“If you want a bit of sound common sense, ask a cabbie. It was taxi driver Neill who best described why people in his home town of Kirkby might be tempted by the occasional riot.”
The Daily Mail journalist reviewing ‘Small Town, Big Riot’ on BBC3 didn’t know they were agreeing with the socialist cabbie, Socialist Party member Neill Dunne!
Neill does a great job of explaining the “lack of opportunities, a lack of housing, food poverty and wage insecurity” that breeds resentment in his Merseyside town. Resentment which the far right try to exploit to spread their hateful ideas, dividing the working class in the interests of the capitalist bosses.
Neill told us what he makes of the final edit:
“Overall, I’m happy with what they aired, but I went out speaking to them for about three and a half hours.
Every time I mentioned the Socialist Party or TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition), they cut it out. They haven’t aired everything I was talking about, the issues with local government and stuff like that.
I had a copy of the Socialist Paper on the dash. They didn’t show that!
I expanded on the deprivation in Kirkby and in the wider borough, to answer presenter Mobeen’s question: “Why are people in Kirkby so angry?”
I responded with facts on funding withdrawn from essential services like health and social care, wage stagnation, access to housing becoming more and more difficult while council tax, rent, and the cost of living all rise.
Knowsley council has passed on austerity measures in a borough left behind while sitting on millions in reserves.
Access to dentists and doctors has become a privilege, it is widely known in Kirkby that it is amongst the worst areas for poor diet, poor health, drastically high cancer rates, lowest life expectancy for women in England, while the council feels content with the development of fast-food restaurants and a single supermarket.
The alienation was seen in the ward I stood in, Northwood, where voter turnout reduced from 19% in 2022 to 15% in 2024 – well below the national average.
A few people have recognised me on the Socialist Party campaign stall or in my taxi and given me support, and we’ve had some great discussions. A fighting, socialist programme at the ballot box is needed.
Labour councillors are facing opposition in a campaign regarding the building of 800 homes, 720 of which are private (as explained in the article last month).
We want to see better infrastructure and access to dentists and doctors before a single home is built and the entire project should be social housing.”
