Paula Mitchell, London Socialist Party secretary
TUSC groups and committees are meeting all over London to put plans in place for the elections next year.
In Brent, Haringey, Hackney and Islington, Waltham Forest, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hillingdon, socialists, trade unionists and community activists have come together. New groups are about to meet in Ealing and Newham. Candidates are coming forward in Camden, Sutton, Croydon, Barking, Enfield, Lambeth and many other places.
Inspired by socialist Kshama Sawant’s election victory in Seattle, Socialist Party members are playing our full part. We’ll be standing alongside many other trade unionists and campaigners. TUSC candidates look set to include anti-cuts campaigners, Turkish and Kurdish community activists, Afro-Carribbean community activists, and housing and NHS campaigners. Members of various trade unions have put their names forward, so there’ll be housing workers, hospital porters and cleaners, nurses, teachers, tube workers, fire fighters, civil servants – all standing together.
There’ll be people who have lost their jobs due to the cuts, people who have had services and benefits stripped away, and whose housing has been under attack. Students have put their names forward too. Ex-Labour Party members are joining in, alongside people who have stood as independent candidates previously, and a former Lewisham Socialist Party councillor.
Local authority workers can’t stand for election in the authority they work for (though if they live in a different authority area they can stand there) but that doesn’t mean they can’t take part. Everyone can get involved in building support and winning votes.
TUSC candidates standing for council will say to those council workers – vote for TUSC and we won’t vote for cuts!
