Not a contraditcion as some make out, clearly fidning his place and working for the common good as oppse to party loyalty – he did stand as an independent after all. People are trying to brush him off as fringe by aligning him with Respect as if it’s something bad…

He shouldnt let the media and critics put him off working with Respect, Green or anyone, it’s his decision what he does and he’ll come out of this the better man!

Mark was approached by Sky whilst we were petitioning, it was a coincidence that they turned up, he did not approach them- it was live and off the cuff- the reporter bought up the respect party. MARK DID NOT.

Then as you say the reporter said something like this

“Now this is all tangled up with you pitching for the local elections for the Respect Party , isn’t it. You are a classic, in this story, opportunistic fringe party candidate aren’t you.

He also said you could be called a respect activist.

Marks response to this is not a typical SWP response-it was his gut feeling response- live and not recorded and the truth as he sees it.

he said

“ You could say that ( a respect activist), but no, I’m a local lad who believes in justice, truth, decency and honesty. We have 1,200 people made redundant in the Bromsgrove area just in the past 3 months. There’s a lot of hardship, there’s a lot of people who are finding that everything they’ve worked for is just collapsing around them and there’s a lot of anger and this is the last straw.”

This short interview, besides Mark quoting history going back hundreds of years was not manipulated for his own ends- the reporter manipulated it on live tv for media ends to get a story-and to try to link it somewhere along the line of political activity on behalf of Respect, when Marks true purpose was to get the Bromsgrove Constituents to come out and be heard and sign- and they did in their thousands. You have also manipulated the true meaning of this interview.

The reason we resigned from Respect was because the Media and people like you, were trying to Dis any attempts for a local voice to be heard- they were trying to demean the locals implying that in some way they were being manipulated by some ‘political activist’ campaigning secretly for Respect, also a lot of the rumours and rubbish going around were apparently spread by the local conservatives, the real potential and allegedly, manipulators of expenses here- Julie.

You are trying to rubbish democracy and all the people who have started petitions like this around the country, against corrupt politicians –to have a voice.

At no time at all was the Respect party involved or gave any support for this campaign to get immoral MPs to stand down- because they were not asked to be involved and only know about it from the media.

So I suggest you get your facts right and stop manipulating a short interview for YOUR own purposes.

just to point out that this was a letter sent to the local paper by Keith Birmingham. It has been repsonded to!

Mark France is more than likely to get the sack- they are using the comments on this site as evidence against him.

I thought we had freedom of speech- obviously not

The ‘Get Julie Out’ campaign has presented itself as being virtuous, whiter than the driven snow and without a political agenda. However, Mark France, the organiser of the campaign has alleged links to both the Labour and Respect party. He was also an Independent in this week’s local elections. It appears that Mr France is adept at changing his political colours with the finesse and speed of a chameleon when it suits him.

At the recent ‘Get Julie Out’ meeting in Sanders Park, a staggering 80 people attended. Mark France commented about the lack of trust in today’s political system, he may have a point however, can he be trusted when he coldly uses political expediency at any expense to remove himself from one party for another in his desperate attempt to become a local politician.

The campaign organisers admitted that out of the 5,000+ signatures collected, 1,000 had to be removed due to ineligibility, leaving the grand total of signatures collected at 4,000+, a minute per centage of the Bromsgrove population and proves that they do not have the consensus of opinion. However, like the days of the Wild West, the lynch mob continued with its witch hunt, defiling the Parliamentary and English legal systems.

Politically motivated fringe groups such as this always condemn, vilify and whip up people’s emotions to serve their own political ends, but never present capable alternatives. Mr France could easily relocate from Bromsgrove if things do not go his way with the same ease that he swaps political allegiance. That is fine, but it leaves the rest of us here in Bromsgrove for the poorer as we will never be so eloquently represented again in Parliament by an MP who has worked tirelessly for the
Bromsgrove for well over a decade and received votes from Conservative, Labour, Liberal et al.

I believe historians will record May 28 2009 as a black day for Bromsgrove where a minority of Bromsgrovians were duped and whipped up into a frenzied mob by a politically motivated fringe group.

Keith Birmingham
Bromsgrove

Not so “well done Mark” – as he resigned from Respect the minute the media asked if he was a member.

He asked the landlord (not France) “If someone like Mark Anthony came to your pub you know pitching for Respect or even the BNP or UKIP, if someone came to your pub to have a chat with (them?) do you think they’d listen in and hear what they had to say?” The landlord said yes, he thought they would, “It’s a time for listening.”. It’s quite obvious the reporter was asking about small, fringe parties generally, as he had made clear earlier in the interview, not equating their policies as you imply.

Second, France’s answer about being a local lad came in response to a quite different and more pertinent question, nothing to do with the BNP or UKIP, namely,

“Now this is all tangled up with you pitching for the local elections for the Respect Party , isn’t it. You are a classic, in this story, opportunistic fringe party candidate aren’t you.” naturally France denied the suggestion. Reminded me of SWP denials.

This is a short interview which you have manipulated for your own ends. Nothing new there then.

At the end of last year France was stating how energised he felt to step up his work as part of the Bromsgrove Respect supporters group, and in this very interview, only about a fortnight ago, he admitted to being an activist in Bromsgrove Respect.

Yet now, apparently, France says that he has resigned from Respect. It is being said that has no connection with and isn’t a member of the party.

Is that the whole truth? Might he rejoin? Has he had a change of heart? Have his politics changed? Are there fairies at the bottom of my garden?

Can’t wait to see.