Manifestos have arrived

3500 copies of our manifesto arrived today. Here's what it looks like:

It's the same wording as in the Party's manifesto for the 2014 Euroelections. We decided to use this as our appeal is aimed at those interested in ideas rather than in potholes, street lights or cycle lanes.

Reconaissance

Visit to Guildford yesterday to see if anyone else was holding a stall at Tunsgate Arch. No party was but there were a couple of church people handing out a leaflet on healing which said they were there every Saturday 1-3 pm. They didn't have a stall, but there shouldn't be a problem in us having one (first, next Saturday).

Took the occasion to look at the constituency and distribute 400 or so general leaflets (our election manifesto is not being delivered till Monday). The Labour Party had been in the same streets earlier with their pathetic "Say NO to 4.99% Council Tax Increases" leaflet. Met the Tory candidate, Adrian Chandler, who was going from door to door canvassing for votes. He's already a local borough councillor but doesn't stand much of a chance of cumulating two mandates as in 2013 the Tory candidate finished fourth with only 16% of the vote (but there's no UKIP candidate this time). Part of constituency is on a hillside, which is going to be a bugger for door-to-door leafletting (wouldn't want to be a postman there).

All the Surrey candidates

Today's Surrey Advertiser has a full page with the names of all the candidates standing for the 81 electoral divisions of Surrey County Council. Apart from us, the only vaguely "radical" ones are TUSC in Staines and two Peace Party candidates in Guildford (one standing in the same division as us). But they are reformists of course.

Couldn't help noticing the name of one of the UKIP candidates in Surrey Heath -- Piotr Jerzy Farbiszewski -- and wonder which other camdidate there UKIP supporters will be voting for. Incidentally, no UKIP candidates at all standing in Guildford, so that must means they won't be at the Brexit hustings?

Brexit hustings

A bit surprising in a local election but we and all the other parties standing candidates in Guildford have been invited to a hustings organised by the pro-EU "Guildford in Europe" group. More on them here. It will be on Tuesday 25 April at the Guildford Institute, Ward Street, Guildford GU1 4LH, from 7.15 to 8.30. Each party will be allowed 5 minutes to put over their position. The local paper, the Surrey Advertiser, will be publicising and reporting the meeting. We've probably still got a few of our EU referendum leaflets somewhere.

By the way, we are not complaining about this issue being raised in a local election. Far from it, as we're raising the issue of world socialism. The obscene scandal of cutting back on care homes for the elderly and vulnerable and the turning off of street lights, planned and implemented by Surrey Council, do derive ultimately from the workings of the world capitalist economy. Capitalism in an economic downwturn, as following the Crash of 2008, requires governments to cut back on their spending to relieve the pressure on profits. As most local council money comes from the central government, so they have to cut back too. Profits before people, that's the way capitalism works and the only way it can.

Our opponents

The list of persons nominated for Guildford West has just been published. Apart from us there are 5 others:

Chandler (Tory), Dokimakis (Lab), Purvis (Green), Morris (Peace Party) and White (LibDem).

White is the outgoing councillor. The Peace Party is a christian-inspired pacificist party, based in Guildford, which regularly contests elections there, including the last General Election. They are on the ballot paper as "The Peace Party - Non-Violence, Justice, Environment". Last time in the Surrey County Council elections in 2013 they got 105 votes (5%). They are also standing in Guildford South West. There is no UKIP candidate (no point anyway, now they've won the referendum).

In the rest of Surrey, there is one other candidates using the word "socialist" on the ballot paper: TUSC in Staines. In a by-election for the ward last year they got 33 votes (1%).

Nomination accepted

The nomination papers for our candidate, Adam Buick, were handed in at Guildford Borough Council offices this afternoon and accepted. So we're on the ballot paper, with our emblem.

The artwork for the manifesto, with the same wording as the one for the 2014 Euroelections when we contested the South East Region, has arrived. We only need to change the colour from blue to orange.

Election Time Again

Not in London but over the border, in Surrey. The English County Council elections are taking place on Thursday 4 May and West London branch has decided to stand a candidate in Guildford, which is only about 20 miles from Kingston, chosen because it is a university town.

Activity so far:

Letter published in the Hounslow Chronicle (17 March )in response to one from someone in the ex-Militant Tendency signing himself "Staines and Surrey Socialist Party":

Socialists will have candidate
Paul Couchman (Your Say, March 3) says he wants to build "the Social­ist Party in Staines and Surrey" and hopes that there will be Socialist candidates in May's County Council elections.
The good news is that there will be. The bad news, for him, is that it will not be his party, ie the old Mili­tant Tendency under the usurped name of our party which has existed since 1904. We shall be standing on a straight socialist programme of the common ownership and demo­cratic control of the means of pro­duction, with production for use not profit, not for mere reforms to capi­talism as he wants.

The 10 signatories for the nomination paper were collected yesterday in the chosen electoral division of Guildford West. The Labour Party had already leafletted the ward to introduce their candidate (George Dokimakis). It seems that Corbyn's takeover of the Leadership has made no difference whatsover at local level as the leaflet's slogan is "Say NO to 4.99% Council Tax increases". Very leftwing. UKIP and the LibDems will no doubt be using that one too.

Literature stalls planned in the centre of Guildford for Saturday 15 April, Saturday 22 April and Monday 1 May.

