Letters to the Editor: ‘Voting data for Finchley and Golders Green was flawed’

Voting data was flawed

The Remain United figures used as the basis of your online article “Data analysis claims Labour ahead in Finchley and Golders Green” are projections from a UK-wide survey by ComRes of only 6,000 respondents for the whole country, with no information local to Finchley and Golders Green.

Polls directly of people who live in a constituency are, of course, always more reliable than projections like the Remain United model.

Some 400 people from Finchley and Golders Green spoke to Survation for the poll they released on 2 October, which put the Liberal Democrats significantly in the lead. In the Remain United projection, using a far smaller set of data that any other MRP model, the underlying survey data allowed for responses from less than 10 and possibly even no residents of Finchley and Golders Green.

Another independent tactical voting group, Best for Britain, also predicts the Lib Dems are likely winners in Finchley and Golders Green.

Lord Monroe Palmer, NW11

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Night of the long knives

With the removal of Chris Williamson we reach a critical point. With the general election in the offing there is an urgent need to remove those who are too toxic even for the Labour Party.

The night of the long knives is gearing into action and, although regrettably
a little too late in not happening from the top down, let’s hope that all right-thinking people will place their ‘X’ in the appropriate box, thus avoiding
the nightmare of a Corbyn-led government coming to fruition.

Stephen Vishnick

Tel Aviv

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Playing a dangerous game

As I read Jenni Frazer’s well- meaning blog, my mind kept repeating the phrase “all that it takes for Jeremy Corbyn to triumph is for good MPs to do nothing”.

I give the benefit of the doubt to those MPs who say they stand with the Jewish community, but are they prepared to make an unequivocal statement that if elected they will not use their seat to put Corbyn in Number 10?

We played and nearly lost a dangerous game in the election of 2017. If the “good” MPs make Corbyn the prime minister, it’ll turn out that they aren’t so good after all.

Mandy Blumenthal

Eilat

MP’s move is opportunist

I will vote for Mike Freer, who is a good constituency MP and a friend to the Jewish community. Luciana Berger is a fine woman and has suffered badly at the hands of the Labour Party, but I cannot support her joining the Lib Dems, who have a poor record on handling antisemitism and have been hostile to Israel.

Her move to this constituency smacks of opportunism. Whether you are pro- or anti-Brexit, there is a risk that voting for the Lib Dems will let Corbyn in. That will mean comparisons to 1930s Germany will not seem out of place.

Richard Jaffa

Finchley

Stop this bias for Lib Dems

I read your paper each week, and each and every week, in my view and that of my friends, you are biased in the way you report the election in Finchley and Golders Green in favour of the Liberal Democrats.

This seat is a true Conservative/Labour marginal. One only has to see that when Lib Dems get extra votes from our community owing to their candidate, it hands seats to Labour. As a paper you need to be fair, but you will have egg on your face if Corbyn’s candidate wins this seat.

Richard Martyn

Hendon

Berger’s dreadful mistake

Pulling down your opponent’s posters during a general election campaign is pretty much standard procedure. I should know, I have run my fair share of campaigns for Labour. It is certainly not polite or advisable, but Jonathan Metliss has rightly apologised.

But what your online piece this week failed to mention is that Jonathan has done more than anyone I know to champion the cause of anti-Jewish rascism in football, also lost his dear mother days before this minor incident. And the point Jonathan was making is correct. This election is a choice between Corbyn and Johnson. Luciana Berger, who is an old friend and has suffered terribly at the hands of Corbyn, has made a dreadful mistake in making Corbyn’s entry into No10 more likely.

David Mencer

Tel Aviv