Went to Wandsworth

Finally got to the Wandsworth end of the constituency and leafletted commuters at Wandsworth Town station. We found that people leaving work --and presumably going home to somewhere outside the constituency -- accepted leaflets more readily than those coming out and going home. But, then, it's the message that counts more, much more, than votes. Earlier in the day Clapham South (which, believe it or not, is in the Battersea constituency) was covered. The Labour Party was there too. Nearby streets down the road, in the Streatham constituency, were leafletted with what we thought was the general leaflet. It turned out to have been the one for Islington North. But, again, it's the message that counts.

The last weekend

We ran a stall outside our premises in Clapham High Street from 11am to 5pm today and a second in Clapham Junction in the afternoon. We had to be careful which leaflets we handed out where as, our offices not being in Battersea but in Vauxhall constituency, the leaflets for there had to be the ones advising those who wanted socialism to write "World Socialism" across the ballot paper. Which wouldn't be appropriate for Battersea where we have a candidate.

The Tories were also handing out leaflets in Clapham High Street while supporters of the Independent candidate in Battersea, Chris Coghlan, "Opposing Brexit. Standing for a new centrist movement.", were at Clapham Junction. No sign of anyone else.

We had intended the second stall to be in Wandsworth but there are road works there. There's a street party in Old York Road, near Wandsworth Town station, tomorrow. Maybe we'll look in. Otherwise we'll leaflet the station exit on Monday.

Here we go again

No sooner are the local elections over and a general election is on us. In London, we'll be contesting Islington North, as last time, where Jeremy Corbyn is also standing, and Battersea, south of the river. We have chosen Battersea rather than our usual Vauxhall as there are plans, for the next election (now postponed till 2022), to merge half of Vauxhall and half of Battersea into a single constituency into which our Head Office on the north side of Clapham High Street will fall. So, we want to introduce ourselves to the electors there, though we have already stood in the area in the 2012 Greater London elections but there's no free postal distribution for those. We also stood in the council elections there in 1906.

The candidates are, respectively, Bill Martin and Danny Lambert.

The nominations papers (and the £500 deposit) for Battersea were handed in at Wandsworth Town Hall this afternoon. It appears there will only be 6 candidates, the usual suspects (Tories, Labourites, Liberals, Greens and UKippers) and us. So a straight fight with them.

Vote for them? You must be joking!

There's to be a council by-election in the Southfields ward of Wandsworth on 29 March. There's 6 candidates -- the usual suspects (Tory,Labour, Liberal, Green, UKIP) plus an independent. The Socialist Party isn't putting up a candidate, but we will be handing out this leaflet:

Vote for them? You must be joking!

What’s the point in complaining about the system and then voting for it to carry on? You’ve heard the Occupy people – you are the 99%, but the system is run by the 1%. The rich don’t create jobs and wealth, they create poverty. For the rich to be rich, millions of people have to be poor.

To get rich, they cut corners, rip off the world, fiddle, connive, cheat, lie and bribe. That’s the money system for you. That’s capitalism. There’s no such thing as an honest millionaire. There’s no such thing as honest business, or ‘fair trade’, or an ‘equitable share’. They win because you lose.

We have the technology and the know-how to run the world collectively, so that everybody can eat, have a place to live, and get access to a decent standard of living, but it is the money system that is making this impossible. If money makes you free, how come you’re tied down with debts, rents, mortgages, loans and bills, and doing some job you probably hate just to make ends meet? What kind of freedom is that? Is that a freedom you’d want to vote for?

The planet is being turned into a toxic waste dump, with poisoned air, warring factions and vanishing species, just so manufacturers can sell you more glossy trash that will break tomorrow, stuff you think you want because you can’t have the freedom you really want. Humanity is staring into the abyss, and our do-nothing politicians still cry ‘forward in the name of growth!’ Is that progress? Is that worth voting for?

The Socialist Party is not contesting this council by-election but we will be standing a candidate in the Merton and Wandsworth constituency in the elections to the Greater London Assembly on 3 May.

Grave issues

Speaking of Wandsworth's radical past. It's actually extends worldwide. Alexander Kerensky, the Russian social democrat who formally overthrew the Tsar in 1917 (only to be subsequently overthrown himself by Lenin et al). Here's a wee picture of his grave in Putney Vale Cemetery:

Alongside other such luminaries as Jon Pertwee and James Hunt. According to Wikipedia, he found his way to London partly because Orthodox Christian cemeteries in the US refused to have him, on account of his revolutionary past. Now, this illustrates nicely how interconnected the world is, how the history of one revolution feeds into the whole world. It also shows that when it comes to Putney, revolution is in the soil.

Update

I am reliably informed that former party writer/speaker activist Edgar Hardcastle is also buried in the same graveyard.

The Houses of Wandsworth

Just to shed a little light on what m'colleague was saying yesterday, here is a little chart from Wandsworth council.
Estimated households at 31/03/11:

Owns outright:	23,288
Owns with a mortgage or loan:	42,318
Shared ownership:	2,834,
Rented – Council:	17,295
Rented - HA/RSL:	9,820
Rented – Private:	27,407
Rented from other:	3,956
All Households:	126,917

As can be clearly seen, the vast majority of people in Wandsworth, don't own their own homes (and the way that press and local property sheets went on, you'd think everyone was an owner occupier). We can even include the mortgagees in the non-owners, many of whom are basically renting from the bank with a ruddy enormous deposit. Even if we include mortgagees and part-owners in the owners list, that is still only 54% of households. yet it is seen as aberrant to be a non-owner. It is considered shameful (or a privilege) to be one of the 17,000 council tenants (14% of the total).

Now, we're not proposing that the people who own their own homes be kicked out, what we want is the security of tenure that home owners enjoy to be extended to everyone. The vast majority of propertyless occupiers should be able to enjoy a home of their own. That is, there is a difference between a home and property, turning property into homes is where we're at.

Update

OK, a few more facts from the same source (I scrolled down a way, ok).

Wandsworth:	£385k / £50k	House Price Earning Ratio: 7.7
London:	£342k / £37k	House Price Earning Ratio: 9.2

So, average salaries are higher in Wandsworth, and thus houses are slightly more "affordable". Not affordable, though, for the 509 "unintentionally homeless" families in 2010/11.

Looking at Wandsworth

Some stats about Wandsworth:

A third of the borough's land area is occupied by residential properties, many within one of the forty five conservation areas. A quarter of the borough's land area is open space, much of this in the form of large areas of heath and common, and the Thames forms the northern boundary. [...]Around 134,095 dwellings are home to a population of approximately 289,600 (2010)[...]The 20-39 year old age group represents 47% of the population compared to 27% nationally and 35% in Greater London. Ethnic minorities account for 22% of the population as a whole and 26% of under 15s [...] There are approximately 99,600 people working in the borough, but of the 142,000 working residents in the 2001 Census, 29% worked in Wandsworth and 46% worked in central London boroughs.

That is, roughly, the borough houses about 5 million hours a week of available labour. the question becomes one of whether the people who perform that labour actually benefit from all that such working time could achieve for them. Anyway, moving on. There are 11,000 firms with 0-9 employees (accounting for about 93% of the borough's employees); 700 10-49 employees; and 100 with 50+.

An theme that should loom large in the election will be housing. In 2010/11 apparently, a net of 481 new homes were built in Wandsworth. Anyway, enough for now, next we'll take a brief look at Merton.