Campaign news in brief

Tower Hamlets

Lutfur Rahman, mayor of Tower Hamlets in east London, proposed closing four local nurseries in September. Nearly half the borough's children live in poverty. These closures would have been a blatant attack on the local working class, especially mothers.

Members of trade union Unison, the Socialist Party and supporters of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) lobbied Rahman's cabinet meeting on 3 December. The earlier decision was reversed - a victory for the mothers of the "Save Our Nurseries" campaign.

Hannah Zucherman

North West England

Our quarterly fighting fund week of action, which involves extra campaign stalls, raised over £550. We sold dozens of papers and had numerous join cards filled in. At least two have joined already!

Hugh Caffrey

Newham

An eviction of a mum and her three children was stopped by housing campaigners in Newham, East London, on 4 December. The landlord, bailiff and locksmiths eventually turned away as 20 people had blocked the entrance to the property.

Housing association and court notices indicated that the eviction was over rent arrears. But on the day it emerged that the eviction was because the lease had come to an end! The rent arrears are a result of benefit caps and low pay.

The mum has a zero-hour contract job. She doesn't know if and when she will work or how much money she'll be paid, a nightmare when you have three children to look after. The landlord wants £300 a week - her employer pays around £300 a month!

The eviction has been postponed until January and the housing association agreed to meet with the mum and campaigners to look at rehousing the family.

Bob Severn

Waltham Forest

Residents of the threatened Fred Wigg and John Walsh towers (see the Socialist issue 834) attended a Waltham Forest TUSC meeting on 3 December.

Nancy Taaffe, TUSC prospective parliamentary candidate, explained the importance of residents refusing to move and organising defence when faced with eviction. She called for the £10 million held hostage by the council to force agreement to sell-off plans to instead be used for renovations.

Louise Cuffaro, chair of the tenants' federation, appealed to those present to collect signatures on TUSC's rent control petition.

See full report www.walthamforesttusc.com

Wales

Over a hundred people, including Socialist Party members and TUSC supporters, protested outside Ukip's Welsh conference on 6 December. There was little sign of the so-called "people's army" as a trickle of Chelsea tractors and smart saloons ferried suited 'delegates' through police lines.

Swansea West's Labour MP explained that racism feeds off poverty and misery. This, I said, is why we need an alternative like TUSC - not Labour cutters.

Ronnie Job

Derby

Socialist Party members and TUSC supporters are fighting the closure of Moorways pool and leisure centre. It is part of the Labour council's recently announced £22 million budget cuts, which include slashing support for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill.

The pool's Derventio Excel swimming club, which trains elite swimmers, has said it has no "viable alternative" facility. We will be contacting trade unions and the community to build the campaign to save the pool. Rebel councillors in Southampton, now part of TUSC, prevented a similar closure.

Charlie Taylor

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.