Jeremy Corbyn visits Telford for third time in less than three months
A General Election is inevitably divisive in any community; in a key marginal like Telford, it is all the more so.
Election campaigning is a vital part of our democracy and all parties must be free to campaign without fear. However, another key plank in a functioning democracy is that after a fair fight, all parties accept the outcome.
Yet Labour does not respect the will of the people and it was this refusal that brought Jeremy Corbyn back to Telford this week for his third campaign visit in less than three months.
The job of the Leader of the Opposition is to hold government to account. The proper place to do that is Parliament, not in a primary school in a key marginal.
MPs regularly visit their local schools to promote democracy, to engage their community and celebrate all that's good - not to engage in party politics.
Whilst a political rally in an election campaign is a sign of a healthy democracy – using a primary school to stir up misplaced political anger is wholly wrong, the more so after an election over.
Jeremy Corbyn claimed that the ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rated primary he visited would be hit by Tory funding cuts, but safe under Labour.
This claim was wrong. The school was one of 33 schools in Telford set to benefit from the ‘fairer funding formula’ by a 2.7% uplift in year 1. As it happens, under the fairer funding formula, Telford is set to benefit more than any other constituency in the country, but one. But this didn’t seem to matter much.
Worse than a casual disregard for the facts, was the politicising of a lovely, happy school, proud of their achievements and keen to celebrate.
This school trusted their famous visitor to play by the rules and share in their pride. That trust was abused.
Pictures:
Labour leaflet distributed in Telford before JC's visit
Fair funding formula by constituency - Telford marked with top percentage uplift