Enough to make you spit

A date for your diary - Tuesday 20th January, the Great Hall in Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square. 11.00am - 4.00pm.

Only kidding, it's a Jobs Fair for Black & Minority Ethnic people and the last people the organisers would want to see are any umemployed traditional Brits.

The blurb for the event makes it very clear that this is special treatment for immigrants to enable them to get jobs in front of the indigenous population by giving them a direct line to employers.

"Increase your independence and confidence when applying for jobs. Find out what's on offer from a wide variety of employers from the private, public and voluntary sectors, who will be available to answer queries about specific job and career opportunities.
A wide variety of job vacancies will be available on the day. Visitors can also obtain advice on employment related matters, training and educational opportunities. Free workshops will also take place, offering practical advice on completing application forms and interview techniques."

It's enough to make you spit! I hope that voters in the Hyde Newton by-election are made aware of this preferential treatment taking place on their doorstep.

And talking of that contest in Tameside, I'm pleased to reveal my "Creep of the Week" who is Adam Derbyshire an anti-BNP journalist working on the Tameside Advertiser. This bloke finds it impossible to report on the British National Party without letting his personal prejudices taint his copy. His bias is so transparent that it is almost funny, but not that funny because he is the main journalist reporting on what will be a very closely fought by-election.

There's a typical offering from Derbyshire in the latest edition of the Guardian Media Group owned Advertiser where he suggests there are fears that the BNP may 'claw' its way on to the council in the forthcoming by-election. In fact, when looking back over his handiwork, he uses the words 'claw' and 'clawed' on half a dozen occasions when describing the BNP's electoral effort. Back in November he described the leaked BNP membership list as a "roll of shame" and on other occasions he has used any and every opportunity to try to smear the BNP.

And finally, tomorrow there's a big push in Bexley for the East Wickham by-election where voting takes place on Thursday, so if you live within travelling distance please get along and help. Just contact your local organiser who will have all the details of the meeting points.

This is an important election for us because it will show whether the public are perceiving us as a credible alternative to the Old Gang parties now that the recession is starting to hurt. The ward is rock solid Conservative and they have a 1,000 majority over the main challengers according to the GLA results for East Wickham in May. Labour and the BNP are running neck and neck for second place, so the ideal outcome for us on Thursday would be to finish ahead of Labour and to reduce the Tory majority.