Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech could see his resignation blocked by local party activists.
While Nigel Hastilow formally stepped down as prospective parliamentary candidate for the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency in a row over comments he made in the Express & Star, his resignation has yet to be accepted by local Tory bosses.
Read the full story in today’s Express & StarA Black Country Conservative who quit over his views on Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech could see his resignation blocked by local party activists.
While Nigel Hastilow formally stepped down as prospective parliamentary candidate for the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency in a row over comments he made in the Express & Star, his resignation has yet to be accepted by local Tory bosses.
After a meeting with national party chairman Caroline Spelman on Sunday, Mr Hastilow chose to resign as a candidate rather than apologise and be bound by a ruling that future articles be vetted by Tory Central Office.
Since the weekend, Mr Hastilow, 51, has been inundated with hundreds of messages of support and it is understood calls have been made for local Tories in Halesowen and Rowley Regis to refuse to accept his resignation. Today, chair of Halesowen and Rowley Regis Conservative Association Mary Docker said a meeting of the executive committee would discuss it on Monday.
But a Conservative Central Office spokeswoman Jo Hinder said the final decision on who stood for parliament under the party banner was taken in London.
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“There will never be anybody else so compelling as Enoch Powell. He had a rare combination of qualities all founded on an unfaltering belief in God, an unshakable loyalty to family and friends, and an unswerving devotion to our country.”
Nigel Hastilow in 2007? Actually, Margaret Thatcher speaking at Powell’s funeral in 1998. ‘Damnant quod non intellegunt’, as Enoch would have said.
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I am startled that Mr Hastilow had such disregard for his fellow midlanders to make such comments especially given the very good community relations in the area. our local MPs like Ken Purchase, Rob Marris, Bruce George, Pat Macfadden and others have worked hard over past years to harness and support our communities. Comments like those of mr Hastilow serve no other purpose than to set neighbour against neighbour.
We cannot and must not turn the clock back to the prejudices and misunderstandings of forty years ago. There are some real issues that we all collectively must deal with but attacking and ostracising through insensitive remarks simplar undermines any serious attempt at this.
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He only said what a lot of people are thinking, isn’t that what representation is about.
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I guess they’re listening to public opinion and now discovering his thoughts are actually well supported.
So it’s political suicide if they don’t listen.
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what happened to free speech is it all one sided the man was expressing what his supporters have told him to do it is a pity other poleticians dont do the right things instead of trying to please every one
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Blocked the resignation
Good for them he only spoke the obvious
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It may be just what people are thinking, it may even be true and the media are certainly stretching what he said, but it was a ridiculous way to address such a serious point. The reaction was so obvious that I can only conclude that he was deliberately publicity seeking. The cost of this is that we now have a ridiculous inflamed debate on whether what he said was racist or not, rather than the real problem. And no, it doesn’t just give the issue a better airing either; it doesn’t need it. Best thing is for him to stand as an independent and let the constituents decide, which I can only think is already in the works. Guess he’ll need some funds without the party machine behind him and so everyone backing his point of view can put their money where their mouths are. The only highlight of this misadventure is the damage to the odious Cameron.
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It doesn’t matter what colour or religion you are. It’s a simple matter of economics. We live on an Island. That island is of a fixed size. You can only fit so many people on an Island. You can only produce so much food and water on an Island.
Great Britain and the British people have a certain moral standard that has been maintained for hundreds of years. We help each other like we did when there was a war on. We had street parties like we did for VE Day and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. We are now have a growing population of people who bring their culture a moral standards from third world countries where there are open sewers. No waste collection. Where people fight amongst each other in order to survive.
Our Island is green and pleasant but it won’t be for much longer.
The story about the fly-tipping woman from the Congo who has lived in England for seven years but still needed a french translater must have attracted the most number of blogs I have seen on this web site. Our MP’s who can speak on our behalf and command the authority to be heard must not be forced into silence by the anti-racist mob.
I live in a Middle East country where all religions other than Islam are banned. How’s that for multi-culturism
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If England was a nightclub it would closed due to over crowding.
England does not have free speech and this is why we are in the mess now.Lets have grown up talks on this and not use the racist card when someone does as the only people who win are the looney left as we are too frighten to say what people really mean.We should be proud to be British and of our cutoms not give in to others.we should accept other customs as well but not at the cost of ours
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I said this nigh on TWO YEARS AGO (as in when CAMERON got the gig) that stupidly BROWN will probably win the next election because the Tory Toff CAMERON ( aren’t we spoilt for choice as the electorate, you can vote for either the Labour Liars or the Tory Toffs) and his fellow Old Etonians believe that the only way they can win is to imitate Labour with their own BLAIR clone (commonly known as David CAMERON)
That is complete and utter rubbish – the way to win is to put forward a coherant right of centre agenda.
If the Conservatives announced tomorrow that without fail all murderers, rapists, paedophiles would get life (meaning life) sentences without ANY chance of parole, if they offered tax reductions easily financed by rolling back the massive wasteful expansion of the state in the last ten years coupled with a massive reduction in immigration (the only people allowed to come here being those who have the skills we need and for them to be entitled to no benefits of any kind and to receive no housing or child benefits etc for their first five years of residency) and finally the six million (the REAL unemployed figure) 20 % of the workforce who are not working actually being forced to do the jobs that the immigrants are doing ( most of these are on long term sickness benefits which if they were actually genuine would make us the most unhealthy nation on earth BEHIND the likes of Bangladesh or african countries – what a farce ) then the Conservatives would walk the election – these are Election WINNING policies (remeber Winning?)
Under touchy feely trendy CAMERON though it won’t happen so why fret – this country has been totallly ruined by the lilly livered liberals, the stable door has been open since 1997 and it’s far far too late to recover now.
Great Britain has totally lost it’s indentity, it is heading for financial disaster and it will never recover.
Gebby In Moseley
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