Final preparations

posted by: Nick Lowles | on: Sunday, 26 April 2009, 21:37

It has been non-stop this weekend, both putting the final touches to our campaign plans but also with events beginning to take place across the country. However, while it has been busy it has also been very productive. On Friday morning I addressed 60 staff from Thompsons Solicitors in Manchester. It was a really great morning and they even promised to take a ward in Manchester and Liverpool on our big days of action on 16 May. That means we have a lead organisation for all 32 wards in Manchester – and that’s no mean feat.

That afternoon I was at the Unison Regional Office where we ran a training session for 30 branches. In the evening it was over to Oldham where I spoke at a meeting organised by Oldham West & Royton Labour Party. There were 40 people present and people took responsibility to deliver 25,000 newspapers across the constituency.

The GMB in the North West are really moving behind this campaign and setting an example for other unions. On Saturday morning, Jason Hunter and I travelled to Cheadle Hulme to address a meeting of 70 union organisers and branch secretaries. With the direct support of the regional secretary and the excellent Cheryl Pidgeon, who is co-ordinating the union’s anti-BNP effort in the region, branches are being instructed to get involved in Union Friday and our local Days of Action. We were joined by Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas who explained how he shared the frustration of many there but stressed that the BNP had to be defeated as they offered no solutions to anyone.

As I was speaking my phone was buzzing in my pocket. It was Matthew, who was over in Walsall at our first Day of Action. By all accounts it was a really successful event, with 11,000 leaflets delivered on the day and another 9,000 taken away to be put out during the week. More importantly, from my point of view, the leaflet was really well received. That’s quite lucky considering we’ve printed 800,000!