Conor Schieferstein, Leicester Socialist Party
We deserve better than any of the main parties on offer in this general election.
Young people have been consistently mocked and taken for granted by this government, protests and encampments we’ve taken part in have been met with hostility and calls for harsher policing. The recent announcement of Tories’ plans for national service highlight just how out of touch they are with the anti-war mood of the younger generation.
Our future feels uncertain. Decent housing is unachievable for many of us and Tory rule hasn’t done anything to stop landlords exploiting us.
We deserve better pay, better conditions and a party that will fight for us. We are the future, and yet we, along with the rest of the working class, continue to suffer from the government’s policies. But it is becoming apparent that Starmer’s Labour is not a voice for workers either. They spit out policies that ‘shadow’ the Tories after getting rid of many of Corbyn’s policies that mobilised thousands of young people, enthused by an alternative.
As well as going back on many of his leadership pledges, Starmer’s comments justifying the brutal and inhumane efforts of the Israeli state have demonstrated to us where his true intentions lie. Anyone who criticises Israel or is on the left of the party has been quickly suspended and expelled. Look at what’s happened to Jeremy Corbyn or Diane Abbott while right-wing Tory MPs were welcomed!
There is a strong mood for change, particularly from young working-class people. We deserve better, and the good part is we are the many and they are the few. We need a new workers’ party, set up by workers and for workers.
We deserve to know where our money and labour is going, whether that’s funding war crimes or lining the pockets of the fat cats and their friends. Capitalism is a broken system and we can trust none of the major parties to break the chain. Trust yourself and help build a party which actually represents the working class, that can build a safer, cleaner and fairer socialist society for our generation and generations to come.