More psephology

The London Elects site has now published the results by borough (and ward). Here are our results by borough:

Lambeth 729 (0.74%)
Southwark 604 (0.69)
Hounslow 504 (0.65)
Waltham Forest 496 (0.64)
Hackney 464 (0.60)
Kingston 293 (0.50)
Islington 333 (0.45)
Richmond 268 (0.35)

This confirms past experience that we do better in Labour areas than elsewhere, though the rather surprising result in Islington (where we have contested many elections over the years) would seem go against this.

Results in detail

Lambeth and Southwark
Florence Eshalomi (Lab) 96946 (51.63) -1.18
Robert Flint (Con) 34703 (18.48) -0.89
Rashid Nix (Green) 25793 (13.74) + 2.23
Michael Bukola (LD) 21489 (11.4) -0.2
Idham Ramadi (UKIP) 6591 (3.51) +0.72
Kevin Parkin (Soc) 1333 (0.71) -1.15
Amadu Kanumansa (APP) 906 (0.48) n/a

North East
Jennette Arnold (Lab) 134307 (58.7) +5.63
Sam Malik (Con) 32565 (14.23) -4.37
Samir Jeraj (Green) 29401 (12.85) -2.61
Terry Stacy (LD) 14312 (6.26) -0.64
Freddy Vachha (UKIP) 11315 (4.95) +1.5
Tim Allen (Respect) 5068 (2.22) n/a
Bill Martin (Soc) 1293 (0.57) n/a
Jonathan Silberman(Trot) 536 (0.23) n/a

South West
Tony Arbour (Con) 84381 (39.47) -0.37
Martin Whelton (Lab) 62937 (29.4) + 0.7
Rosina Robson (LD) 30654 (14.34) -2.34
Andree Frieze (Green) 19745 (9.24) -0.6
Alexander Craig (UKIP) 14983 (7.01) +2.11
Adam Buick (Soc) 1065 (0.50) n/a

We don't contest elections to get the maximum number of votes but we do hope to avoid a really derisory score. On this last our unstated aim was to avoid getting less than a four-figure vote. Which was achieved. 0.5% means that out of every 200 people who voted 1 voted socialist or, since there was a 49% turnout in South West, one in every 400 people you pass in the streets there (or watch Brentford play). In the other places we contested you'll have an even better chance of crossing a socialist voter.

Our vote in Lambeth and Southwark was down. This will be due to the fact that we changed our candidate. We do say that it's the case not the face that counts and rightly but we can't control how even our sympathisers see things. Danny Lambert, who has stood as our candidate many times in the Lambeth area (and in this GLA constituency last time), was well known as the candidate for socialism but this will have been name recognition and association with us rather than a personal vote. There was also one more candidate than last time and the number of candidates standing also affects things. That candidate was from the All People's Party, a breakaway from the Labour Party in Southwark. They can't be very pleased.

We didn't finish bottom in North East either where, after "Workers Power", the "Communist League" was the second Trotskyist vanguard to suffer the indignity, for them, of being beaten by the SPGB despite them standing on a programme of attractive reforms and us standing only on the maximum programme of socialism and nothing else.

Two media interviews

For the record, two online interviews with our candidate in Lambeth & Southwark, Kevin Parkin, can be found here (Southwark News) and here (SW Londoner).

The count in the three constituencies we are contesting will be under way soon with results expected some time in the afternoon.

Keith - May Day

Well we went there! Clerkenwell Green: A vast whirling chaos of assorted Lefties. In front of the old Sessions House were the M-Ls. Damn lot of them, very noisy too. Maybe they hadn't heard that dear old Uncle Joe has been dead these sixty years (and buried up yonder in Green Lawn Sematary). A variety of Leagues (Communist, Spartacist, Justice) and Parties (Socialist Worker's, Namestealingnogoods). Some oddities for my collection: the Independent Socialist Labour Party (the bloke who fell out with Scargill); An Australian geezer harping on about banks - Eight years too late (we're on Eureferendum and TTIPs now dear) and the wrong continent. And bloody hell! The dancing fool. How I hate him! No idea why. The anarchists were there too - I met Nick Heath, who has a very nice hat. Everybody had brought along their table. Except the Marxist Study Centre, who were too posh to sit (they stood near the Nice Policeman, out of the way of the hoi polloi- Who are they? Why are they so well dressed?). And us. Why did we not have a table? Sorry, it was too much for my tiny biclycle. I already look like a circus elephant. The table would be too much man. If you do this sort of thing, you do need a table though. To lay out all your stuff on. Someone might buy something. T'other thing you need is gumption. You need to all but race around pressing jolly leaflets into unwilling hands. Leaflet sir? No thank you. Oh dear you already seem to have it in your sweaty. And I am long gone. Anyway that's about it. Election tomorrow. Remember folks: Vote early! Vote often!

KAZ

The last minute

Had doubts abouts distributing the last couple of hundred leaflets on the last day before voting but found that the Tories had been there before me. This was on a council estate in Surbiton (yes, not everybody there leads the good life). The Tory leaflet was a nasty one headed Daily News 6 May 2016:

Breaking News: Success for Corbyn's Labour as Khan wins London ... Higher turnout among inner-London Corbyn supporters results in gains for Labour in the London Assembly. Your vote in Kingston & Surbiton can stop this. [Their emphasis in red].

