 | 'I think that by hiring a full-time organiser and opening a campaign office in Falkirk, the Labour Party HQ seems prepared to spend thousands of pounds in a desperate attempt to defeat me. However, the people of Falkirk West will see through all this and show that their votes cannot be bought.' Dennis Canavan MP, 5 th January 1999. |  |
The red table at Falkirk's landmark steeple will be fought over by the rival bands of Labour supporters for the first time. For years, local MP Canavan and his supporters have set up pitch there to rattle the can and dish out red regalia in the name of the Labour cause.
For the first time since the Falkirk West MP pledged to stand for Holyrood as an independent, in defiance of his party after being rejected as a candidate, he and his supporters are to come up against party leaders on the streets for the first time this Saturday.
Scottish New Labour plans to stage its monthly executive meetings at different venues in coming months, keep the proceedings short, and then use the presence of leading figures to prompt street campaigning.
The roving committee idea, somewhat reminiscent of the way the Tories took the Scottish Grand Committee on the road under Michael Forsyth, will start at Falkirk at the very venue where Mr Canavan launched his own independent candidature recently.
The attendance for Mr Canavan's launch topped 200, while the numbers on Saturday will be a more select bunch, but on the streets they will meet up for the first time. The "red table at the steeple" is Mr Canavan's supporters' usual pitch but now it will become a battleground between New Labour and Old Labour.
Local polls have shown voters strongly loyal to Mr Canavan, and official Labour candidate Ross Martin has a tough job on his hands.
When Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar and Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam visited the town to open a Labour campaign office, the local MP was not invited and his supporters stayed away.
However this weekend it will be different. "We will have people out on Saturday," said a senior local activist loyal to the long-serving MP.
"There will be two or three dozen at least on the streets handing out leaflets saying 'Do You Call this Democracy?'. They keep saying they have made their choice on ability but no-one believes that. All of this was avoidable, but now we will be there and so will Dennis." - Feb 11.
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