Feeding the delusion

This post is not an attack on TUSC and the socialist party I’ll stress now but a latest article from Stoke Socialist party needs to be addressed. There are major delusions going on within the SP in regards to TUSC and its potential and where it is heading. Yes it is only a working progress but personally I see little evidence of progress and any evidence of willing to adapt and listen to others who have different ideas and strategies. The article in question which I think paints a very rosy picture and creates a false sense of optimism that we are on the verge of a new workers party is quoted below. "Stoke-on-Trent’s City Independents won their second consecutive seat from Labour in by elections as their share of the vote slumped by a massive 13%. This represents another clear message from voters that they want no more of the Labour council’s orgy of job losses, cuts, closures and privatisation. Other cuts parties also suffered as the Lib Dem’s share of the vote was down by 4% and the Tory vote down by 11%. However, in a further humiliation for Labour, the Tory candidate pushed them into third place! As expected UKIP’s vote increased by 8%. The result was also a condemnation of Labour’s decision to continue plans, despite massive opposition, to borrow a minimum of £59 million to build a new City Council HQ. Their recent decision to keep the current Civic Centre in Stoke for ‘some’ council workers but still build the new HQ in Hanley as well has only increased that anger. The by election was triggered because the ex Labour incumbent, Andy Lilley, has been jailed for 16 months for fraud despite Labour trying to sweep it under the carpet – at least while he was still a member of the Labour Party. Of course this didn’t help Labour much either! If local elections took place now across the city Labour would face a wipe out. This after three years of the Con-Dem’s savage austerity measures. If they had at least tried to fight against the government’s cuts instead of carrying them out then they would have won this and previous by elections. But anyone still waiting for Ed Miliband or any other Labour leader to come charging over the hill on a white horse to push Labour back into a party that represents ordinary working class people might as well ‘urinate’ in the wind. This applies as much in Stoke-on-Trent as it does nationwide. The City Independents are now the second biggest party with 10 seats on the city council and pose a serious threat to Labour’s domination at the next full local elections in 2015. Although, if those elections coincide with a general election on the same day it will provide Labour with a better chance of hanging on to power. The City Independents have achieved this position by providing an ‘opposition’ in words to some cuts. But as yet that opposition has not included a clear commitment to oppose all cuts or a serious alternative which could protect jobs and services. Importance of this by election As local elections across Stoke-on-Trent won’t take place again until 2015 this by-election was a rare opportunity for various parties and others to stand as candidates. This led to a large field of 10 in the largest ward in the city which made it more difficult for the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and other smaller parties to make a significant impact at this stage in terms of the votes received. There was only a 19% turnout but that takes nothing away from its importance. Under Labour’s control the city council has already carried out £77 million worth of cuts over recent years. This has resulted in thousands of council workers jobs going and the closure of swimming pools, care homes, children’s centre’s libraries etc. Now they are planning a further eye watering £100 million worth of cuts over the next fours years which would all but decimate what services remain. All the other candidates in this by election seem oblivious that this is the key question facing the 250,000 people who live in the city. Most of their leaflets did not even mention cuts whilst a few did so only in passing with no mention of actually fighting against them or any idea how they could be stopped. This inevitably means that the newly elected City Independent councillor will join the others carrying out these hated austerity measures. TUSC strengthened by this by election Only TUSC candidate Liat Norris stood on the basis of a fight against cuts. We had a great response from people we spoke to. Two fellas in their forties who had never voted before voted for TUSC. A firefighter who we first met three days ago voted for TUSC. Three women who are active in community based groups voted for TUSC. At a public meeting we organised in the ward two local activists said they would stand as TUSC candidates in 2015. This by election represents an important step forward for TUSC in Stoke-on-Trent. It represents an important step forward in the building of a new party that we so desperately need to fight for ordinary working class people and it represents one more step towards our aim to stand working class fighters in every ward in the city in 2015. Liat Norris says, “I would like to thank all those who voted for TUSC’s fight against cuts. One of the most important parts of this election is that TUSC have now stood in 8 wards in the city on a clear platform of fighting against all cuts; we are and we will continue to build our profile as the only alternative to the pro-cuts parties. For a new developing party fighting against the mainstream consensus that there is no alternative but to carry out these brutal cuts, this important groundwork of building a base of support across the city is key, as is giving people the option to vote against these cuts that would have been otherwise lacking. This is not the last people in Milton, Norton or Baddeley Green will see of us, or indeed the last anyone else in the city will see of us. We will continue to fight against the council’s plan to carry out another £100 million of cuts, and will be looking to stand in every single ward in the city in 2015.” Full Result : City Independent – Mundy -861 – 32% Tory – Richardson -504 – 18% Labour – Chetwynd – 444 – 16.5% UKIP – Harold -333 – 12.4% Independent – Gary Elsby -313 – 11.7% BNP – White -79 – 2.9% Green Party Colclough -50 – 1.8% Lib – Dem Grocock -32 – 1.1% Independent – Davis -27 – 1% TUSC Norris -25 – 0.9% • Total votes: 2674 = 19.18% turnout " How the socialist party can dress this up as a step forward is beyond me. If this is a step forward coming 10th out of 10th and with 25 votes all be it with only a 19% turnout i'd dread to think what they'd consider a step back. I do not think the current tactic of standing everywhere and anywhere as the SP seem to favour helps them at all. Campaigns rock up quickly during the election period and disappear afterwards more often than not. There is no base built and more often than not in my experience with TUSC it was a chance for the Socialist party to recruit to its party sell some papers and build their own party TUSC was and still is a means to a end for them in my opinion. Article quoted from http://www.stokesocialistparty.org.uk/2013/11/15/baddeley-milton-norton-by-election-another-shattering-blow-to-labour-another-step-forward-for-tusc/