I know it's irrational but I prefer distributing leaflets in areas where Labour leafletters had been before like in Hounslow whereas in Kingston and Richmond it was the LibDems though in Brentford (part of Hounslow) it was the Greens (don't know why nor what the Tories were doing on a council estate in Surbiton).

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be writing WORLD SOCIALISM across my mayor and party list ballot papers and voting for myself for a change in the constituency, as will our other two candidates (in North East and in Lambeth & Southwark) as, for the first time, all three of us live in the constituency where we are standing. Not that that really matters since, as we say, it's the case not the face that counts.

Profile in the Hackney Citizien

Meet the North East Candidates

Bill Martin is a librarian and has been a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain for 20 years.

He explains that the Socialist Party stands to abolish the wages system and establish a society based on the common ownership and democratic control of wealth, recognising that this change can only be made by a mass movement dedicated to that purpose, and not by leaders.

Martin claims his name is on the ballot paper as a useful legal device to allow people to signal their support for this change.

The Hackney Citizen requested a photograph of Bill Martin from Socialist Party of Great Britain but none was forthcoming.

In fact, a photo was not 'no forthcoming' but we actively declined to provide one, on the grounds that it is the case, and the Party that is standing for election, not an individual person.

Saturday in KIngston

Two members and two sympathisers ran a street stall in the centre of Kingston for two hours on Saturday. Slow start but it picked up later with discussions on the EU referendum (the Leave and Remain leafletters were out again, amazing how people are concerned with the British capitalists' trading arrangements while the only thing they trade is is their labour-power) and Ken Livingstone's alleged anti-semitism rather than the GLA elections. Leaflets (both on the election and on the referendum) handed out. A couple of pamphlets sold and a couple taken without paying (the person chose carefully as he took How the Gods Were Made and Marxism and Darwinism). Contacted by a member of the Zeitgeist movement who had come from the other side of London to do this.

This will be the last of the election stalls. Next date: polling day, Thursday 5 May (also Marx's birthday).

News from the South Western Front

Today's Richmond and Twickenham Times has a full page on the six candidates standing in the South West constituency. Unfortunately it is about who I am rather than what the Party stands for. The information on our candidate was not supplied by us but was taken from wikipedia. The nearest it gets to saying what we stand for is where says I am a "speaker and writer about a moneyless and wageless society". We have agreed, though, to supply a photo for the online version despite that for us it's "the case not the face" that counts, on the grounds that a "face" will attract more people to read what's underneath it than just plain text. But don't worry, the chosen photo shows a Party banner in the background saying "Abolish the Wages System".

The same paper's online edition also carried a report on the hustings in Twickenham on 12 April (where the candidate's face can also be seen). It's here.

The Surrey Comet only has a page on 5 of the 12 candidates for mayor and nothing on who's standing for the GLA but we can't really complain as they had published two letters from us. The Liberal candidate will have more reason to as she's never been mentioned and the UKIP candidate might not have liked being reminded on the front page that he once denounced the "gaystapo" (on the other hand, maybe he accepts that any publicity is better than none).

We have now finished distributing our quota of one-third of the 30,000 election manifestos and only have an 1000 or so, found at Head Office, left to do. By chance they have been distributed more or less equally between the three boroughs of Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow. This was not the plan as the intention was to concentrate on Hounslow where the branch meets. 11-12000 is slightly more than a token coverage as it's only about 4% of the total number of postal drops in the constituency.

A hundred were distributed in Oxford as on a visit there for a William Morris event (saw the room in University College where Morris gave his first talk as a socialist entitled "Art under Plutocracy", part of which we first republished in 1907 as Art, Labour and Socialism) I noticed that nearly all the streets near where I was saying had houses displaying "Vote Green" or "Vote Labour" posters in their windows. They all got the only leaflet I had with me (our GLA manifesto). Assuming that those displaying posters are among the 5% of the population said to follow politics this is a self-selected target and 100 delivered to them should be the equivalent of 2000 delivered to all doors. It will also serve here as a reminder that, after contesting both the Euroelections in 2014 and the General Election last year in Oxford, we are still around. More of the leaflets will be distributed at the Mayday trade union event in Oxford on Saturday.

Tomorrow we will be having a street stall in Kingston but not in Brentford as announced.

A voice from the back...

Rather than my usual ramblings, one of our members sent in a report from the Friends fo the Earth Hustings for the North East Constituency

I attended the hustings meeting yesterday, eventually! I turned up at St. Mark's church just before the advertised time, but there was nothing happening there apart from a Thai wedding. Ciamak turned up shortly after me, and we stood around wondering what to do, when a young fellow came along who was also looking for the meeting. To cut a long story sort, he phoned around and eventually found out that the meeting had been moved to a hall around the corner. We entered the hall to find it well-filled and the meeting in progress. It seems we were the only ones who weren't told about the change. Unfortunately, the acoustics were poor and I was having trouble hearing what some of the candidates were saying even though they spoke into microphones. Bill was OK in this respect, as were the UKIP, Labour and Green candidates. Some of the other candidates were fairly sympathetic to what Bill was saying about dealing with the root causes of environmental damage being down to the seeking of profits. I suspect that they thought socialism was a good idea, but way off in the future, and we have to deal with major problems here and now. The UKIP candidate, Freddy Vachha said the problems of environmental damage in London was caused by too many people living there (which is probably partly true), but offered no solution, other than "pulling up the drawbridge". He didn't address the reasons why so many workers are coming to London, e.g. for economic and political reasons, which would have led him to the conclusion that the solution lies in a worldwide approach, rather than a parochial one. However, he was an impressive speaker who disabused some of the other candidates of their pipe-dreams and solutions which they wouldn't be able to deliver on. The format of the meeting--asking what the candidates would do for them--didn't lend itself to developing the discussion along broader lines. This meant that certain subjects, which didn't necessarily require a political solution weren't discussed, e.g. The use of bottled water and the consequent recycling millions of bottles; The leaving on of lights in large buildings overnight etc. Bill caused a bit of an uproar when he said that if you don't want a classless world of common ownership then he doesn't want your vote! Because I arrived late, I missed the introduction, and wasn't sure who all the candidates were representing--they had their names only on hand-written name-plates. The was a conspicuous lack of black faces in the audience, apart from a colleague of Labour candidate Jeannette Arnold.

