“It is simply wrong for the state to retain the personal details of innocent people. According to figures compiled by Liberty, the National DNA Database holds information on around 300,000 children and approximately 850,000 innocent people who have never been charged or cautioned.

“The issue is certainly far too important for party politics. I therefore fully support Ms Abbott’s and Liberty’s campaign and call on all politicians, political candidates and members of the public to support their efforts in this noble cause.

Yours faithfully
Darren Caplan

Conservative parliamentary candidate, Hackney North & Stoke Newington”

Darren Caplan, a 36-year old political, communications and campaigning consultant who works in central London and who grew up in north London, has been campaigning with local activists in the constituency since March 2008. He said:

“I’m tremendously grateful to the Hackney North and Stoke Newington association members for choosing me as their candidate. I’m really looking forward to working with the team and to campaigning in the local and increasingly likely general elections in 2010, when we’ll have Diane Abbott firmly in our sights!

“Hackney North and Stoke Newington Conservatives have been ramping up their membership and campaigning activities recently. If you live in the area and want to get involved, please call us on 020 8144 4458 or email me at darren@hackneyconservatives.com – I look forward to hearing from you.”

Patricia is determined to give a voice to voters in Stoke Newington who have been let down by Labour. She said: “In 2001, shocked by the callous betrayal of New Labour, I joined the Conservative party. In Tower Hamlets where I lived, I attended planning meetings to oppose developments likely to impact adversely on residents, supported small businesses threatened with closure and advised victims of anti-social behaviour. Recently I assisted a family in need of re-housing and am currently representing tenants at a rent tribunal.”

Make sure Patricia can speak up for you. Vote Conservative on January 29th.

Download a leaflet to find out more about Patricia and her campaign.

Writing on his blog, the Chatham Ward councillor wrote that:

Maybe instead of Labour fielding a candidate in Haltemprice & Howden we should find a Martin Bell type candidate – preferably a recently retired senior police officer, or a survivor or relative of a victim of a terrorist attack, to run under the following 5 word candidate description: “Independent – for detaining terrorism suspects”.

Bomb victim Rachel North is just one of dozens of bloggers who have expressed their disgust at Councillor Akehurst’s opinions.

Luke, I am not a conservative. I have always voted LABOUR. I can’t do so any more because they are shredding ancient freedoms and engaging in fear-mongering.

I expect terrorists to attack our freedoms and our democracy by using fear and terror to hurt us. I was right there, seven feet away from a 19 year old suicide bomber in my carriage on 7/7 and lucky to escape with my life when he killed 26 fellow passengers.

I object vehemently to your assumption that victims of terrorism can be waved about to us as a bloodied figleaf to cover up a naked desire to be seen to be tough on terror for entirely politcal purposes, I object to being used as a political football, and if ‘for the victims’ is going to be invoked for this kind of liberty-trashing fearmongering, then this ‘victim’ (hate that word)is going to shout right back that those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

The Hackney Conservative Association condemns Councillor Akehurst’s opinions. His comments are disgraceful, and he should retract them.

Political commentators describe Boris as the most powerful elected Conservative politician in Britain today. As such, he has promised to work “flat out” to repay the confidence of Londoners and to make Greater London “greater still”.

Boris is one of the most original thinkers on the political landscape and we know he will bring radical improvements to the government of our capital – with a special eye on crime, transport, housing, environment, and social integration. The world’s greatest city deserves nothing less.

In this Party Election Broadcast, he talks about his plans to tackle the problems of crime & anti-social behaviour, create a more efficient transport system, protect our open spaces and offer value for money.

For a change for the better – vote Boris Johnson for Mayor of London & Conservative for the GLA on May 1st.

The Conservatives proposed amendments at Hackney’s annual budget meeting that would have seen disused Council buildings brought into community use, restored the Park Keeper’s cottage on London Fields, re-opened Haggerston Pool, established a Hackney-wide amateur football club and set up a cycle of competitive sports for young people.

The £7 Million programme would have been funded by disbanding the current “Olympic Team”, a body set up by Hackney Labour to take money from the borough’s services and squander it on consultants and marketing.

If adopted, the Conservative proposals would have also reduced Hackney’s council tax demands by over 1%.

Conservative Group Leader, Matthew Coggins, said: “There are very few people who think that Hackney’s legacy budget is anything other than an employment service for consultants. What’s more, it will be brought to you by the same people who built the Millennium Dome. We gave the Labour Party the chance to spend money on our neglected young people now. Instead, those young people will have to wait four years in the hope that some scraps will fall from the Olympic table.”

In this week’s edition of Hackney Today – the newspaper paid for by Hackney taxpayers – Labour Mayor Jules Pipe launched a breathtakingly hypocritical spin campaign to save the post offices from being axed. All of them are in Labour-controlled wards.

Anyone receiving the newspaper, which claims that “Mayor Jules Pipe and [Labour] councillors from the affected areas are calling on the Post Office to back down from a bid to close branches in parts of the borough”, might be tricked into believing the Labour party planned to mount an effective campaign against the disgraceful closures.

What Hackney Today doesn’t tell you is the Labour Government is actually responsible for approving the closures. According to the independent postal regulator Postwatch, “Government has announced that Post Office Ltd is to close 2,500 post offices”. That’s more than one in five post offices that will close by the end of this year.

The only party that wants to make sure older people and our most vulnerable residents don’t lose vital, local services in Hackney is the Conservative Party. That’s why the Conservatives have been running a national campaign to save our post offices since 2006.

Stop Hackney Labour ripping our borough apart. Sign our petition against post office closures.