13th April 2021 editor Campaigns 0

The Covid pandemic has shone a spotlight on increasing poverty, falling living standards and the failures of the capitalist system. London now has more dollar billionaires than New York. It’s clear that the bosses, Tories and Starmer’s Labour will try and make working-class people pay for the crisis. This poses the need for a mass, democratic, workers’ party to provide a political alternative to the parties of big business. To meet the need of the overwhelming majority in society, rather than the 1%, we need a democratic, socialist plan of production and distribution.

The Socialist Party is part of TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) with the transport union RMT, ex-Labour MP Chris Williamson, and others.

www.tusc.org.uk

Eve of poll national rally

  • 7pm Tuesday 4 May 2021 via Zoom
  • To register visit www.tusc.org.uk or scan the QR code
  • Meeting ID: 836 6197 3766

In the GLA Elections we say:

Transport

  • Fight for the funding needed to ensure a safe, environmentally sound and affordable transport network in London
  • No to Khan’s rotten TfL financial deal with the Tories — we won’t pay for the Covid funding crisis
  • Save the 150 bus routes under threat from Khan. Support transport workers fighting for jobs and safety. Re-open tube ticket offices
  • Defend free youth travel and pensioner discounts
  • Invest in non-diesel public transport and establish a grant for people to convert or replace polluting cars, rather than punitive measures against individuals to tackle air pollution
  • Road closure schemes only on the basis of democratic oversight by communities and local trade unions.

Low pay

  • End poverty pay — set £15/hr as the London Living Wage and campaign for it to be the minimum wage
  • End zero-hour contracts in all GLA jobs and call on all London councils to do the same.

Fire services

  • Reopen the fire stations, and reinstate the fire engines and jobs, which Boris Johnson cut and Sadiq Khan refused to bring back.

Cuts

  • Not one more cut passed down from central government by the GLA. Enough is enough!
  • Use reserves and borrowing powers to set no-cuts budgets and fight for the funding London needs
  • Call on all Labour councils to do the same • No cuts to domestic violence refuges and services. Fund the services women need
  • Bring back our libraries, nurseries and social care services. Fully fund all the services we need
  • Support all workers fighting back with industrial action

Housing

  • End evictions — forgive Covid arrears and debts
  • An immediate moratorium on ‘social cleansing’ schemes. Stop the demolitions
  • No to Sadiq Khan’s ‘London Plan’. Build council houses on social rent, with secure tenancies, and take over empty speculative property. 100% council housing on public land.
  • Full redress for those trapped in leasehold.
  • Cap London rents. No to rip-off private landlords

Young people

  • Fight back against mass youth unemployment — we demand a future
  • Create jobs and training programmes on trade union conditions and rates of pay
  • Reopen all youth clubs, recruit more youth workers. Refuse to implement cuts to schools
  • Establish a grant to enable young people to stay in further and higher education
  • Specialist housing and support for vulnerable young adults.
  • Campaign to reinstate full housing benefit for 16 to 35-year-olds and establish support in the meantime

Workers’ representatives on a worker’s wage

  • The mayor’s salary is almost £153,000! If elected Socialist Party members will only accept the wage of an average worker in London, and donate the rest back to the workers’ movement.