David Heyes, a Labour MP for part of Oldham, has attempted to discredit a local community group's campaign against the demolition of Victorian terraced housing by using the same tactics that he once condemned the BNP for using in the area.
FHAG leaflet
- application/pdf 40K
D Heyes Letter Page 1
- application/pdf 107K
D Heyes Letter Page 2
- application/pdf 76K
David Heyes, a Labour MP for part of Oldham, has attempted to discredit a local community group's campaign against the demolition of Victorian terraced housing by using the same tactics that he once condemned the BNP for using in the area.
Under the Housing Market Renewal scheme, there are plans to demolish 8,600 homes in Oldham and Rochdale, in order to replace them with what the council describes as “aspirational urban housing and apartments” to facilitate the gentrification of the area. (More information about the scheme can be found at www.fightforourhomes.com)
Local community activists joined together to form the Failsworth and Hollinwood Action Group (FHAG) and distributed leaflets highlighting the facts behind the scheme. David Heyes, the local MP, responded by sending a letter to local residents attacking the group.
“The letter contains some outrageous false accusations,” said Paul Lockett from FHAG, “for instance, Mr Heyes accuses us of being connected to extremist political parties. We are a completely non-party political organisation and the only political support we have received is a letter in the local press from the area's Green Party organiser, backing our campaign.
“What I find most disgusting is the way Mr Heyes' attempts to exploit the idea that Failsworth loses out to other parts of Oldham, by saying “We have suffered from a lack of public investment for far too long. In sharp contrast, nearby areas such as East Manchester and parts of Oldham have been transformed as £multi-million regeneration monies have poured in year after year.”
In its response to the Ritchie report, produced following the 2001 disturbances, Oldham Council stated, "successful attempts to secure funding for an initiative in the Borough, often geographically ring-fenced, has had the capacity to create jealousy and suspicion elsewhere. This latent jealousy and suspicion has been exploited by political extremists before, during and after the events of May 2001 and is a barrier to Oldham achieving community cohesion." (
http://www.oldham.gov.uk/finalresponse.pdf page 7)
Paul Lockett commented, “David Heyes' hypocrisy is astounding. On the “Stop the BNP” website, which is run by Searchlight magazine, he is credited with running an election campaign against the BNP, who tried to portray Failsworth as the forgotten part of Oldham that loses out to Asian areas. ( http://tinyurl.com/97ghe) Now he has shown that he is prepared to use exactly the same tactics as the BNP when it is politically expedient.
“Mr Heyes may believe that he can gain support by using divisive tactics, but I can assure people that FHAG won't be following suit. We will continue to work with people from all areas of Oldham in order to fight the injustice of Housing Market Renewal.
Paul Lockett sent a question to Oldham Council, asking if they would join him in denouncing David Heyes comments. In a departure from the council's usual practice, they refused to answer the question at the meeting, as the person asking the question was not present in person. ( http://tinyurl.com/7q2sx) They subsequently issued a response in writing, which made no mention of David Heyes or his comments.
A letter was sent to David Heyes on 17 November 2005, asking him to explain the basis for the allegations in his letter. As of 17 February 2006, no response had been received.
Under the Housing Market Renewal scheme, there are plans to demolish 8,600 homes in Oldham and Rochdale, in order to replace them with what the council describes as “aspirational urban housing and apartments” to facilitate the gentrification of the area. (More information about the scheme can be found at www.fightforourhomes.com)
Local community activists joined together to form the Failsworth and Hollinwood Action Group (FHAG) and distributed leaflets highlighting the facts behind the scheme. David Heyes, the local MP, responded by sending a letter to local residents attacking the group.
“The letter contains some outrageous false accusations,” said Paul Lockett from FHAG, “for instance, Mr Heyes accuses us of being connected to extremist political parties. We are a completely non-party political organisation and the only political support we have received is a letter in the local press from the area's Green Party organiser, backing our campaign.
“What I find most disgusting is the way Mr Heyes' attempts to exploit the idea that Failsworth loses out to other parts of Oldham, by saying “We have suffered from a lack of public investment for far too long. In sharp contrast, nearby areas such as East Manchester and parts of Oldham have been transformed as £multi-million regeneration monies have poured in year after year.”
In its response to the Ritchie report, produced following the 2001 disturbances, Oldham Council stated, "successful attempts to secure funding for an initiative in the Borough, often geographically ring-fenced, has had the capacity to create jealousy and suspicion elsewhere. This latent jealousy and suspicion has been exploited by political extremists before, during and after the events of May 2001 and is a barrier to Oldham achieving community cohesion." (
http://www.oldham.gov.uk/finalresponse.pdf page 7) Paul Lockett commented, “David Heyes' hypocrisy is astounding. On the “Stop the BNP” website, which is run by Searchlight magazine, he is credited with running an election campaign against the BNP, who tried to portray Failsworth as the forgotten part of Oldham that loses out to Asian areas. (
http://tinyurl.com/97ghe) Now he has shown that he is prepared to use exactly the same tactics as the BNP when it is politically expedient. “Mr Heyes may believe that he can gain support by using divisive tactics, but I can assure people that FHAG won't be following suit. We will continue to work with people from all areas of Oldham in order to fight the injustice of Housing Market Renewal.
Paul Lockett sent a question to Oldham Council, asking if they would join him in denouncing David Heyes comments. In a departure from the council's usual practice, they refused to answer the question at the meeting, as the person asking the question was not present in person. (
http://tinyurl.com/7q2sx) They subsequently issued a response in writing, which made no mention of David Heyes or his comments. A letter was sent to David Heyes on 17 November 2005, asking him to explain the basis for the allegations in his letter. As of 17 February 2006, no response had been received.
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
Out of order - and out of context
27.02.2006 17:53
Anyone can take a line of text and read it to mean anything to suit their agenda, not big and not clever.
Manchester Resident
Out of order - and out of context
27.02.2006 17:57
Anyone can take a line of text and read it to mean anything to suit their agenda, not big and not clever.
Manchester Resident
Response to "Out of order"
28.02.2006 19:54
If you re-read the article, you'll see that at no point does anybody try to imply that David Heyes' comments were racially motivated. It should be quite clear that the purpose of the comments I made was not to imply that he is racist (which I've no reason to believe he is) but that it was hypocritical and opportunist of him to use the same tactics that he had previously acknowledged were divisive and condemned the BNP for using.
If you feel that the line I quoted was taken out of context, that is your interpretation. I don't feel that it is a matter of context. Mr Heyes clearly attempts to portray Failsworth as an area which has got an unfair deal compared to other parts of Oldham.
What I find strangest is your statement that the article spoils the meaningfulness of the site. From my perspective, the purpose of the site is to cover news stories which aren't covered by the corporate media and are within the bounds of the editorial guidlines, which is exactly what this is. You might not like my comments, but you can hardly say that the story is not factually accurate, especially considering that all of the documents concerned are provided so that people can read them for themselves.
Paul Lockett