Much better than I could have put it. (from here.

Leafletting yesterday

West London members were out again yesterday running street stalls in two different parts of the South West constituency.

In Feltham 3 members, helped for a while by a bored balloon seller, handed out leaflets outside the Shopping Centre. At first we set up stall inside the Centre but were requested to move on by security staff who said we required permission True as the Centre is private property (an increasing trend with these places), so we moved just outside on to the pavement of the High Street.

Some political discussion. With a UKIP member and a Kurdish leftwinger who spoke about the collapse of state capitalism in Russia and told us how the Kurdish militias were defeating ISIS. Someone else told us she never voted as politicians were all the same and never did anything for ordinary people. We said we agreed and that it was because they were running capitalism whose economic laws forced them to put profits before people. She asked us what we would do for people. When we replied "nothing" and that people had to do things for themselves she took our leaflet. A skinhead draped in a flag of St George, it being his day, sang "You are the left wing, We are the right wing" as he passed by. We told him we could see that, but we couldn't identify which football club he supported.

Chiswick was quieter than a fortnight ago with people more interested in the EU referendum than the London elections. A sympathiser who went to Kingston thinking it was this Saturday we'd be there (it was last Saturday) reported that the Leave and Remain leafletters were out again. So, when we are there next Saturday we'll come armed with a good supply of our "EU Referendum - An Irrelevant Sideshow" leaflet.

One More Letter

Letter published in today's Surrey Comet (but sent to its sister, free paper, the Kingston Guardian) under their heading "Profits first":

MP Siobhan McDonagh is right to point to the loopholes in the government's 'Living Wage' law (Surrey Comet, April 8). Employers aim to make a profit and the more they have to pay in wages the less there is for profits. So they can be expected to try to get round any law that increases their wages bill, either by cutting other payments as you report B&Q have done or by not employing so many low-paid workers. This is how capitalism works and why it needs to be replaced by a system based on common ownership and democratic control where people would no longer depend for a living on being paid by an employer.
Adam Buick, Socialist Party candidate GLA South West constituency.

Jacqueline: Door to Door in Streatham area

Sunday 3 April 2016 (4.00-8.00) Palace Road, Lupin Close, Probyn Road, Lanercost Road, Lanercost Close, Kinfauns Road, Kingsmead Road, Northstead Road (350 leaflets): Excellent feedback, good leafletting

Monday 4 April 2016 (6.30-9.00) Amesbury Avenue, Barcombe Avenue, Hillside Avenue, Hillside Road, Elmsworth Street (800): Very long roads, usual bullshit of "I'm a socialist don't want a leaflet".

Tuesday 5 April 2016 (4.30-7.15) Cricklade Avenue, Downton Avenue, Nuthurst Avenue, Normanhurst Road, Wyatt Park Road, Daysbrook Road (500)

Wednesday 6 April 2016 (6.00-7.30) Wavertree Road, Barstow Crescent, Palace Road (125): Disappointing few leaflets, few houses, locked tower blocks

Thursday 7 April 2016 (6.30) North London Branch at Tufnell Park: 6 members in all, designated areas, 2 members leafletted election leaflets (100+) and advertising talk NLB (100+)

Friday 8 April 2016 (6.00-8.30) Weir Road, Radbourne Road, Hydethorne Road, Haverhill Road, Burnbury Road (400): leafletters dream roads, 4 doors/ 4 letterboxes per entrance, very long roads, encouraging sounds from area, usual Labour nonsense - poster in window "Labour fighting for Britain" or something similar, todays leafletting made up for Wednesday's disappointing leafletting

Going to concentrate on roads in/ around this area, all roads since started leafletting have posted 1 leaflet per door, rarely 2, leafletted 2,000+ leaflets, have precisely 500 leaflets left

Tuesday 12 April 2016 (2.30-5.00) Cambray Road, Midmoor Road, Telferscot Road, Fieldhouse Road, Glenfield Road (500): very fast leafletting, mainly 4 doors/ 4 letterboxes per entrance, no leaflets left

Thursday 14 April 2016 (morning) Hazelbourne Road, Englewood Road (200)

Friday 15 April 2016 Gaskarth Road, Honeybrook Road, Rudloe Road (250)

Sunday 17 April 2016 Cathles Road, Dagnan Road, Yukon Road, Cubitt House (325) loads of accessible flats

