Still I wonder why nobody has mentioned the Labour PPC in the area…

As to who, if the Statesman are involved, I fear it will be Peter Tatchell - better than no one I suppose, but not my fave. How about Bob Marshall Andrews - would be interesting to see if he was disciplined by Labour for standing against a tory instead of with one. Raphael Rowe still seems active - Davis would have had him hanged, so he would be a good candidate

Yes I do think we are.

‘Is it not ridiculous for New Labour to be campaigning without a candidate?’

Its unadulerated cowardice.

I take your point, I think. But is that not more or less what I’m saying too? And why David Davies is on the stump? Is it not ridiculous for New Labour to be campaigning without a candidate?

It is that New Labour refuses to put up a candidate. It is they who should be held to account.

Despite not standing, New Labour is still campaigning and our efforts should also go into exposing that as much as anything else.

So, he’s already had his victory for common sense. Which is as it should be.

Where he goes from there is in the lap of the Gods, I’d have thought.

How will his ’smashing’ of a fruit and veg seller, a pub landlord, the OMRLP and not forgetting Miss Great Britain send a message to the government…i think they are quite happy to watch Davis make a fool of himself and of the cause….. in fact, they are the main winners from all this because it has thrown the Tories into chaos and as soon as Davis gets back there will no doubt be more fun to be had by Labour….is it any coincidence that for the first time yesterday Gordon Brown was confident and on the up at PMQ’s??

“This magazine could never endorse the candidacy of David Davis in the coming by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden constituency. Davis is a right-wing Conservative, as can be seen from his stance on a range of issues from the Human Rights Act to the death penalty…[This] is also a good opportunity for an independent candidate to make the genuinely liberal argument against 42 days, putting up a robust defence of the universal human rights that Davis does not support”

So an argument about extended detention and CCTV cameras morphs into one about ‘universal human rights’? This is utter nonsense and will just dilute the public response to the issue Davis has furthered more than any other person or organisation. This factionalising is something the liberal \ left have done time and time again and has never served their interests well - among other things I thought the purpose of this website was to move past those errors of the past.

How many ways are there to say this? Davis isn’t asking for an endorsment of his position on the death penalty, or on gay rights, or on anything else. Only an idiot would consider any support lent to him under these circumstances as having any bearing on those issues. This sense of revulsion or distaste - ‘I couldn’t stand next to him on a platform’ - is almost pathetic and should be beneath those who claim to support grand & noble ideas like personal liberty.

It’s a small by-election with a forgone conclusion for heavens sake - support the man, send a message to the government on this issue and then pursue the good fight on all the other issues - even if that then means taking on Davis….

and voters are to be given an all or nothing choice because a ridiculously partisan

Ignore any temptation to stand. Especially big money offers. There is only one winner in this by election. It is up to us to figure out how to exploit it. Personally, I think it cracks politics down the middle.

They sent me the leader piece soon after I published this, just to clarify my line, though I was out and couldn’t publish it.

Tomorrow’s leader, in addition to Martin Bright’s column, will be on the subject.

Full text of the leader:

“Labour voters deserve a choice

The New Statesman has opposed the extension of detention without charge for terror suspects to 42 days from the moment it was proposed by Gordon Brown. The argument for detaining these suspects for six weeks has never been made to our satisfaction, nor, indeed, that of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

This magazine could never endorse the candidacy of David Davis in the coming by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden constituency. Davis is a right-wing Conservative, as can be seen from his stance on a range of issues from the Human Rights Act to the death penalty. But neither do we share in the general sneering that emanated from the Westminster village following his resignation. The former shadow home secretary has succeeded in his main aim of keeping the issue of civil liberties in the public eye, and we applaud him for that.

Already, Gordon Brown has been forced to address Davis’s concerns in a point-by-point riposte. There is briefing that Labour will not put up a candidate in opposition. This would be disrespectful to the people of Haltemprice and Howden, who deserve the chance to hear Labour, on the ground, making the case for 42 days.

However, it is also a good opportunity for an independent candidate to make the genuinely liberal argument against 42 days, putting up a robust defence of the universal human rights that Davis does not support. Such a candidate would receive the full backing of the New Statesman.”

Come on Sunny! Give your mate Martin a ring and tell him you’re up for it!! :D

Despair and despond are human traits or life styles. Try

“Shakin’ yourself down,

Shakin’ yourself up.

And startin’ all over again..”

I do understand your arguments. I fully agree that this could be a unique opportunity and we have to make sure we take it. I totally take the point about Davis being “one of them” - if it was as simple as just finding a candidate who is suitably “sound” on civil liberties then I would stand myself. Furthermore, I really don’t have a problem in finding common cause with someone whom I disagree with on many other issues. The fact that Davis is a Tory saddens me in the sense that it highlights my disappointment with the modern Labour party but it doesn’t in itself prevent me from supporting him.

And yet…Davis is making a stand on a matter of principle and when anyone does this the first thing that their opponents do is look for inconsistencies in their position, to make them look less principled than they claim to be. Of course we are all only human and I’m sure that people could find holes in any of our principles, where our actions don’t quite live up to the standards we set ourselves. The problem with Davis is that his principles seem to have holes that you could drive a juggernaut through which IMHO makes him a fundamentally flawed standard bearer for civil liberties.

Maybe there are ways round this. Maybe he has changed his mind on some of the issues he has been criticised on. Maybe we can find a way of offering conditional support for him personally whilst still communicating ouor own position on the wider issues surrounding civil liberties. I’m happy to be persuaded that there is a solution, but I just don’t think I can offer unequivocal support for him.

Are there any public events or hustings? Will any media be giving coverage to any formal debates which occur? How much are the various parties and candidates going to engage the wider public, or will dialogue be restricted to voters in the constituency?

Are there any citizen journalists who will cover the campaign in the way the creweblog covered C&N? I’ve only seen one constituency poll so far - is this all we are going to get?