Lists

For the second time in a week - I'd better be careful this doesn't become a habit - I find myself agreeing with Jon Cruddas.

His team think all 6 Deputy Leadership campaigns should have access to a full membership list.

I agree - we need a level playing field so all candidates can contact all members directly.

For the record, the article's insinuation that Hazel Blears has access to a national list as Party Chair is completely false. If only!

The campaign that has the best chance of getting something like a complete list is Johnson's, because he has the lion's share of the MEPs, and each MEP has the whole membership list for their region (I'm braced for the inevitable comments onslaught about my own track record in previous campaigns involving membership lists supplied by MEPs ...)

But a level playing field also means that once you have the list there needs to be some equity of funding - or spending limits - so that those campaigns, like Cruddas', with deep pockets, aren't the only ones who can afford to send mailshots.

And it means that all the campaigns should also have the ability to send mailshots to and canvass the membership lists of all the trade unions and other affiliates - in my own union if you were a rank-and-file member relying on material sent out by the union for information about the candidates, you would be forgiven for thinking given the tone of the coverage that Mr Cruddas was the only candidate standing, or at least the only one with any connection to a trade union.