Monday 18 April 2016 (5.30-7.30) Clarence Crescent, Thorncliffe Raod, Kingswood Raod, Felsberg Road, Dumbarton Road, Doverfield Road, Lyham Road, Thornbury Road, Valentine House (400+)

Tuesday 19 April 2016 (morning) Bonneville Gardens, Cautley Avenue, Lessar Avenue, Lynette Avenue (200+) (afternoon) Leppoc Road, Caldervale Road, Franconia Road, Elms Road (200+)

Wednesday 20 April 2016 (1.00-4.30) Abbeyville Road (142 silly Labour Poster vote Labour, leafletted 2 Q&A leaflet), Crescent Lane, Tableer Avenue, Allnutt Way - Flats and Notre Dame Estate (crap low letterboxes/brushes, due to severe backpain/ sciatica had to abandon rest of Notre Dame Estate - large estate accessible), Park Hill, Dryden Close, Briarwood Road (poster vote Sadiq Khan shite, 2 x Q&A leaflet) (400)

Total leaflettting 4,500+: Have finished my leafletting have approx 800 leaflets left which I will leaflet when I can, need time for self, just got my cycle back after repairs

Fraternally Jacqueline

Another Saturday's stalls

West London members were out again yesterday with two street stalls in different parts of the South West constituency.

Brentford turned out to be a bad choice as there weren't many passing by, so we moved on to Hounslow and gave out leaflets, sold the Socialist Standard, made a few contacts, even got a £5 spontaneous donation, and engaged in discussions with workers from eastern Europe including one from Russia who agreed with us. That's the second week running that we've been in Hounslow, so people there will be beginning to note our presence.

The stall in Kingston went on as planned despite the cold (8 degrees centigrade). Both the Remain and the Leave campaigns were leafletting, so we changed our tactic and gave out our election leaflet inside our one on the referendum headed "An Irrelevant Sideshow. The Socialist view on the EU referendum". This provoked a discussion with three young supporters of staying in. They put us on the spot a bit when, after we had said that one minor benefit of being in the EU was the free movement of workers and the relaxing of border controls and couldn't see any benefit to workers from leaving, they said why not vote to stay in as an out vote would take this benefit even if minor away. We had to reply that for us the over-riding issue was capitalism or socialism and that, in or out, capitalism and its problems would still continue. They turned out to be Labour Party members from Leatherhead in Tory Surrey, so they must know what it is like to be in a small minority faced at election times with an alternative (Tory or LibDem) both of which they reject. An Out supporter told us he was going off to live in Bulgaria, apparently not realising that this might not be so easy if his side won.

Next week it's Chiswick again and Feltham but if Feltham turns out to be like Brentford it could be Hounslow for a third time.

Another letter

In today's Richmond and Twickenham Times under their heading of "We Own it"

George Galloway (RTT, April 8) is right to pick up on Sadiq Khan's promise to be "the most pro-business Mayor ever". This shows that Labour, even under Corbyn, still wants to be seen as better managers of the capitalist system than the Tories. But capitalism can never be run for the benefit of those who, in Galloway's words, "work for businesses". This is why it needs to be replaced by a system based on common ownership and democratic control not production by profit-seeking businesses.
Adam Buick, Socialist Party candidate GLA South West constituency

Husting in Twickenham

Over 70 people present at the hustings for South West constituency candidates organised by the Friends of Twickenham Green last night. As with hustings, the vast majority will have been politically committed, but in answer to questions they heard the socialist case on the EU, housing, academies, crime and polllution and were given our leaflet when leaving. A member living locally took a box of leaflets to distribute in the area including St Mary's University. So that's Twickenham covered.

For those interested in such things, the Tory, Tony Arbour, said he was a Brexiter while the Ukipper, Alan Craig (who himself stood for Mayor in 2008 for the Christian Peoples Alliance), didn't say who he would be giving his second preference vote for Mayor to: Zac Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan.. I don't know if this is the official UKIP line.

South West street stalls

West London branch's experiment with doing two street stalls in different parts of the constituency with two members each rather than one with four members worked. Successful stalls were held in Hounslow and Chiswick. As it happened, with the same result: leaflets handed out, a few pamphlets sold, a contact made and our presence noticed.

It also gave us a chance to get the feel of the areas which are in fact different. Richmond and Kingston are leafy suburbs with only a couple of Labour councillors between them (the one in Richmond a defector from the LibDems rather than directly elected). Hounslow is Labour-dominated with only a handful of Tories (from wards in Chiswick as it happens), with a large population of people from a South Asian background and migrants from Poland and Rumania.

In Hounslow there were three rival stalls, all religious, two christian and one muslim (who gave us a free copy of the koran), fulfilling the role of being the heart of a heartless world as Marx once put it.In fact we had to discuss religion as much as politics, with a sikh and a christain who were both highly critical of islam and, as they saw it, the preference given to its followers by the government and the likes of the SWP. We said that we were not afraid to criticise islam as a religion, but we were opposed to all religion and all religions. We would have sold another copy of our pamphlet How the Gods Were Made if we'd another one with us.

On the political side, a man from Poland shouted at us that he had come from a "post-communist country". We shouted back that he'd come from a post-state-capitalist one. At least two people defended extending Heathrow airport as this would provide more local jobs, one saying that Boris was mad because he wanted to close down Heathrow. A bit of an exaggeration of his position, though in line with its logic because this would be the only way of stopping the inhabitants of the leafy suburbs being disturbed in their back yards by aircraft noise.

