Socialist ideas strike a chord

With local elections getting nearer, more people are buying the socialist and reading how socialist councillors are standing up to the mainstream parties' attacks on local hospitals, comprehensive education and social housing.

Bob Severn the socialist, national sales organiser

Bradley Heanes reports: "Coventry Socialist Party held a stall on Saturday 22 April and sold an amazing 128 papers. We also raised £220 in fighting fund. This, along with last week's 154 papers sold, shows how the ideas of the Socialist Party are becoming more popular. People are becoming increasingly fed up and bitter with the pro-business policies of New Labour.

"The main issues we've been campaigning about are the NHS-SOS campaign and the new campaign against job losses at the Peugeot Ryton plant, which will affect many people in Coventry.

"Next week is due to be a big week, with more members out on the streets and the local elections so close."

Stoke Socialist Party are campaigning outside the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, threatened with 1,200 job cuts. 150 papers were sold with £100 fighting fund raised by Friday. Another 100 papers were sold, plus £50 fighting fund, on the Saturday stalls and canvassing sessions.

Manchester Socialist Party members sold 50 copies of the socialist when door-to-door canvassing to ask people to vote for Socialist Alternative candidate Lynn Worthington, with 80 papers sold the weekend before.

In Huddersfield 45 copies of the socialist were sold over the weekend on stalls and door-to-door canvassing sessions, with £140 in fighting fund raised. Many people said they would vote for Jackie Grunsell after reading the Save Huddersfield NHS election leaflet. Two life-long Labour party members bought the socialist, saying they supported socialist ideas and oppose both Blair and Brown's pro-capitalist policies.

Over 25 papers were sold in Southampton on the weekend stalls and canvassing sessions. Canvassers have started to go back to people who said they'd probably vote for Socialist Party candidate Nick Chaffey, which has resulted in many election pledges and helped boost paper sales.

Sixty Socialist Party members, some from Brighton and Basildon, went to canvass in Lewisham's Telegraph Hill ward - where the Socialist Party aims to get three councillors elected on 4 May - during the postal voting weekend. Over seventy papers were sold, with £43 fighting fund raised.

Lindsay Wheatcroft from Mansfield told the socialist: "Socialist Party member Angie Barwick sold a paper to a friend who works abroad. He asked if he could buy some extra copies as he thought some of the people he meets would be interested, and paid £1 each for all 17 of Angie's papers! He went on to sell every one of these papers in Belfast, and is also interested in selling papers to British workers living in Belgium and Saudi Arabia."

Socialist ideas strike a chord

Bob Severn the socialist, national sales organiser

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