The Election Turns Violent

We knew this election was stirring up a lot of unexpected passion, but we didn't expect to see violence on the streets. Cormac Hollingsworth, a Labour candidate for Southwark council, was canvassing South Bermondsey on Monday night when he was attacked by a man shouting pro-BNP slogans (is it telling that Hollingsworth is involved with HOPE Not Hate?). Then yesterday we saw the outrageous case of @mildlydiverting, who gave BNP canvassers near Old Street an earful - only to be followed 20 minutes later and punched twice in the head. Meanwhile, David Clarke, standing for the BNP in Croydon council elections, was convicted last week of attacking two anti-racism protesters last May. Despite the conviction for assault, Clarke still hopes to be elected tomorrow.

It's not just 'BNP in thugs shocker' either. You may have heard about the Independent reporter attacked while investigating postal vote fraud in Bow. This is a significant problem, with households registering suspiciously high numbers of voters without needing to find someone to 'claim' each vote at the polling booth. Tower Hamlets received over 3,000 late applications for postal votes and hasn't had time to verify their authenticity - enough to easily overturn, say, the Respect majority in Bethnal Green and Bow and reclaim the seat for Labour. It just goes to show how much is riding on how we all vote tomorrow.