Next Saturday we'll have two stalls again, one in Kingston and the other in Brentford.

A letter on housing

Letter from our candidate in South West published as the main one in this week's issue of the Surrey Comet under their headline of "Proof that capitalist system is flawed":

Green Party mayor candidate Sian Berry has a point (Surrey Comet, April 1) when she says that the present model for providing so-called affordable housing, as housing at a rent or price below the going rate, isn't working as it is based on signing "big deals with developers".

These deals have to allow the property developers to make a profit but the more below-market-rate housing the mayor requires them to provide in any project the less their profit. So there are limits as to how far they can be pushed.

If they aren't allow to make enough profit they will just walk away.

Not enough profit, no production. That's the way the capitalist system works and why it should be replaced by a society based on common ownership and democratic control, which will allow production, including of houses, for use instead of for profit.

ADAM BUICK, Socialist Party candidate GLA South West constituency.

South West street stalls

After its public meeting last night on "Does it matter who's the Mayor of London?" (answer: No, because a regional administration can control how capitalism operates even less than a national central government), West London branch agreed on the following programme of street stalls every Saturday in April in various parts of the South West GLA constituency (subject to change depending on how the first ones go):

SATURDAY 9 APRIL
Chiswick: High Road, 12 noon - 2pm
Hounslow: High Street, outside Treaty Centre, 11 - 1pm

SATURDAY 16 APRIL
Brentford: High Street, 12 noon - 2pm
Kingston: Clarence Street (pedestrianised part) 11 - 1pm

SATURDAY 23 APRIL
Chiswick: High Road, 12 noon - 2pm
Feltham: High Street, 11 - 1pm

SATURDAY 30 APRIL
Brentford: High Street, 12 noon- 2pm
Kingston: Clarence Street (pedestrianised part), 11 - 1pm

Pitch to Waltham Forest Echo

We've been asked to provide an election pitch, the email I sent is below.

below is a modified form of our election address (shortened for your word limit).

I'm afraid we have a long standing practice of declining to provide pictures of our candidates: I am standing as a delegate of the party, and not in my own right. Attached is a file of our party logo, which you can use instead.*

"Socialism isn’t about paying benefits, taxing the rich or nationalising industries.

Today, we co-operate and produce wealth together. Everyone's work is equally needed. But we don't benefit equally. The people who really benefit, are those who own the world. We cannot be free while we work for them and not ourselves.

The glorified talking shop of the Greater London Assembly is just about managing the costs of keeping inequality going. The SOCIALIST PARTY wants wealth and power owned and controlled by everyone. We are seeking a stop to electing people who redistribute poverty and run the world for the rich.

When a majority of us stand firm and demand that the wealth of the world is brought into common and democratic ownership we will be able to peacefully make that change. When that happens, we will be freed from bosses, loan sharks and landlords. We will be able to produce wealth to supply the needs for all. We will be able to work less because we won’t be working for the privilege of a few. We would no longer need money, buying or selling. We could share the wealth we make among ourselves rationally."

Please do let me know when the pitch is posted.

Cheers,

Bill Martin

*As a matter of fact, that's quite lucky, since I don't actually have any decent photos of myself.

From: Waltham Forest Echo To: Sent: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 3:48 PM Subject: Make your election pitch to Waltham Forest!

Hello North East London candidates

Waltham Forest Echo is an independent community newspaper based in Waltham Forest, North East London. We want to publish election pitches from all the North East London candidates for the London Assembly on our website. To be included you must provide us your "election pitch". Please respond before 4pm on Thursday 7th April.

Your election pitch can be anything you want it to be - your election pledges, priorities, promises, or simply a bio about you and your background, why you're standing, and what you want to achieve. The only rule is you must keep your election pitch to under 200 words.

Please also provide a hi-res picture of yourself.

I look forward to reading your pitches!

This is their website: http://walthamforestecho.co.uk/

Hustings in Twickenham

Our candidate in South West has been invited to a hustings next Tuesday 12 April in Twickenham. It's being held in United Reformed Church, First Cross Road, Twickenham TW2 5QA from 7.30 to 9.30. Appropriately named venue perhaps as it will be us against the United Reformists of Tory, Labour, LibDems, Greens and UKIP (sorry, but couldn't resist the pun).

This evening, after the public meeting on "Does it matter who's the Mayor of London" (8pm in the Comnmittee Room, Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, W4 4JN), West London branch will be fixing the times and places of the street stalls we plan to hold in two places in the constituency from now on on every Saturday in April. Places under consideration are Chiswick, Kingston, Hounslow, Feltham, Brentford.

A bit on our rivals

So, Jonathan Silberman, as we can see from the ever left-train-spotter-tastic Tedance Coatsey (see here.) So, the Communist League is an off-shoot of the US political party the SWP (not to be confused with the British party of that name). That party is noted for it's strong pro-Cuba stance (and it's paper, The Militant, famously was held by Lee Harvey Oswald when he posed for a photo with the gun he used to murder Kennedy). This links to an election leaflet they have previously used. So, they say things like

“Capitalism cannot be reformed to serve the toiling majority. We, the wealth creators, must forge a revolutionary movement tens of millions strong, led by a mass working-class party to wrest political power away from them – the lords of industry, land and banking.”