Vote for the no cuts alternative with TUSC this week in by elections

This week there are a few important by elections in England on the 15th of November. These elections are far more important than the police and crime commissioner elections being staged on the same day very few people are interested in another layer of bureaucracy and very few people will be voting I suspect. But an election people should vote in will be this Thursday in Manchester central, Corby and Bristol for the position of mayor. TUSC is standing in all of these elections and is backing the DPAC candidate for Corby on a no cuts platform. These elections will be interesting to see how TUSC is developing between elections. Many people say we still don’t know enough about TUSC well talk on the ground suggests we are getting a good response and are hopefully of a decent vote come Thursday. We do not expect to win but the fact we are standing and laying down a marker for future struggles raises the banner of TUSC and that no to all cuts alternative which no other candidate can offer. Our candidates are Tom Baldwin in Bristol running for mayor a young youth activist who has done a lot of work working with young people and has made some solid pledges already if elected to only take the average wage of a skilled worker of Bristol I think this could have a echo given the recent scandal of Dennis Mcshane who has had to resign from his seat in Rotherham for fiddling his expenses, TUSC incidentally will be standing in that by election too whenever it is called. Asked what he would do first if and when elected Tom was quoted as saying “Reverse the programme of care home closures in Bristol”. Our second candidate is Alex Davidson standing in Manchester Central Alex is a good solid trade unionist and is representative of PCS in the North West and fights every day for his members in the PCS and public sector workers. Alex has been very critical of the report released in the last few weeks by Michael Heseltine Alex said recently “Heseltine is infamous throughout the labour movement for his role in the 1980s Thatcher government. He oversaw an assault on social housing when environment minister, and was the man responsible for the final massacre of the coal industry as president of the Board of Trade in the early. Heseltine's recent report stated that the government "does not have a strategy for growth and wealth creation", reflecting a growing panic among the ruling class. The recent, heavily doctored 'growth' figures confirm that the government is desperately casting around for some 'good news'. Heseltine's report recommends that the government uses £49 billion to "stimulate growth in the regions". He also recommends that the government act as a stimulator for growth. This echoes much of what Chancellor George Osborne himself said about the "march of the makers" to replace lost jobs in the public sector. In reality, manufacturing has continued its long-term decline throughout the Con-Dems' two years in power. Areas like Manchester have never recovered from the deindustrialisation carried out by Thatcher and Heseltine's government. The current government has no commitment to saving skilled manufacturing jobs, as shown by their attitude to mass layoffs proposed by Ford in Southampton and Dagenham. Disgracefully, the Heseltine report was embraced by the Trades Union Congress and the New Labour front bench. If New Labour was serious about tackling the economic crisis, they would adopt the policy that has been embraced by unions like the Fire Brigades Union: nationalisation of the banks and the use of those resources to fund a meaningful programme of public works, such as the building of social housing and the upgrading of transport infrastructure. But Labour will not put forward anything like this. That is why I am standing in the Manchester Central by-election. As a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate, I am supported by trade union militants who recognise that the working class needs their own party with a socialist programme - not one that embraces an anti-working class Tory Lord. “ This blog wish’s all TUSC and anti cuts candidates luck and look forward to helping the building of a mass party of the working class with socialist principles and policies to match in the coming years. for more information on TUSC check out www.tusc.org.uk

What George Galloway’s victory in Bradford west can tell us for the left

An astounding victory last night in Bradford west by election where George Galloway saw off a labour party struggling to make any impact with their some cuts are nessesary line. It was a huge rejection of them and the other establishment parties that George won so convincingly. With a majority of 10 thousand this cannot just be wrote off as an anomaly.

So what can this mean for us on the left who are trying to build a force to the left of labour and campaigning for a new workers party like we are in the socialist party?

Well firstly I think this shows a deep rooted anger and despair with ordinary people with the 3 main political parties that George Galloway who isn’t a socialist by any stretch of the imagination stood on left sounding policies against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and offering himself as an alternative clearly shows that labour can be beaten in their heartland and a force to the left of labour can win in these areas.

As TUSC we are not supporters of George Galloway and have reservations on his politics and cosying up to various dictators in the past but no doubt this is more than that this victory showed that people wont always put up with the main 3 capitalist parties forever and ever and if a alternative is posed they can get a echo.

I also think we shouldn’t over state this this is clearly a tremor of the political earthquake happening right now but with the may 3rd local elections and the London GLA elections where genuine trade unionists and socialists will be standing under the banner of TUSC I think we can do well. I wont put my neck out and say we’ll get victories like George did in Bradford but the tide is turning on these establishment parties and people are fed up with the same old language same old lies and tired excuses from washed up politicians who only call at their door every 5 years or so.

I’m optimistic for the coming period without wishing to over state it I think we do have a opportunity to make some big in roads into the political plain and take those first steps to becoming that credible alternative that I am convinced people are looking for out there. A real socialist alternative that can serve the 99% not the 1%.

This also has shown a deep lying feelin felt by many that the establishment parties have for years and years taken ordinary working class people and their votes for granted. Especailly labour in the north who still feel and will not learn the lessons I feel that you can put anyone up in a area that has a working class base and it’ll always get elected. Wrong this is changing and for the better labour cannot takeits voters for granted as they will resist in the end. People will not put up with a party tied to capitalism and the markets and the banks forever. Labour has lost its way and workers are turning their backs on it now and I’m only too pleased to see this. It bodes well for the future for the building of a new workers party which in my view is needed more than ever in this coming period to provide a pole of attraction.