‘We won’t pay for Trump’s war’

Adam Gillman, South East London Socialist Party

Our recent stall at the Sainsbury’s in New Cross Gate, south east London, was great! We engaged using a petition on the issue of food prices going up, as profiteering private companies take advantage of a horrific war in Iran to make us pay.

Many people were angry that we had to keep on paying while oil companies increased their profits. Lewisham council went from Labour having every seat to a Green Party majority at the local elections in May. Lots of people were also hopeful that the new administration would do something, but also agreed that the community needed to put pressure on the council to implement measures to help with the cost of living, such as reintroducing the Education Maintenance Allowance for college students.

The petition was really useful at engaging with the local working-class community, and allowed us through discussions to link the national issue of prices going up, to the local issues of what councils and linking all of that to the need for a socialist transformation to end profiteering and war for good. Lots of people signed, including two school students and four people interested in joining the Socialist Party

‘Of course I am a socialist’

Alex Sampson, Plymouth Socialist Party

It may be close to the end of the academic year, but there were still plenty of students around Plymouth Arts University on Friday 29 May who were willing to come and discuss politics with us and buy our Socialist paper.

In a city where Reform recently took 16 out of 19 seats at the local elections, understandably there was some concern among the students over Reform’s popularity. Students also asked questions about how the Socialist Party differs from the Greens.

In conversation, the young students supported our stance on nationalisation of major industries, mass council house building programme, £15-an-hour minimum wage and, of course, free education.

The students who spoke to us can see how little of a future capitalism has to offer them. It can only give them insecure housing and jobs as well as massive debt, and they want better.

As one student put it: “Of course I am a socialist, there really is no alternative is there?” For working-class students, there isn’t.

That is why we encourage students to help build the Socialist Students movement on their campuses and the Socialist Party too, in order to join the fight for the socialist transformation of society that we need.