Which we would almost agree with (I think we'd quibble about 'led' by, as opposed to made by). However, they call for

lA government-funded programme of public works to provide full-time jobs, expand housing, build hospitals and schools, and overhaul the infrastructure. A substantial increase in the minimum wage to a level set by the unions, with a built-in cost-of-living escalator. A fight by the labour movement for these demands would build unity among workers – employed and unemployed, native- and foreign-born.

which is hardly the same thing as abolishing the market system: what they are calling for is state controlled capitalism. Hence their love of the state-capitalist Cuba.

Obviously, we welcome people bringing these issues into the debate, and look forward to highlighting our differences, and taking the case for the abolition of the wages system altogether forward.

Stalling in Archway

So, 6 of us in all turned up for a two hour stall up in Archway. Not the busiest place in the world, but friendly enough, and at least the sun was out. We shifted three or four pamphlets (including our ancient pamphlet about Ireland, we may need to expect angry letters).

I was asked what whether we thought Jeremy Corbyn was a genuine socialist, and I replied whatever he is, he is a member of the decidedly non-Socialist Labour Party, and that we're better off outside arguing our case than compromising within the Labour party. The lady called me an optimist and took a leaflet. At least she took a leaflet.

Some members went putting leaflets through letter boxes, and we plan to meet-up on Thursday to leaflet in Tufnell Park (18:30 hrs at the station, anyone welcome).

Also, we found our big ad in the Islington Tribune for a meeting on the 14th, it's a bit of a weird one, as it isn't exactly an election meeting, more a general public meeting (it isn't even in the constituency). But, we may have to declare it, and maybe we should have put the official 'published and promoted by' on the advert. Still honest mistakes happen, and you live and learn. I doubt anyone will raise a fuss about it.

News from the South West

Met a Green Party leaflet distributer when I went to buy my newspaper this morning. It promised something which neither the Mayor nor the Greater London Authority has the legal power to do: "cap rent rises". This would require national legislation and in any event would be like King Canute trying to stop the rising tide.

The local paper, the Richmond and Twickenham Times, has a letter from our candidate in South West London, not directly about socialism just pointing out an example of the hypocrisy of the Tory candidate for Mayor:

In the referendum on the Alternative Vote Zac Goldsmith campaigned to retain the existing first-past-the-post system as the fairest. The mayor of London is elected by a variant of AV. So, if Sadiq Khan finishes top, will Goldsmith congratulate him on being first past the post and renounce taking into account the second preference votes from Liberals and Greens that his leaflets dropping through our letter boxes are so obviously courting?

We've had a phone call from a subscriber/sympathiser from Leatherhead offering to help out. All she has to do is drive 5 miles and cross the Surrey/Greater London border but the nearest place is the village of Malden Rushett which could be in Surrey and is probably also full of Tories. In fact it's in the Green Belt and surrounded by farmland (and horseyculture), not typical outer London let alone inner London.

The candidates we're standing against

Just been anounced.

South West
ARBOUR, Tony - The Conservative Party Candidate
BUICK, Adam John Lewis - The Socialist Party (SP-GB)
CRAIG, Alexander Alan - UK Independence Party (UKIP)
FRIEZE, Andree Michelle - Green Party
ROBSON, Rosina Jane - London Liberal Democrats
WHELTON, Martin James - Labour Party

North East
ALLEN, Tim - Respect (George Galloway)
ARNOLD, Jennette - Labour Party
JERAJ, Samir - Green Party
MALIK, Sam - The Conservative Party Candidate
MARTIN, Bill - The Socialist Party (SP-GB)
SILBERMAN, Jonathan - Communist League
STACY, Terry - London Liberal Democrats
VACHHA, Freddy - UK Independence Party (UKIP)

Lambeth and Southwark
BUKOLA, Michael Adewale - Caroline Pidgeon's London Liberal Democrats
ESHALOMI, Florence - Labour Party
FLINT, Robert - The Conservative Party candidate
KANUMANSA, Amadu Santigie - All People's Party
NIX, Rashid - The Green Party
PARKIN, Kevin Leslie - The Socialist Party (SP-GB)
RAMADI, Idham - UK Independence Party (UKIP)

Time to get loud

Sorry I've been quiet: the plague that never ends has been chipping away at me for weeks, so it was with some difficulty that I managed to travel across Norf Lahndon to Waltham Forest Town Hall (truly, a building fit for a national Parliament, a 1930's Art-Deco Palace set in vast grounds). So, my nomination papers are in, and I begin leafletting shortly (as soon as this cough closes). I already have one hustings invite: Date: Saturday 23rd April, 5pm – 7:30pm Venue: St Mark’s Church Hall (Lower Hall) in Dalston St Mark Dalston, Dalston Organised by Friends of the Earth. So, we're off! *cough* *hack* *wheeze*

Lambeth and Southwark constituency: nomination accepted

The nomination papers and deposit for our candidate in Lambeth and Southwark, Kevin Parkin, were handed in at Brixton Town Hall this morning and accepted.

We won't know until, appropriately enough, 1 April who the other candidates, all standing for capitalism in one form or another, will be, though it's certain that Labour, Liberals and the Tories (all three same old, same old) will be standing along with the Greens (imaginary return to small scale capitalism) and UKIP (imaginary capitalism in one country).

