Carlisle Labour candidate should refuse money from Lib Dem lord


    A letter sent by Brent Kennedy, Carlisle TUSC, to the local press, radio and TV in Carlisle following revelations of ex-Lib Dem peer Oakshott offering funding to 30 Labour Party parliamentary election candidates, including Carlisle Labour candidate Lee Sherriff:

    Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition – Carlisle

    Press statement 22/01/15

    The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in Carlisle calls on Labour parliamentary candidate Lee Sherriff to refuse the £10,000 bribe by millionaire property dealer Lord Oakshott.

    A close ally of Business Secretary Vince Cable, who privatised Royal Mail and refused the RMT union’s call to save CityLink jobs, Oakshott is manoeuvring Carlisle voters towards a Labour-Lib Dem coalition government to continue austerity cuts, privatisation and anti-worker legislation.

    His other aim is to prevent the public from democratically deciding on membership of the EU in a referendum, saying of Ed Miliband: “He has stood firm against the clamour for a referendum with considerable courage and nous”. TUSC opposes the EU precisely because it acts undemocratically in the interests of big business against working people in this way.

    ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’. If Lee Sherriff accepts this political bribe it would make a mockery of those trade unions who mistakenly place their hopes – and their members’ money – in her.

    Carlisle TUSC has not yet decided to field its own parliamentary candidate, but this scandal will certainly influence our decision.

    Brent Kennedy, Carlisle TUSC