The Socialist 26 April 2007

Blair's legacy: war, cuts and privatisation

Blair's legacy... war, cuts & privatisation

Civil servants' union May Day strike

Free Arrested activists now

Join the campaign to defeat fees

No victimisation - support Deeside college lecturers

Campaign to Defeat Fees National Meeting

New Labour - lowest poll ratings since 1983

Come to the Campaign for a New Workers' Party conference

Campaign for a New Workers' Party conference

Support for Labour falling in Scotland

Campaigning for socialist ideas in South Wales

Huddersfield: Fighting against NHS cuts and closures

Coventry socialists fight Post Office closure

Southampton: Save our Services!

Brighton: Stop privatisation

Merseyside: Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Bootle has a real socialist alternative

Manchester Wythenshawe: NHS cuts threaten lives

Donate to fund a socialist alternative

Socialist solidarity on May Day

Socialist wins court battle in Kazakhstan

France: Record turnout sees Royal and Sarkozy go through to second round

Yeltsin's real record - 'wild capitalism' in Russia

US mass shooting horror

Nigerian elections - a dangerous farce

Support the Sunvic strikers

UNISON Delegates demand action

Previous issues, etc

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Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Bootle has a real socialist alternative

Pete Glover, Socialist Party candidate in Bootle

IF YOU thought the main political parties were all the same, these parties are falling over themselves to prove the point in Bootle. Sefton council's budget for this year was agreed and backed by all three parties. More and more, working-class people see that the millionaires have three parties while workers have no mass alternative.

Whether you vote Labour or Lib-Dem, you get exactly the same deal - sky high council tax for ever-decreasing services. You get privatisation of our health service as well, which in Bootle is more discredited by the day.

South Sefton health bosses planned to privatise GP services in Maghull. This was dealt a big blow when, after being forced by campaigners to consult the public, that consultation led to the restarting of the tender process. In other words, campaigning action has pushed back the bosses by at least 18 months. But the threat of privatisation still stands, and campaigners will remain vigilant.

Next door in Bootle we can see how a strong socialist alternative can defeat these schemes. Credible sources inform us that bosses did not want to do a pilot scheme of privatisation in Bootle because of "political opposition". In other words, because people in Bootle vote socialist in significant numbers, the establishment are frightened of the political earthquake that will follow if they try to sell off Bootle's GPs.

Keeping big business out of our GP services by stopping the privatisation of our doctors - yet more reasons for people to vote for our Socialist Alternative candidate, Pete Glover in Netherton and Orrell ward on 3 May.