Bristol – Labour and Greens vote for Tory cuts
Annabel Griffiths, Bristol North Socialist Party
For eight years in Bristol, a Labour mayor has sat back and allowed the cuts demanded by the Tories.
Support for the Greens has risen recently here. But voting for a party that refuses to vote against cuts, like the Greens, is not going to transform our lives.
When the Greens ran Brighton Council, the cuts to public services under their noses meant that the bin workers had to go on strike against them – a slap in the faces for those people who thought they were voting for a party that fought for a better future.
Our youth have been failed, knife crime and gang activity have risen. We say restore youth services and jobs, reopen libraries, fight for free education, affordable houses, and well-paid jobs for all.
We say, don’t make us workers pay for the climate change being caused by the big bosses’ decisions, and insatiable greed for money and power. Climate change could be combated, for example, by introducing a free-to-use, expanded and renationalised public transport system.
From our campaign stalls and canvassing, we know so many people are disillusioned, fed up, and feel forgotten about and left behind, like they have no political representation.
Annabel Griffiths is one of two TUSC candidates in Eastville. TUSC is standing 17 candidates across Bristol.
Oxford: We can’t afford ludicrous rents
Sam Bennett, Oxford Socialist Party
I work as a teacher, a traditionally middle-class profession, but I’m unable to afford the ludicrous rents close to work. I currently live in my school’s accommodation, two to a bedroom, doing a second job as a residence assistant so I don’t pay rent.
Oxford has the highest rents outside of London, but lacks reliable public transport. This is a result of the low-traffic neighbourhood scheme (LTN), which limits traffic flow between the main artery roads, which are constantly congested during peak hours.
We put forward a socialist alternative to the usual anti-LTN candidates, who ignore the need to tackle pollution. We call for a publicly owned transport system, with proper investment into creating reliable, electric buses that go to all areas of Oxford, not just the most profitable routes.
I’m also campaigning to build thousands of new council houses that will provide genuinely affordable rents, built to be environmentally sustainable.
Sam Bennett is the TUSC candidate in the Blackbird Leys ward. TUSC is standing ten candidates across Oxford
Bradford: We only know poverty
Tom Gibson, Bradford Socialist Party
My interest in socialism came about because of my own experience being surrounded by poverty. My parents worked in schools in working-class areas that were severely underfunded.
The older I got, the more Bradford has suffered.
Despite the vile and racist right-wing media claim, Bradford’s issues are not the fault of people living here, but the useless local Labour council and national Tory government.
Bradford council’s 2024-25 budget involves the closure of an outdoor children’s centre, cuts to libraries and leisure centres, and fees and council tax will be increased.
We are supposed to be a ‘city of culture’. Yet our community and culture is being ripped apart.
Militant (predecessor of Socialist Party) supporter Pat Wall was elected Bradford North MP in 1987, serving for three years until his untimely death in 1990.
Pat was a strong fighter for Bradford, and for the working class. Bradford has a rich history of socialist movements. I hope that my candidacy can play a part in a new one.
Tom Gibson is the TUSC candidate in Bolton & Undercliffe ward
Leeds – I’ve only known cutting Tories and cutting politicians
Anthony Bracuti, Leeds Socialist Party
The Tories have been in power for over half my life. In that time, the Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, and Green councils that I have experienced have brutally enforced central government cuts.
Our schools, our nurseries, our youth centres, our hospitals, our high streets, our swimming pools, our communities – all sacrificed. And carried out by politicians who are unaffected by the suffering produced those cuts.
Leeds – Why won’t Labour stop Tory cuts?
Louie Fulton, Leeds Socialist Party
Our community has suffered with austerity implemented by Leeds Labour council. We cannot afford any more.
It isn’t enough to say there’s a crisis in local government finances, we must do something about it. If Labour wished to prove that they aren’t the same as the Tories, why can’t they pledge that if they win the general election, that they will ensure local councils receive adequate funding?
Instead, councillors should actually work with local communities and trade unions to fight for funding. Myself and other TUSC candidates are involved in the campaign against the closure of Little Owls nurseries, which threaten to leave parents without adequate childcare.
Louie Fulton is the TUSC candidate in Beeston & Holbeck, and Anthony Bracuti is standing in Little London & Woodhouse. TUSC has seven candidates across Leeds.
Counter establishment, far right, and Sefton’s decline
Dean Young, Liverpool Socialist Party
I’m standing for the second year in a row, and I’m not the only socialist standing in Sefton. Two other Socialist Party members are standing for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) – one for the first time!
All of us are students who grew up in Sefton, and know firsthand the ineptitude of the Labour council. Bootle docks, for example, are a shell of their former self. Once upon a time they employed vast numbers, and I include many of my family members in that number!
We have planned a public meeting to mobilise the election campaigns around. And we stand in the tradition of another socialist from Bootle – Terry Fields. Terry was a workers’ MP, who only accepted a worker’s wage, a member of Militant (Socialist Party’s predecessor).
We can be an antidote to far-right activists, who have been postering in the area, trying to sow divisions between working-class people. For every poster they put up, I put up five!
Dean Young is the TUSC candidate in Derby ward
