Southampton Residents Say Corbyn Should "Jog On!"

Southampton Independents Emblem

Southampton Independents is a local political party registered with the Electoral Commission. 

Independents across England put local people, not their party, first. We are proudly Independent of Labour and the Tories.

We were created because we listen to Southampton people, we work for local people and we stand up for local people.

Southampton Independents put you, your area and your family first.

With the news that Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott doesn't seem able to add up, Jeremy Corbyn visited Southampton and the Redbridge ward in the Southampton Test constituency.

Our 2017 Southampton Independents candidate for Southampton Test Councillor Andrew Pope represents the same ward on Southampton City Council.

Andrew Pope is also standing in the General Election against Alan Whitehead, Labour's candidate who has been the MP since 1997.

Andrew Pope said:

Andrew Pope

"Unlike Jeremy Corbyn and Alan Whitehead, Southampton Independents are here all year round, not for a flying visit every few years at election time.

Southampton communities are left to pick up the pieces from Labour and Tory MPs making the wrong decisions in Westminster, because MPs are so out-of-touch.

This week's publicity stunt by Corbyn and Whitehead is Labour blaming the Tories and the Tories blaming Labour. People are fed up with it and want local people to be heard.

Like Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Council are out-of-touch.

Corbyn claims that Labour protects communities.

But the Labour Council are harming communities by making the wrong decisions on spending, closing care centres, removing funding from schools they had already promised, not fixing our roads, leaving children vulnerable and robbing £16 million from the City to spend on an Arts Complex. 

And THEN blaming the Tory Government instead of taking responsibility!

Mr Whitehead seems strangely silent on the Labour Council's failures. That's because he places the Labour Party before local people. In the 2015 General Election, he even claimed on his election leaflet that Labour was investing in our roads. They haven't done anywhere near enough. People complain to Southampton Independents all the time about the state of our roads.

Alan Whitehead has been the MP for 20 years and during that time, our roads have got worse and worse.

And why did Corbyn and Whitehead come to Millbrook to use it as a political platform? Because they haven't helped local people and they are only interested in getting their votes, not in listening to them properly.

Labour quotes figures for all of Hampshire which bear no relation to what is happening here in Southampton.

Residents of Redbridge agree that we have dealt together with local problems, and Southampton Independents have worked with the Police and the local community to combat bus violence, deal with anti-social behaviour with motorbikes and to help investigating other crime such as the recent fire at Redbridge Towers. Residents know that crime and anti-social behaviour have fallen because we have worked together.

Yet Corbyn and Whitehead invite the media to Millbrook to insult us all.

There are still problems in our City, but the people of Southampton work on them together, despite and in spite of meddling from MPs in London.

Like residents said to us after the visit, Corbyn and Whitehead should 'jog on' back to Westminster."