A TUSC rally? Lambeth Town Hall 25 February

We distributed a leaflet announcing our candidate Danny Lambert for the Vauxhall constituency to people on Acre Lane and Brixton Hill as well as to about 100 trade unionists protesting against  Lambeth Council cuts yesterday. The trade unionists were representing unions such as UNISON, GMB, and campaigns such as Save Our Schools, Save Our Libraries in Lambeth Borough. Also people from Stand Up to Racism and Fascism were there. The Green Party was in evidence calling for Save Lambeth Libraries. The Labour parliamentary candidate for Epsom and Ewell spoke at the demo as did the ex Lambeth Labour Councillor Kingsley Abrahams who was basically kicked out of the Lambeth Labour Party because he would not vote for cuts.

But it was a TUSC (Trade Union and Socialist Coalition) show. The TUSC parliamentary candidates Unjum Mirza (Streatham) and Steve Nally (Dulwich and West Norwood) spoke at the rally. The large TUSC banner was in evidence. Steve Nally usually stands in Vauxhall for TUSC but has been moved away so that he doesn't oppose the Labour MP Kate Hoey who is a member of the RMT trade union Parliamentary group (RMT are a funder of the TUSC). TUSC are a front for the Trotskyite SPEW political party, of which Steve Nally is a member, as is the UNISON rep who spoke at the protest yesterday. TUSC are also supported by rival trots the SWP. TUSC/SWP shared a stall at the protest. The SWP locally are holding meetings in Brixton in March on Syriza, Climate Change and Selma to Ferguson.

I saw a Left Unity supporter who are standing a candidate in Vauxhall where we are standing.

Will TUSC/SWP supporters in Vauxhall vote for rival trots Workers' Power who are essentially Left Unity in Lambeth?

For the record the SWP endorsed former Lambeth Labour council leader Steve Reed at the Croydon North by-election in 2012 which is staggering considering for years the SWP in its front organisation Defend Council Housing was bitterly opposed to Lambeth Council housing policies under the leadership of Reed!

TUSC's Steve Nally said to those gathered outside Lambeth Town Hall that we should "look to Greece" (ie Syriza) for inspiration which is strange considering the Syriza government has made a deal with the Eurozone and is going to continue with austerity economics when it was elected on an anti-austerity platform...