Phoebe Cox, Mansfield Socialist Party
On Saturday 11 February, Socialist Party members ran a campaign stall in Mansfield town centre, alongside the Nottinghamshire Trades Council demonstration in response to recent protests outside a Mansfield hotel housing asylum seekers.
Socialist Party members from across the East Midlands, with leaflets and posters, advocated the need to ‘unite and fight for jobs, homes, and services for all’ – along with calls for an end to racism, and to get the Tories out. We had a good response to this message.
It was a great show of solidarity, with many passers-by taking leaflets, having conversations about the need for better services, and offering their thoughts on the improvements needed for the district and its residents.
The trades council protest included a presence from Unite and PCS union members, many of whom have been on picket lines in recent months.
Jon Dale, Socialist Party member and secretary of the Nottinghamshire health branch of Unite, spoke: “Our MPs are trying to divide this movement and divert people’s attention away from who is responsible for the rocketing bills, food prices and cuts to public services. It is not a handful of refugees in a hotel, but the government they support.”
