"It's about time our town has a young mind to represent tomorrow's Lutonian."

Still making up your mind who to vote for?  I'll give local people the last word...
"I see you speak quite openly about many of the issues the town Luton is facing." Kiji C

"You come across as a genuine person with ideas and morals of your own." Becky Hotard

"Finally, someone who wants to do something with derelict buildings and brownfield sites." Calie Pedder

"It's about time our town has a young mind to represent tomorrow's Lutonian." Peter Agaita Orun

"I like your humble approach." Zia Choudhury

"It's great to see someone actually engaging with the public and asking what THEY are interested in, which is how it should be." Matty Vasquez

"Vote people. VOTE! If you're in South Luton, vote for Joe Hall for Luton." Loz Conder
I’m local, honest and independent -- the only independent in Luton South with a manifesto.  I want to help make big, positive change in politics and in Luton.  This is what I stand for:

I believe in Luton.  I'm born and bred here.  We have a great town and great potential for the future.

I believe in education and young people.  For our future, for the ambition, aspiration and achievement we need in Luton.

I believe in a more equal society and supporting public services, particularly for the most vulnerable in our community.

You can see more in my film above.

Please tell your friends, family and work colleagues and help spread the word.

Thank you.

Joe

Final few days! Can you help?

It's the final few days before Thursday's election.  My campaign has always been about the people of Luton getting involved.  Can you help?

1.  Print out a poster -- display it in your window
2.  Email your friends and family now -- send them a link to www.JoeHallforLuton.com
3.  Help deliver flyers in your area -- email me at Joe@JoeHallforLuton.com for details

Thank you for anything you can do!

I Believe in Luton -- Watch the video

With just over a week till the election, I’ve made a film – I want to show what my campaign is all about.

On May 6th vote for passionate change and better politics for Luton's future.

I'm endorsed by Martin Bell

From the Daily Mail:

Former MP and war reporter Martin Bell today introduced more than 40 people with 'real world experience' he personally endorsed to stand for Parliament.


Mr Bell, who was independent MP for Tatton from 1997 to 2001, said the candidates had an unprecedented opportunity to 'change the face of politics for good'.


The 47 candidates have all been endorsed by the Independent Network, an association that provides support to candidates who are not members of traditional political parties.


They have agreed to a code of conduct inspired by Mr Bell - the 'Bell Principles' - which require that they listen to and consult their communities, and resist abuses of power.


Independent candidate and TV presenter Esther Rantzen, who is not part of the Independent Network, will be challenged by independent Joe Hall in Luton South - where Labour's Margaret Moran stood down over her expense claims.

Read more here

Can you put a poster in your window?

Can you put a poster in your window?  Please download and print one now!

Ask me about the issues that matter

I published my manifesto recently so you can see my views on a range of issues.

Of course I couldn't include everything, so I'm happy to hear from you with your questions on local or national issues that matter to you -- please get in touch.

Below are ten questions on civil liberties -- an important national issue -- that two local people, Alex and James, have been in contact with me about via email (joe@joehallforluton.com) and Twitter.

I haven't put yes or no for the question about police stop and search because it's more complex than that (I think it depends on the police officers and the situation, for example), and on the Human Rights Act I'm sure I would want to see changes to it, but this is a very broad question and it would depend on the particular issues we're discussing.

What do you want from your MP?

The election has been called -- we have a month of energetic campaigning ahead.

But what do local people want from their MP?  I've been out talking to people and finding out.  I'd love to hear your views too -- please email me at joe@joehallforluton.com

Manifesto launch -- read it now, have your say

This Saturday I launched my manifesto on George Street -- in front of the ABC cinema that is a symbol of the potential we have and the change we need in Luton -- and at the same spot that I was mugged as a young teenager.

In the spirit of my campaign, my team and I were out asking people for their say on what to do with the ABC.  The people of Luton have no shortage of great ideas!  A few of the suggestions:  a theatre, late-night cafe, live music venue, youth club, dance studio, tea rooms, Luton Town Football Club museum.  One of my key ambitions is to transform derelict buildings like this into places for the community, just one way I want to help bring the town together.

My manifesto is a combination of my beliefs and your good ideas.  And there's still a chance for you to have a say.  I'm the only independent candidate in Luton South with a proper manifesto so you can see what I stand for -- and it's the only manifesto of any candidate where you also get a say and can help me improve it.

See the manifesto here.  Email me at Joe@JoeHallforLuton.com or join the discussion at www.facebook.com/JoeHallforLuton and be part of Luton's future.

"Luton is life. There are..."

Last week the BBC interviewed me for a piece on the importance of local independent candidates in this election. Missed it? Watch at http://bit.ly/akFyHI It's looking more and more likely there will be a small majority in Parliament after this election.  Your MP's individual vote could really make a difference.  I'm local, independent and as your MP I'll vote for Luton every time.

Hi and I hope you're well.

"Luton is life.  There are so many good things happening here."  

Those were the words I heard from a lady yesterday as I visited a local community group.  Every week I meet more and more local people who are passionate about our town and positive about the rich mix of people we have here.  I believe together we have what it takes to take charge of our future and make the change we want to see in Luton.

