NO2ID kicks off in Maidstone

Attended the inaugural meeting of Maidstone NO2ID last night, a great meeting with about seven people plus the regional coordinator. It is great to see a campaign group in Maidstone that is not focussing on a NIMBY issue (not that I have any problem with locally focussed campaigns, just that other campaigns seem very light on the ground here). The timing is interesting with the home office losing another data stick with 84,000 confidential records on it yesterday.

A lot of good ideas about street stalls and how to engage with the public were discussed, although I did get rather heated after the hearing about what a wonderful champion of civil liberties David Davis is (check out his stance on the death penalty, LGBT issues, 28 day detention etc.).

Of course the Tories are full of ordinary people like him, championing our rights. Ordinary people like Boris Johnson, the 8 greats grandson of George II. Personally, I find it very difficult to relate to these Old-Etonians. I grew upmostly in the Medway Towns (with about 3 years in Maidstone). The people in Medway are great, down to earth, dealing with the same issues that we all deal with. I certainly didn't grow up knowing anyone from a privilidged background. (Hmm... classist rant now over).