On the campaign trail

It's just as well the weather's getting warmer. Saturday and Sunday I was outside, on the campaign trail. Saturday morning I made it at the unearthly time of 9.30am to Barking where we took our London MEP, Sarah Ludford, around the market. We were there before anyone else was.

Slightly awkward moment during the walkabout, which generated mixed responses. One woman said she would give us a go, only to turn around and say that she thought there were too many foreigners in the country. Sarah's minder leapt in and argued in favour of immigration and the benefits it brings.

A man in the burger van said he wasn't sure whether he would vote and seemed skeptical about the euro - although he wasn't able to say why. But several traders and members of the public gave us a thumbs up on our stance over Iraq. If there was one unifying theme, it was a sense of dissatisfaction with the Government.

Later on a few of us went out to leaflet the estates between Cambridge Heath Road, Roman Road and Globe Town. I came across my first Labour leaflets, both the glossy Ken Livingstone ones which go on about police and transport, and the local John Biggs ones (the current Assembly member for the constituency), which pay no-one other than the BNP any attention.

There was also a fundraiser later in the evening, hosted by our Parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green, Fiyaz Mughal, with Jenny Tonge the main speaker. I couldn't make it, but I was on the streets again yesterday afternoon - this time we leafletted the Cranbrook estate and worked on the north side of Roman Road from the canal to Victoria Park Square, behind the Bethnal Green Museum.

Good exercise and it certainly helped me work off my hangover from the night before!

Tomorrow we have Sarah Ludford again in East London - this time we're going to be introducing her around Stratford train station at rush hour.