Over the past few weeks I've been working with students at Ashcroft and Stopsley High Schools (I've written to other schools in every area of Luton South too) to find out what local issues concern our young people -- and make a practical difference.  Better public transport, the environment and safer streets all come up often, more activities for young people too.  Now I'm working with them to get the changes happening.  I really believe each of us can make a difference to our local area.  And we must invest more -- much more -- in education and positive activities for young people.  We need motivated, ambitious, well educated young people who will be the long-term change in Luton.

We need jobs in Luton and I've been looking for more ways to create jobs locally.  I was struck by a recent awards ceremony for apprentices -- the young people there were amongst the most positive of any I've met.  We should be extending this kind of scheme, but a lot of it comes down to the nitty-gritty of how it's done -- talking to someone from the National Apprenticeships Scheme and a local small business owner, both said it wasn't as easy for businesses to get involved in apprenticeships and internships as it should be.  I could really see the need for a local MP living in Luton, at a time when we need to get these initiatives really right and make sure government ideas really work on the ground in Luton.  We need schemes and job centres -- but we have to think a lot wider and get really creative.  I'm meeting with local Mums soon who are supporting each other to start and run their own small businesses, to see how they're doing it.

The big cuts that all the political parties are discussing could have a direct impact on us in Luton (including the Council's great apprenticeships scheme I was talking about above -- as a number of jobs are being cut or outsourced).  I'm supporting the public services we need in Luton to support our community -- and to help drive demand for our businesses here too.  I recently visited the L&D and I met with the chair of our local NHS Primary Care Trust to hear about their vision for bringing health care out into the community in the coming years.  There's a lot more we can be doing to get the best value from our services.  Too often the conversation politicians have is about money -- we have to think about people, local people, first and foremost.  That's my focus.

What's next in the campaign?

Tomorrow night is the first debate involving all of the Luton South candidates, at 7.30pm at St Mary's Church in town.  It's about climate change and what it means for Luton.  Find out more at http://www.transitionluton.org/events/2010/02/25/ and do come along if you can make it.

More news coming soon.  In the meantime, if you're interested in getting involved or have any questions for me on my policies, as ever please do drop me a line.  Join me on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date and see what's really happening with the campaign.

Kind regards,

Joe

Harmony in Luton and the other kind of grit

It's been a busy start to the year. With the help of my growing team of volunteers, we've been doing a major leafleting campaign to reach thousands of people in Luton South (interested in volunteering? please email me joe@joehallforluton.com).  I'm updating my campaign materials soon to reflect the work I've been doing on my manifesto -- more on this in the next few weeks.

The biggest news -- snow and grit aside -- has been the trial of the small group of Islamic extremists who disrupted the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade last year.  With sensational quotes after they were convicted for public order offences, they've been trying hard to scare and divide us.  But we can see through the inflammatory words: they speak for no-one but themselves. We, the rest of us (whatever religion we happen to be, or none at all) want to get on with our lives in peace.

That's why I was really glad to take part in the launch of Luton in Harmony on Friday, a new initiative to celebrate how tolerant and how united Lutonians are. I think we need to make much more of how well we mix together most of the time in Luton.  We should give ourselves more credit and remind ourselves -- and the rest of Britain -- that by and large it just works.

That's not to say life is rosy.  We haven't got everything figured out and there are plenty of challenges.  But that's the point: when there are problems we sort them out peacefully together.  Most of the time it's a great thing.  I think it makes life much more interesting and we should be very, very proud of having such a diverse town.  Even though there's so much more we need to do in Luton, the fact that there are people from different cultures and backgrounds in Luton isn't the big issue it can seem in the national media.  (There are plenty of other issues I believe we need to solve -- more to come in future blog posts.)

Of course the easy part is launching an initiative.  The harder job is making it real, keeping it going and really getting people involved. I've started doing my part and getting some of my supporters and local businesses on-board.  Please do the same: you can find out more at www.luton.gov.uk/harmony.

It's been a challenging past couple of weeks for the many local people affected by the snow  (and more is forecast).  It brought it home to me visiting a street of sheltered housing for older people and helping get some action to have their street gritted.  The Council workers I spoke to were working very hard to help with an enormous task and too few supplies.

But we're also going to need another kind of grit.  Luton's image won't change overnight and I doubt the extremists, few though they are, will just go away.  We'll need a very human kind of grit and determination to make the aim of Luton in Harmony real, to stay focussed on working together, to keep building our town positively together.  Luckily I think we have this kind in plenty.  We could make this a really good year for Luton.

Back to the hard work of the campaign.  Please get in touch if you have questions or would like to get involved joe@joehallforluton.com

Happy New Year! Are you interested in volunteering?

Happy New Year to you, I hope you had a good break.

Nationally, the political parties are gearing up their election campaigns as we look towards a probable late March or early May election (come on Gordon, tell us when it will be).

Locally, many people are still fed up with politicians and I'm concerned that many people in our community simply won't vote at the coming election.  I believe we need to regain people's trust and forge a new kind of politics that's honest and genuinely connected with local people.  That's why I've got back out on Luton's streets this week to engage with as many people as possible.

Are you interested in volunteering to help me on the campaign?  The main things I need help with are knocking on doors and delivering leaflets with me.  Speaking to people on doorsteps is one of the most interesting ways to spend a day or an evening (don't worry, I do the talking!) -- meeting local people from all walks of life, discussing every issue under the sun.  If you think you might be interested or would like to know more, please email me at joe@joehallforluton.com.

Keep enjoying the New Year -- more soon.

Joe