The Socialist 21 April 2010

Stop these savage cuts: support the socialist alternative

Young people facing a fight for their future

National Union of Students conference: Campaign needed against fees and cuts

Left candidates excluded from media

Big business as usual for Liberal Democrats

TV debate - Party leaders compete for the same policies

Volcanic eruption brings travel chaos: Planned and integrated transport system vital

Planes, trains and automobiles

Cameron turns back clock on women's rights

Banks use microloans to fleece poor

Fast news

Doncaster - Jarvis's vicious sackings and workers' fightback

Portsmouth North: "An ordinary guy to represent ordinary workers"

Lewisham councillors' record

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Coventry: Standing up for public services

Colne Valley / Huddersfield: Kirklees' only fighting councillor

Spelthorne: "The trade union candidate guy"

A chance to put your questions to your local Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates.

Why the BNP offers no way forward for working class people

Anti-BNP protest

Progressive Workers Federation of Pakistan founded

Sri Lanka parliamentary elections: Rajapaksa's clan consolidates its rule

National Care Service - fact or fiction?

1936 - A play about the Olympics

Vote to boycott SATs

Civil service dispute continues

Fighting cuts at Coventry council

Strike ballot at Manchester Metropolitan University

Unison health conference

Laundry workers fight closure

Dover trade unions against privatisation

National Shop Stewards Network 2010 conference:

Previous issues, etc

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What we think

Left candidates excluded from media

Seemingly endless column inches in the mainstream press are devoted to analysing meaningless sound bites from the top politicians and how they look and smile. Similarly with television and radio. Only one ideology is promoted, that of the pro-big business consensus of the main parties.

Small parties like the Greens and UKIP are given the occasional hearing. But the big business media owners prevent left-wing ideas from being heard, because they know these ideas oppose dictatorial, undemocratic ownership and control of industry and the media and are a threat to their prestige and enormous wealth, as well as that of their big business friends. This makes it very difficult for left-wing candidates to be heard, because this general election is being fought more than ever before on television and radio.

This is not democracy. A democratic election would mean opening up the media to include alternative points of view. There are hundreds of left and anti-cuts candidates standing in the general election but most people cannot hear their ideas. Some are 'independent' candidates or anti-cuts trade unionists. The Socialist Party is standing 20 candidates as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).

If these candidates were given access to the media, a real debate with the inclusion of pro-working class and socialist ideas could take place. The election would then have relevance for working class people and the boredom and disengagement of a huge layer of the population could be lifted.

Local councils

It is not just the media that is suppressing socialist ideas, but local councils also place huge obstacles in the way of election campaigning by smaller parties. Socialist Party branches have often been stopped from booking meeting rooms, displaying posters publicly or having street stalls in certain areas, due to local authority edicts.

Meanwhile people are supposed to get excited because the three main identikit parties have never before been so close together in the polls. But these poll results are a reflection of the lack of appeal of all three of them. There is widespread disillusionment with Labour, while the Tories are soiled by the memory of past Tory governments and their current pledge to make brutal cuts. The LibDems are posing as 'different' but are fundamentally the same.

Nine out of ten leading world investment funds surveyed by the Financial Times said they would be equally happy to see a Labour or Conservative government. That says it all about the lack of difference. The fund managers were only worried about a hung parliament, in case it finds it harder to inflict draconian public sector cuts.

A hung parliament is clearly possible, but these fat cats need not worry too much about that eventuality, given the desire to slash the public debt shared by New Labour, the Tories and the LibDems. Instead they should worry about the reaction of trade unionists to the cuts that the post-election government will try to make, whatever its composition.

This reaction needs to be as strong and unified as possible, because while the three pro-Thatcherite capitalist parties are competing in front of the television cameras for the privileges and prestige of power, working class people are crying out for measures and action in their interests. Already suffering or fearing unemployment, low pay, debt, insecurity, stress, poor housing, or lack of services, workers will have been completely horrified to hear the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development predict there will be over half a million public sector redundancies, ie 10% of the entire public sector workforce.

In the same week as this prediction, the London School of Economics revealed that the top 10% of earners are now taking home nearly a third of the UK's total wage bill. With this unprecedented chasm between the classes in society, it is almost unbelievable that working class people are so disenfranchised at present.

Following on from this undemocratic election and its unwanted result, it is extremely urgent that moves are stepped up towards forming an organised political voice for workers. In the meantime, during the election campaign, everything possible must be done to build support for the candidates standing for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and other genuine left and anti-cuts candidates.

In this issue

Stop these savage cuts: support the socialist alternative