One of my favourite 'opposition' blogs is the irritating yet strangely compelling website of Richard Corbett MEP, Labour's Deputy Leader in the European Parliament and MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.
His hysterical attacks our party ("swivel-eyed, nationalistic europhobes who are totally divorced from reality") and Eurosceptics across Europe ("Klaus's rant raises the noise level but loses the argument") make for genuinely entertaining reading.
In many ways the antithesis of spin, the bureaucrat-turned-MEP looks more like the proprietor of a second hand bookshop than a front-line politician. When it comes to writing blog posts, however, he proves that he can spin with the best of them.
In his latest blog post Corbett claims, during a recent canvassing session, to have "only encountered one Tory (who after a long chat, promised me to vote Labour for the first time in his life on June 4th)" and that "out on the doorsteps and streets in Yorkshire [the Labour Party] has been getting a remarkably good response from people". Amongst his many other pronouncements includes claims that the same Labour MEPs who voted to restrict the rights of British people to decide how many hours they work have passed legislation "leaving ordinary people with more money in their pocket"!
Perhaps the Euro-lovin' Mr Corbett has eaten one too many dodgy bowls of moules marinières?
Joking aside, Corbett is right on one thing: "The public is aware that there are substantial policy differences between Labour and the Conservatives... These differences do matter and people are becoming increasingly aware of them".
Need more proof of how important it is vote Conservative in the European elections on June 4th?!
