by Ciarán O’Donoghue, Newham and East London Socialist Party
London youth unemployment stands at one in four. Newham, in East London, has the second highest of all London boroughs.
Schools are chronically underfunded after years of vicious Tory and Labour cuts. Unis are no different.
Photo: London SP
The University of East London (UEL) has undergone staff cuts. Young people who do go to uni end up with mountains of debt, with no guarantee of a job afterwards.
We are being priced out of adequate housing – high rents and a massively oversubscribed council house waiting list. The Newham poverty rate is 38%, with child poverty reaching 45%.
We are feeling the brunt of capitalist crisis. That is why the Socialist Party in Newham has launched a concerted campaigning effort to discuss with young people about the issues affecting them.
We have been meeting young people in local parks and elsewhere. They have anxiety about unemployment and life prospects. Many rightfully worry about a Reform victory in the next general election.
There is also anger about the genocidal slaughter in Gaza and role played by the establishment parties, particularly Labour, in funding and arming the Israeli state. This meant Labour lost their majority in Newham this May, for the first time since 1971.
Labour still hold executive power through the directly elected Mayor, who appoints the cabinet. Mistakenly, the Greens have got into bed with Labour, helping them hold onto power.
Young people in the borough are desperately looking for a way out. There is a receptiveness to our demands:
- Fully fund education
- Scrap tuition fees
- £15-an-hour minimum wage
- More jobs for young people, with no AI replacement
When campaigning, we say fight for jobs, homes, and services, to cut across racist division. Crucially, we raise the demand for a new mass workers’ party as a socialist alternative to the capitalist parties. There was huge openness to this.
We link the issues in Newham to the socialist transformation of society, with the power and wealth placed into the hands of the working class to control and own democratically. Many young people signed up to hear more from us, and expressed an interest in attending our meetings.