Campaigns

Life for young people has only become more expensive over 16 years of austerity, as an increasing cost of living has coincided with the trebling of tuition fees.

On 16 May, Socialist Party members joined tens of thousands who flooded the streets of London marking the Palestinian Nakba — the forceful uprooting of millions of Palestinians — day, in order to create the state of Israel.

We wanted ‘a workers’ list’ of candidates for the local elections. And 18 people volunteered to stand as Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidates.

New figures just released show what has been known for some time – Tower Hamlets in east London has the highest proportion of children living in poverty in the country.

At the local election hustings in Deptford, south London, there was huge anger at Labour. Lewisham Labour-run council has carried out brutal austerity, including threatening Lewisham Shopping Centre with closure.

On 18 April we took our canvassing work at Lewisham Shopping Centre. We coincided with local Save Lewisham Shopping Centre campaigners on the day and handed out some of their leaflets.

Most of us don’t need figures to be convinced that the cost of housing is a growing problem — but the figures do give a sense of the scale of the housing emergency.

Living and working in London, the cost-of-living crisis is felt most keenly through housing. Working people in the capital typically spend more than half of our income on rent.

I went to the first meeting of a bus users group in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire recently. It was set up by a local Tory councillor — just ahead of elections — to gauge interest and hear firsthand about the issues and complaints about the local bus services.

As it became clear that the Your Party leadership had no intention of standing thousands of candidates in the May council elections, Socialist Party members in Waltham Forest decided we had to step up and encourage others to also stand under the banner of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).