Labour candidate hits back at ‘disrespectful’ comment about youth

Written by

Missed a ThameNews story?, More News, Thame news

THAME’S Labour candidate for the Parliamentary elections in May, has hit back at remarks made the Conservative candidate, John Howell, about young people and their political leanings.

Labour Parliamentary candidate Sam Juthani is interviewed by the foreign press in Thame

Referring to a report on this website of a public meeting at Thame Town Hall last Wednesday, called by John Howell, the Conservative candidate, Sam Juthani, the Labour candidate said:

“Last week, John Howell made the incredible claim “young people are generally socialist but they grow out it!” He was trying to defend his extremely poor reception at the Lord Williams School hustings, in which I received 65% of the students’ votes, whilst he slumped to just 10.8%.

“There are a number of problems with this.

“Firstly, it is hugely disrespectful to the audience that voted in the hustings. They were engaged in politics and were active questioners- the exact opposite of what young people are often criticised of being. They did not give any of us an easy time, and John Howell is wrong to dismiss them.

“Secondly, it is disrespectful to the electorate in the constituency. The voters of Thame, regardless of their age, deserve to have their questions answered on their terms, not to be dismissed because their views might be inconvenient.

“And finally, it is disrespectful to all those who believe that Britain can be better than it has been over the last few years. Socialists like Nye Bevan created the NHS. Socialists outlawed gender and racial discrimination in jobs (something incidentally that Nigel Farage wants to repeal) and helped make bigger strides towards equality for LGBT people than anyone else. That’s because Socialists, like me, believe that we should be treated equally.

“John Howell’s dismissive behaviour is something we have seen all too often from him. As any constituent who contacts him to disagree with him has found, this will not be a surprise, and it’s something I have previously challenged him on, over the Elms. The audience at Lord Bill’s clearly thought so. Their vote of confidence in me is just a confirmation that my approach, which involves proper engagement with my constituents, will ensure that I would make the best MP for Thame.”

THAME ATTRACTS THE FOREIGN MEDIA

Last Thursday, Sam Juthani and District Council and Town Council Labour candidate, Mary Stiles, attracted the attention of the foreign media when they had a stall out in Montesson Square, in Thame, to engage voters. (See photo)

Sam was interviewed by Mr Yasuo Naito, London Bureau Chief of the Japanese newspaper ‘Sankei’ (http://www.sankei.com/). Its circulation is two million per day and nine million daily Internet viewing. Yasuo spent half a day following Sam around as he campaigned at the stall and out canvassing residents, and interviewed in great detail.

Sam said: “Mr Yasuo Naito was interested in the nature of our democracy, and in me as a young candidate.
I was also interviewed by Stephen Beard of ‘Marketplace‘, the flagship business and economic affairs show broadcast on American NPR (National Public Radio)- a network of over 500 public radio stations with a regular audience of around 10m people. He interviewed me about the failure of this Government’s economic record, Labour’s policy to abolish non-dom status, and the potential threat of withdrawing from the EU.”

Comments

4 responses to “Labour candidate hits back at ‘disrespectful’ comment about youth”

06/05/2015

Sonja Francis

I am reminded that Boris Johnson, when he became MP for the Henley constituency, did not live in the constituency for quite a long time. It is not unusual for a candidate to stand in a constituency far from his home.
29/04/2015

Richard Creswell

Pretty sure that when I filled out my postal vote ballot, it told me that Mr Juthani does not live in our constituency – instead, he lives in one of the Reading constituencies. Call me old fashioned, but one of the first things I would look for from my MP would be someone to represent the views of local people – and to do so it would help if he or she was actually someone who lived locally. Why is Mr Juthani not standing in his own constituency? How spectacularly arrogant of him to talk about “their vote of confidence in me” – voters are not choosing an individual, they are choosing the representative of the party whose policies they believe will best serve the local population. This is not the X Factor Mr Juthani, this is a little more important than that.
29/04/2015

Steve C

Spot on Peter Butler. It’s also well known that some teachers are left wing and preach their own misguided propaganda to pupils – some who will believe this rubbish. Howell is right, when they grow up they realise that socialism is complete tosh peddled by hypocrites. The poor have been voting for Labour for decades and they are still poor.
28/04/2015

Peter Butler

Sam’s claim that “Socialists outlawed gender and racial discrimination in jobs (something incidentally that Nigel Farage wants to repeal” is misleading. UKIP believes that the person with the best ability should get the job and not because they simply tick a box for their sexual or racial orientation. That is social engineering!

Also his boasting of what socialist have achieved in the past is one sided. The one about the NHS is true but that was in the day when the Labour party looked after the working class. He makes no mention of the fact they have bankrupted the country every single time Labour have been in power and it was the Labour party that closed more mines that Thatcher and they ruined the coal, steel and motor industries in this country. Not to mention that every time Labour have been in power there are more people unemployment when they leave office than when they went in. I could go on for ever. Up the workers!