Ryan Aldred, Plymouth Socialist Party
Labour has revealed how far it’s degenerated by agreeing to share power with the Conservatives in Plymouth’s hung council.
Labour will no doubt justify this arrangement as a means of shutting the three Ukip councillors out from becoming kingmakers with the Tories, now that Labour has lost its majority on the council. If that is the case then Labour could fall to pieces as it is simply siding with what it considers to be the least worst of two bad options.
If Labour had not implemented the eye-watering cuts passed down from national level they would probably never have lost their majority on the council. But this latest move to form a grand cuts coalition will only alienate those who voted Labour to keep the Tories out.
The pro-Labour trade union leaders will now have a very difficult time arguing that Labour is an alternative when the evidence is clearly showing otherwise. The attacks on jobs, conditions and public services will now come thick and fast and people will be looking for a means of organising to fight back.
People will not need to look far, however, as the Socialist Party and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition are campaigning for an end to the cuts, the immediate implementation of a £10 an hour minimum wage, and standing shoulder to shoulder with workers in building a movement to end austerity.
