Anna Soubry heads straight for the gutter

Within hours of the General Election kicking off Anna Soubry's first e-mail shows that she intends to spend the next five weeks in the political gutter. To quote:

'Support from More United (for me) came shortly after Broxtowe Labour broke its long standing tradition of selecting moderates as their parliamentary candidate. Broxtowe Labour have selected a member of the hard left to stand in the June General Election. He is not just a full supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, but someone who has named John McDonnell as his political hero "the epitome of a progressive socialist". The Shadow Chancellor is one of the most divisive figures ever in the Labour movement. When I called him out on BBC Question Time for failing to stand up against vile sexist abuse from the hard left towards moderate Labour women MP's, many thanked me both publicly and privately.

McDonnell said of the IRA it was "about time we started honouring those involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands, that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA".

John McDonnell has never apologised for the content of what he said - only (and only recently) for any offence he caused by his comments.

I very much hope Broxtowe Labour's parliamentary candidate disassociates himself unequivocally with McDonnells comments about the IRA and might consider some less unpleasant and extreme Labour figure as a fitting hero.'

Notice how she does not name Greg Marshall. If a named Labour Party candidate doesn't exist he cannot defeat her - this seems to be Anna's approach from day one.

The 55% Irish in my DNA is enough to ensure the 100% Englishman that I am understands that Conservative Unionists have, historically, more experience of state sponsored terrorism than any group of Irish nationalists and to draw attention to Ireland today of all days, well, that shows Anna Soubry has no intention of addressing the important issues facing Beeston residents both locally and nationally.

I had thought until today that Mrs May was going to box clever and that Anna was going to follow her example, but now I see hope. Both have chosen personal abuse instead of taking the imperious path.

I admit to still being fearful about the outcome of both the county council and general elections because of the way elections work. Yes, I would like the Liberals and Greens to give Labour a free run in Broxtowe and, in return, Labour should stand down in seats where a Liberal or Green candidate has a better chance of defeating the Conservative candidate. I know it won't happen, but today Anna Soubry and her sidekick Theresa May have given me hope that wasn't there this morning. I thank them both.