By Erdington Local election news team
A founder of the Justice-4-the-21 campaign, which succeeded getting answers for the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings, has announced he is standing in the Erdington by-election.
Michael Lutwyche lives on the Pitts Farm Estate in Erdington and is the first serious independent candidate to announce they are standing in the 3 March poll caused by Jack Dromey’s death.
The 55-year-old security expert spent the last decade taking on successive governments and the criminal justice system to help the families of the 21 Brummies murdered by the IRA in 1974.
He told Erdington Local: “I am not a single issue candidate but obviously I will use my power as an MP to do everything I can to help the Justice 4 21 campaign because it has been such a big part of my life.
“If there is one thing the campaign has taught me is that victims of crime are ignored in this country, and if you are a normal person who ask the state for help you will be ignored.”
He added: “When I said to people in the campaign about running they were very supportive and I have had friends get involved asking to help so my campaign is broad coalition.”
Mr Lutwyche believes the time is perfect for an independent candidate to make a big impact in a by-election, especially in Erdington.
“We are living in a post-politics era now where the big corporations decide the agenda and the politicians just do what they want. If you follow the money you often find the same people are funding the two main parties.
“Erdington has been deteriorating for years now, it has not been a sudden thing, Labour run the council, the Tories run the country and they are both to blame.”
The fledgling politician is putting crime and punishment at the front of his agenda.
He said: “I tried to stop the drug dealing on the High Street and in Stockland Green and ran up against a brick wall with the police. I was even told the top brass were happy for the drug dealing to be contained in the areas where there are lots of HMOs.
“Personal safety is important as is the increase in anti-social behaviour. Only last week the police admitted parts of Erdington have become ghettos. I believe they have become ghettos due to police indifference and council mismanagement. I will call both bodies to account.”
The Aston Villa fan is relishing the fight ahead and has called on local people to back him to send a clear message to Westminster they are not happy with the system.
He said: “It’s turned into a real David and Goliath struggle, the odds are firmly stacked against me, but history shows people like us thrive on odds like those. They make it hard for us, they tell us we can’t, we turn round and quietly show them we can.
“I’m in this fight for the little people, the people quickly ignored once their votes have been cast and their MP swans off to London, for the elderly who’ve now been abandoned once they’re surplus to requirements, the people from our community unable to access GPs and on ever expanding hospital waiting lists, the families who dread escorting their kids through neglected High Streets where drug dealing is openly happening.
He added: “The people who just want to enjoy their lives without having every last penny squeezed out of them and watch as every local facility is slowly lost.”
LUD FOR ERD – Michael Lutwyche for Erdington campaign has set up a GoFundMe page for donations: www.gofund.me/b99333bd