Support TUSC this Thursday there is an alternative

This Thursday people do have a choice and someone to vote for now. The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition of which I’m standing for in Hertfordshire county council elections for Ware north providing a anti austerity message. We are standing in over 120 seats covering 5%. This may seem a small number but it’s a big step forward when you look at how many anti cuts candidates stood when these elections were last contested back when labour were still in power. It’s important to pose an alternative and provide an alternative for people to vote for. As Marxists we do not consider elections the be all and end all they are a platform we can use to reach workers we otherwise wouldn’t be able to. We do not take an absolute view on elections and do see them as the lowest form of class struggle but this doesn’t stop us using any platform we can get. We are clearly limited with media coverage and ability to get to people with our production of leaflets being limited by our resources. Despite all this I feel we’ve run good campaigns reaching new contacts and providing an alternative where previously there was none. We’ve come across many thinking UKIP are the answer we have won a few around from this position who were going to vote UKIP but will now not after knowing what they are all about. People may vote for UKIP or labour even as a protest votes to punish the Tories and lib dems. This doesn’t mean to say people have any great enthusiasm for labour or UKIP they are just the nearest lot to bash the Tories with. TUSC will not get a big vote or win much if at all but it’s important we do not leave the door open to the right in the form of UKIP who could become a danger in the future as capitalism fails to find a way out of its own contridictions parties like UKIP are far more dangerous than the BNP as they are seen as more credible and will whip up racial tensions and create divisions in society increasing social tensions. But do back TUSC this Thursday but more importantly join the fight for a new workers party. If you’re in a union put pressure on it to back TUSC and stop funding a Tory light labour party. There is an alternative. The money and the funds are out there if brought under democratic workers control. We may be small and our votes may be modest at this stage but give us a listen and see what we can achieve together as the most powerful force out there the labour movement fighting back. For more information on TUSC visit www.tusc.org.uk

Why I’m standing for TUSC

I initially wasn’t going to stand this year for elections in the county council but I am glad I have thrown my hat into the ring now. It hasn’t been easy for a blind person to stand in elections there is so many inaccessible forms to fill in and getting nominations is a challenge too I eventually managed this though with the help of my comrades who I thank hugely. I will be standing in the Tory rural strong hold of Ware north in East Hertfordshire. The initial policies I will be standing on are • Oppose all cuts to council jobs, services, pay and conditions - we reject the claim that 'some cuts' are necessary to our services. • Reject increases in council tax, rent and service charges to compensate for government cuts. • Vote against the privatisation of council jobs and services, or the transfer of council services to 'social enterprises' or 'arms-length' management organisations, which are first steps to privatisation. • Use all the legal powers available to councils, including powers to refer local NHS decisions, initiate referenda and organise public commissions and consultations, to oppose both the cuts and government polices which centrally impose the transfer of public services to private bodies. • When faced with government cuts to council funding, councils should refuse to implement the cuts. We will support councils which in the first instance use their reserves and prudential borrowing powers to avoid passing them on - while arguing that the best way to mobilise the mass campaign that is necessary to defeat the cuts is to set a budget that meets the needs of the local community and demands that the government makes up the shortfall. This is the basic TUSC programme it’s designed as a basic outline as candidates can add bits to it for their local campaigns and local issues which affect them in their area. As I’m standing in Ware North I stand also against local cuts handed down by the Tory lead Herts County Council which include cuts to street lighting at night which I’ve previously blogged about, the cuts to lollipop crossing workers putting children’s lives at risk when walking to and from school and cuts to budgets on the roads meaning we have some of the worst kept roads in the county with many pot holes on our counties roads. Its clear labour are no alternative and in Hertfordshire this is no different their record in local councils like Stevenage Borough Council highlights this where they have implemented the cuts passed on to them from the con-dem government. The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition do not accept any cuts are necessary and in fact even more investment is needed in our public services. There is poverty in Ware despite many thinking we are in a relatively well off area no doubt some are doing quite well but how long this will last as the financial crisis deepens by the month. In ware we have a food bank which serves around 200 people a week so anyone pretending Ware is well off is lying as many who use a food bank are actually in low paid work often unsocial hours that are not paid enough to live on. Hertfordshire County Council should look to pay all its employees a liveable wage not just a living wage which his a code for a increased minimum wage but a wage that workers can live on properly without the need for benefits or food banks. I do not expect to gain hugely from standing this may but by me standing it offers the people of Ware and beyond an alternative from the main cuts parties. TUSC will be contesting 125 seats this may up and down the country with a candidate for the Mayor of Doncaster too. If you wish to find out more check out www.tusc.org.uk

40 new council homes to be built in Stevenage what about the 7k on waiting list?

The labour run Stevenage Borough council was trumpeting its new announcement of 40 new council homes to be built in the Broadwater area of the town. This is clearly welcome news but does labour think for one minute this is a big success story they should be cheering about? Of course as socialists we support new council homes being built but 40? Is that all? Surely we’ve miss read the numbers here there is 7000 on the waiting list for a council house in Stevenage and with a aging population we are told this will only increase in the years to come. So labour please doesn’t go cheering this tiny little dent in the waiting list it’s a drop in the ocean if ever I saw one. Socialists will support any move towards more council housing but only a programme of mass building on a mass scale enabling construction and building workers to go back to work too can have an affect. Across the country there is an estimated 5 million on the waiting list which is growing all the time. So labour if you want to appear radical do not get us excited by 40 new homes about adding some 0’s onto the end of that then we may be getting somewhere . This is just not good enough and for labour to announce this as a big success is a disgrace. Given the fact that this year in their budget proposals the labour council in Stevenage plan to increase social tenants rent by an average of 5% possibly more if they can get away with it. Is this rent increase directed at the most venerable and some of the poorest in the town going to build these new homes? If it is it’s another example of taking from peter to give to Paul robbing from the poor to help other poor people ultimately helps no one. TUSC who will be standing in Stevenage this year in the country council elections will be standing for a mass council house building programme on a mass scale to meet the needs of the people of Hertfordshire not just the property and housing developers who will be making big money out of new housing projects no doubt.