Election 2024 : Kevin Allsop, Independent Bolton NE

Kevin Allsop, former Bolton North East CLP Chair, has put himself forward as an Independent socialist candidate for Bolton NE, after Labour HQ suspended the local CLP and denied them the right to select their own candidate. Kev is asking for your support. Upon request, Kev has been kind enough to provide us with a little information on himself and his local constituency…

• Trade union membership since 1979
• Branch roles Shop Steward, Health & Safety Rep, Treasurer
• Probation National Committee
• Probation Branch Secretary
• Probation National Convenor (Negotiating with senior civil servants and directors of new employers)
• Played a national role in resisting the privatisation of the Probation service, after the service was privatised we continued to campaign for it to be insourced and two years later it was.
• Set national Policy, via conference, for UNISON (Divestment) and UNITE (wealth tax)
• UNISON appointed trustee of the £24bn Greater Manchester Pension Fund (Property and Environmental, Social and Governance)
• Secretary Bolton TUC (Annual Grenfell commemoration, annual International workers memorial day)
• President GM TUC
• NW JCC (Joint consultative committee) TUC Rep - working with all trade union campaigns
• Community activist  - Lots of 'save our ...' campaigns - library, park, community centre
• Active in Bolton Socialist Club
• Part of a group that established organic growing project almost 30 years ago - several hundred members now
• Established Law Centre (GMLaw), currently trustee.
• Anti Genetically modified food.
• Anti Fracking
• Was Labour Party CLP Chair up to 2021
• Work : Large procurement (Schools) £100m, Contract Management 10 school PFI contract £600m, Contract management Facility Management contract £5m pa

On Bolton North East…

Kev describes Bolton North East as having some of the most, and the least, deprived areas in the country, with the areas closest to town being the most deprived. Kev explains that the areas of highest deprivation also have the poorest housing and precarious employment. The biggest issues, in his view, are Anti social behaviour, Drinking, Illegal cigs, the Local authority and their current MP. Other concerns include the cost of living, waiting times for NHS treatment, lack of access to a GP, with lots of (usually older) people unable to use the web based systems available, sewage being dumped into local waterways and cuts to council budgets. Some local authority issues include protecting the greenbelt and an empty town centre, which Kev describes as a ghost town.

Below are Kev’s responses to the AEO Policy questionnaire…

1. Re-nationalise the NHS and fund it properly.

Agree -  legislate so that a, protected from future privatisation b, NHS is a monopoly - only the government can hold monopolies 

2. Bring social services, care services, care homes, dental and eye care, Hearing, chiropody and mental health services all under the NHS banner.

Agree i've got NHS & local authority and support mental health the same as physical health

3. Re-nationalise transport

Trains monopoly - see above.  Local buses & trams under control of mayor or combined council

4. Re-nationalise the energy companies and invest in green energy

Agree - build factories so that we can produce the ASHP, Solar wind and water equipment 

5. Re-nationalise Water

Agree - Monopoly also refund monitoring of waterways

6. Re-nationalise telecoms (including broadband)

Agree - monopoly (more difficult though)

7. Have a second referendum on whether or not to rejoin the EU

My constituency voted Brexit so I say respect the decision but will try to work as closely as possible with europe (which I know sounds like expediency)

8. Bring criminal charges against all the MPs, peers and companies who stole from the public purse during the 'PPE contracts for mates' scandal and who subsequently didn't deliver what we paid them for. Plus ensure they never hold public office or any position of authority ever again.

Agree - but given that the government suspended procurement rules it will be almost impossible but we must have a clear set of governance to protect the public purse, and, try to recover monies 

9. Recognise the state of Palestine and reverse any anti-BDS legislation.

Agree

10. Reverse anti-protest laws

Agree - Along with all anti trade union laws

11. Ditch NATO and withdraw support for illegal wars

Agree - we should be trying to prevent wars, and end wars through diplomatic channels

12. Withdraw support from any state engaged in human rights abuses, and/or apartheid, and/or illegal occupation.

Agree

13. With the exception of reasonable staffing, administrative and travel costs, we should stop funding MPs expenses (they get paid enough as it is) and greater clarity is required on what constitutes legitimate expenses. Alternatively, we could work out an annual allowance and if they have more expensive tastes then they can dip into their own pockets to cover the extra expense.

Agree - don't spend £20bn on repairing parliament - keep it as a museum and build a new parliament and MPs accommodation (for which they get up to £25k pa each) in the Midlands. I have a similar plan for the HoL

14. No more subsidised bars and restaurants in Parliament

Agree 

15. Ban MPs from holding second jobs with private companies (public sector jobs, such as medical and teaching, for example, would be excluded from the ban)

Agree - except if they are, for example like me, unpaid Trustees of services like the free Law Centre or their occupational registration requires refresher training

16. Compensate Windrush families for the horrendous treatment they have been subjected to by the Home Office. 

Agree - though I say stop blocking claimants 

17. Properly house and compensate the victims of Grenfell, make flammable cladding illegal and remove it from all council properties, bring in better building regulations and ensure regular health & safety checks are being carried out.

