Swansea – time for new workers’ party has come

Swansea Socialist Party members

The annual May Day rally was hosted by trades council secretary, Socialist Party member, and GMB rep Gareth Bromhall. There were lots of trade union speakers, as well as the local Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), and a trans trade unionist and activist.

Anger from several speakers and the crowd towards the Labour Party was palpable. Several contributions highlighted the attacks on the most vulnerable in society, the insult that is the most recent public sector pay ‘offer’, and the rise of right populism following Reform’s performance in the English council elections, and their recent by-election victory in Bridgend.

Our call for the need for a new working-class alternative, a mass workers’ party with a socialist programme, with the unions at its heart, was well received.

In Swansea, Labour MPs are refusing to meet with DPAC over disability cuts, making anti-trans remarks in parliament, and the party is offering an insulting pittance to trade unionists in the public sector. For many here, it’s an idea whose time has come.

London

Thousands marched through the streets of London on 1 May to mark International Workers’ Day, including socialists and trade unionists.

Many paid tribute to Peter Taaffe, commemorated in last week’s issue of the Socialist (see ‘Peter Taaffe – International Trotskyist theoretician and fighter for socialism’), including political opponents who nonetheless recognised his immense contribution. This was expressed in high numbers paying solidarity price for the paper, as well as buying his books on the history of our party.

The march concluded with a rally in Trafalgar Square. The ongoing slaughter in Palestine was a major theme, as well as the array of attacks on the working class in Britain.

The Socialist Party argues that these struggles and others must be linked, and for the trade unions to play a central role.

We fight to transform the trade unions into fighting, democratic organisations capable of leading such a struggle, and this must be linked to the need for the socialist transformation of society.

Ali Mansfield