On the stump

Out in Bassett on Saturday - the part we were in was a bit bluer than I would have liked but there was generally a good welcome and I came across my first constituent ever who raised the thorny old issue of "site value rating" on the doorstep!!

Also picked up an interesting local issue but the thing that really intrigued me was a conversation I had with a "true blue lady". She did not like the fact that Labour (and Lib Dems) wanted to spend too high a proportion of tax payers money and seemed to think that people should look after themselves.

All very well if you are one of the "haves" but not so good if you come from a poor family and cannot afford good education (a chance to better yourself) or healthcare. We didn't get on to the subject of crime so I don't know if she thought that the police were another thing worth spending money on.

Talking to people like that reminds me of why I came into politics in the first place - to make sure that the world was a fairer place and to ensure that things such as education and access to health services were regarded as a basic right.

Some people simply have no compassion or inclination to try and see the world from the viewpoint of others as they are quite happy in their own little world. Whilst I would not go so far as to say that all Tories are selfish I have to ask why it is that such selfish people are invariably Conservative voters.