"No politician can help you"

As it was sunny again today I decided to drive 5 miles to the border between Kingston and Merton to deliver a few leaflets. As I discovered from a poster in a window saying "Keep West Barnes Library Open", that's what the area was called.

This time I did come across some political material -- a leaflet issued by the Liberals for their candidate for Mayor, "former top-cop Brian Paddick" as they described him (he was a police commander in Brixton who was hounded out for, amongst other things, his liberal approach to cannabis and stood for Mayor in 2008 as well).

The Liberals are in a difficult position. They can criticise Boris Johnson for making cuts but not the cuts made by the government in which they are partners. But since local councils, including the Greater London Assembly, get most of their income from the central government, local councils (whether Tory, Liberal or Labour) are just passing on cuts decided by central government, itself acting as a transmission belt for the economic laws of capitalism.

If the opinion polls are anything to go by, people are seeing through this Liberal hypocrisy. Paddick is credited with only 6% of the vote. If he falls below 5% he'll suffer the indignity of losing his £10,000 deposit.

Capitalism being what it is, the government is trying to find ways to save money that they can then use to reduce taxes on profits and so help restore the profitability needed before any recovery can have a chance of beginning. Any government, whether Tory, Labour, Liberal or any combination of the three, that takes on the job of running the general affairs of capitalism has to act this way in the circumstances. They have to accept, and do accept, that that's the way the capitalist system works and put profits before people.

As we say in our election manifesto:

"No politician can help you. They all say they are going to have to make you worse off because of the crisis."

So why vote for them (unless you're a mug)?

Yellow Tories

aka Booting Brian

Ah, the Liberal Democrats, the cuddly party that is the genuine alternative to the tired old two party system. Put another way, the party for people who can't be honest enough with themselves to admit they're a Tory. See, they're not really Tories, when they cut taxes they do it with Muesli, or something like that.

Having seen what the rapacious Lib-Dems can do in office, in Lambeth and in Camden, with their Tory bed fellows - slashing funding to soft targets (community groups, meals on wheels, day care, advice services) we know whose side they feel their bread is buttered on.

So, when Brian Paddick offers the moon on a stick - lower crime, better policing, better environment - lower taxes we know just how it will be achieved. After all, he wants to end the housing problem, but look, Yellow Tories in Camden have begun selling off council houses to the private sector to pay for rennovations to stock (in Camden, it should be explained, tennants have voted against an Arms Length Management Organisation that is the Red Tories in government's prerequisite to release rennovation funding - we can thank John Prescott for that privatisation scheme).

But, look, they want to build trams - trams everywhere I tell you! as far as the eye can see, from Marble Arch to Stratford (£32 million) from Camden to Sarf London (£Millions and millions) - oh, and all Tram stops with have toilets and electronic information (strangely, the Lib dems in Camden only seem keen to open toilets in wards they control...hmmm), oh, and little green pixies who will grant your every wish...

Of course, the Fib-dems know they aren't winning here, but it doesn't hurt to use the mayoral electiions as an advertising spring board for their reign of cuddles.

The Revolutionary Programme for Surbiton

Today's Surrey Comet has some interesting stuff on two of our opponents' parties. (Before you ask what Surrey has to do with Lambeth & Streatham don't forget which cricket club plays at the Oval.) It interviews the ten candidates standing for the Assembly in South West London constituency (comprising Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond, Twickenham, Hounslow, Brentford, Chiswick, etc).
The English Democrats candidate's programme is described as follows:
"The party wants to see an English Parliament with a Bill of Rights for citizens. He said: 'We are a non-racist English nationalist party. We feel Ken Livingstone represents minorities quite well. As soon as you mention white English, people immediately think you are racist".
We wonder why.
The SWP "Left List" candidate, Tansy Hoskins, gets this write-up:
"Ms Hoskins wants to see one price for all train fares across London paid for by taxing the air fuel of aviation companies. She said: 'If you are living in zone 6, a travel card costs £160 a month. We are campaigning for a flat rate so people who live in the outskirts of the city aren't penalised for living there compared with those who live in the centre'."
It seems she is trying to steal the programmne of the local lib-dems who have put out a leaflet with a picture of DI Paddick, Councillor Knight, their candidate, and the local Liberal MP, the three of them holding a placard saying "Re-Zone Surbiton to Zone 5".
Maybe she can persuade Tom and Barbara Good to vote for her, but she'll have to be much less radical to persuade Jerry and Margot Ledbetter to.
The SWP as a revolutionary socialist party? You must be joking.