Agree - though the legislation and control should be under the remit of the local council.

18. Building regulations to also enforce solar panels, heat pumps, rainwater capture etc.

Agree increase insulation to super thermal insulation materials (made in those factories I refer to above)

19. Fund and install solar panels for houses and give all housing full insulation.

Agree, though it is much cheaper to have fields of panels or cover the roofs of public buildings

20. Create safe routes for refugees to seek asylum.

Agree though I say reopen

21. All Lobbying must be regulated so that dark money cannot exist. All lobbyists must declare who they're targeting, and why, so that corruption can more easily identified.

Agree 

22. Repeal anti-Trade Union laws

Agree - but also allow electronic balloting.

23. Programme of social housing, to be prioritised over "affordable" housing

Council housing - in Greater Manchester we are trying to get the Pension fund to divest its £2.4bn investment in fossil fuel extraction and build council housing, End land banking, Allow councils to Compulsorily Purchase land at its current value, not developed value, Allow councils to CP empty houses

24. Introduce Proportional Representation

Agree, but which model?

25. Bring back free University education

Agree

26. Retrospectively forgive student loans

Agree

27. Properly fund public schools and pay teachers a decent wage

Agree and support staff, bring ancillary staff back in house

28. Overhaul police recruitment procedures to weed out undesirables and take the decision making, for senior appointments, out of the hands of central government.

Agree - under mayors or police panels

29. Properly fund policing

Agree ish - properly fund crime prevention and rehabilitation

30. Properly fund fire & rescue services

Agree - back to 2010 levels

31. Legislate to make animal cruelty a criminal act attracting a fine, a custodial sentence and a lifelong ban from owning any animals and apply it to farming and hunting, as well as domestic animals.

Agree - including shooting (but a struggle with farmers shooting ‘pests’)

32. Drop the pension age back to 65 for both men and women and compensate women born between 1950 and 1955, who had their pension age raised from 60 to 65 with insufficient warning.

Agree - Reduce the pension age by one year every year until it reaches 60 - keep the triple lock until it reaches parity with G7

33. Bring back council run pre-schools and/or provide childcare for all age groups including Special Education Needs (SEN) children, for all holidays.

Agree

34. Fund breakfast clubs, free school meals and holiday school activity clubs for all public school kids.

Agree - delivered by council employees

35. Provide a decent living allowance for carers, who are unable to work due to their care commitments.

Agree - ensuring that they are not disadvantaged in retirement

36. Re- nationalise Royal Mail

Agree - Monopoly

37. Bring back rent controlled regulated tenancies that also give tenants more rights (such as requiring landlords to prove they have a legal reason to evict someone before they can seek a court order) and require landlords to meet basic stipulations such as taking responsibility for most repairs (structural, as well as gas, electricity, heating, water and sanitation equipment) and arranging annual gas safety checks.

Agree - remove Ss21 no fault evictions - introduce a licence for all landlords and properties, all houses to be brought up to EPC C. Remove the Right to Buy (right to acquire)

38. Commit to a ‘No Compensation’ policy when re-nationalising public services.

Disagree - for utilities this would cripple pension funds - most models to renationalise utilities are based on market prices.  For things like privatised NHS, Civil and Council contracts we would wait until contract expiry (this would allow us to manage the process too) if we tried to renationalise without compensation we would be tied up in court

39. Ditch Universal Credit and bring back a simple benefits system.

Agree - but tied to a benchmark to protect people from inflation

40. Ditch the two-child benefit cap.

Agree

In addition to the above, Kev also proposes balancing the tax regime and a just transition, supporting the Hillsborough law, duty of candour (which would address police behaviour) and employment rights from day one - with access to tribunals.

Key Concern…

Bolton NE is a closely run marginal between Labour & the Tories, and it has been for a while. None of the other parties have scraped in more than single digit numbers when it comes to vote share. The lowest we've seen the Tory vote share over recent elections was 32.8% (back in 2015). We expect some disenfranchised Tory voters could switch to Labour (Tory-lite could sound attractive to them), or they could vote for the Reform UK candidate (something Tory voters typically do in protest) or they could simply decide to sit this one out. The highest Labour vote share was 50.6%, in 2017, under Corbyn, and the lowest was 43% (in 2015). As Kev will be targeting the traditional Labour voter, he is expected to split the Labour vote so this could very well turn into a 3 horse race between Labour, the Tories and Kevin.

Kev believes he has a solid chance of winning this race. As former Chair of Bolton NE CLP, Kev tells us that the CLP is in disarray, having been suspended by Labour HQ and, in fact, many members have decided to rally behind Kev’s campaign instead. By targeting the Tory vote, Kev feels that Labour has turned it’s back on traditional Labour voters, who now feel politically homeless. As he puts it “Labour are losing their voters, I'm not taking them!.. Labour don't have any policies of hope and do not deserve to be elected. Labour claim to be the party of the worker, I am the candidate of the working class, [but] Labour want blank canvases as candidates, and they have one here in Bolton NE”

You can find Kevin’s contact details and more information on how to support this campaign here  folks : https://aeouk.com/Home/ViewPost/1456