In late January, the government threw a spanner in the works of Nick’s county council election campaign by deciding that campaign literature could no longer be delivered by unpaid volunteers. It can still be delivered by post or by paid staff, but the effect is to raise the cost of delivering campaign literature 14-fold (from 4.5p per item to 62.5p per item). This decision clearly benefits the larger parties, who are not only wealthier but more likely to hold power in safe seats where they know they will win by default if campaigning stops. The government’s decision is therefore a serious threat to democracy, and we must do everything that we can to avoid Nick’s election campaign grinding to a halt. We will probably have to limit distribution of the February newsletter to the 750 people who voted in the last local elections. Considering how much effort Nick has put into creating the newsletter, this is a very disappointing decision to have to make! If we can raise £650 in the next week, however, we’ll be able to deliver the newsletter to all 1,900 houses in the Humshaugh ward. Please consider donating to Nick’s campaign fund if you can afford to, would like Northumberland County Council to have a Green councillor, and would like to confront this assault on our democracy.
This link will take you straight to Nick’s campaign fundraiser:
Thank you very much indeed. Your support is hugely appreciated.