South West constituency: Nomination accepted

The nomination papers and election deposit for our candidate in the South West constituency (Hounslow, Kingston, Richmond), Adam Buick, were handed in and accepted this morning at Hounslow Civic Centre.

This means that we will be on the ballot paper. There are 432,000 electors in the constituency. If it's the same as last time only about 40% will turn out to vote, but every elector there and in fact everywhere in London will receive a booklet with the manifestos of the candidates for mayor but also a list of all those standing for the Greater London Assembly. So even some of those who won't be bothering to vote will still be able to know we're standing.

As we arrived in Hounslow early we distributed a few of the election leaflets. A bit premature but we did see some evidence of other political activity -- a glossy leaflet from the Stay in the EU campaign headed "More Jobs. Lower Prices. Your family is better off with Britain in Europe". Rather misleading as more probably staying in will make no difference either to jobs or prices. We also spotted a sticker on a lamppost saying "Refugees, Fuck Off Back Home". So UKIP will be able to count on at least one vote here.

Education for competitiveness

Twenty or so people turned up for the Education Question Times meeting in Richmond last night. Our candidate got equal time with the others.

The discussion was mainly, but not entirely, on education. In answer to the last question, the other candidates confirmed our candidate's assertion that under capitalism the education system's main role was to turn out for employers workers of required types in the required numbers. They, and NUT Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney, spoke in terms of the need for a better education system in Britain to improve Britain's competitive position on the world market.

Only the UKIP candidate, Alan Caaig, dissented a little, saying he agreed with the socialist candidate that this was not what education should be about. A bit embarrasing but then he is a christian and so probably has a pre-capitalist view of education. He had in fact been the leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance until 2013 when he defected to UKIP. He wasn't heckled, so Richmond NUT can't have any SWP members as the SWP pursue a no-platform policy towards UKIP. He spoke last and got in a plug for the Vote Leave EU campaign. Speaking to him afterwards, he was surprised to learn that we weren't in favour of this but were neither for nor against as he expected a socialist to be against "the capitalist EU".

The Labour candidate, Martin Whetton, is the Merton Council's Cabinet Member for Education, i.e a full-time professional politician. He used up most of his 5-minute introduction urging people to vote for Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London. Incidentally, there's a full-page ad for him in this week's London local papers painting him as "The Council Estate Boy who will fix the Tory Housing Crisis". Oh yes? So he's going to buck the law of supply and demand?

The Liberal spokesperson (not a candidate for the constituency but on the LibDems all-London list), Merlene Emerson, said she was from Singapore and is the founder of the Chinese Liberal Democrats. Which may explain the presence of a reporter/photographer from a free English-language paper available in Soho. So, if anyone's there next week, pick up a copy to see if we get a mention.

Civic Centre formalities

Our candidate in South West and the election agent went to a briefing at Hounslow Civic Centre yesterday evening. Didn't learn anything we didn't know but it's always useful to be reminded of the regulations and meet those who will be enforcing them. The acting Returning Agent was a bit shocked when we said we'd pay the £1000 election deposit in cash. Apparently, she'd never seen that amount of cash before.

We'll be handing in all the nomination papers next Wednesday 23 March at 11am.

There was confirmation that the election booklet distributed to all 5 million or so electors in London will contain not just the candidates for Mayor and their statements but also the names and parties of all those contesting the GLA seats. So everyone who reads the booklet will know we are standing in 3 of the 14 constituencies and covering 8 of the 32 London boroughs.

We took the opportunity to look for a suitable spot to hold a literature stall one Saturday in April. Not difficult because most of the main street is pedestrianised.

No, we won't be

We have now recent an email letter from the local NUT organiser officially inviting us to their Education Question Time in Richmond on Thursday. We have thanked her and accepted, so we'll be there on the platform with the other declared candidates (except the outgoing Tory member for the constituency, Tony Arbour)

Will they no-platform us?

According to a quarter page advert in Friday's Richmond & Twickenham Times there's a question time meeting on education in Richmond on Thursday 17 March to be addressed by the candidates standing in the GLA South West constituency which we are contesting. Full details here.

Even though the Greater London Talking Shop has no responsibility for education, "poverty and inequality", "affordable housing" and "exam factory conditions" need to be discussed. In fact, during this election, we'll be bringing up much broader issues: capitalism as the cause of these and many other problems and that there is no soluttion to them within one country. Capitalism is a world system whose economic laws limit what any government can do. Only worldwide socialism can provide the only framework in which they can be constructively and lastingly solved.

We were not invited, no doubt in the first instance because the organisers (the local NUT branch) would not have been aware that we are standing. The local press were informed a couple of weeks ago but have not yet informed their readers. We have now let the organisers know and we'll see what happens. In any event, West London branch members will be at the meeting to leaflet it and make sure that everyone attending knows we will be standing.

There may well be others standing too as nominations don't close till 31 March.

Greater London Assembly elections

We're off again.

On 5 May there will be elections for the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly. We won't be standing a candidate for Mayor but we will be contesting 3 of the 14 super-constituencies. These are Lambeth & Southwark once again and North East (made up of the London boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest) and South West (Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond). In all, over a million electors will have the chance to vote for a socialist society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the means of production with distribution on the basis of ‘from each according to ability, to each according to need’, and against present-day, capitalist society of minority class ownership and production for profit which all the other candidates will be standing for in one form or another.

Watch this space for more details.

Vauxhall result

It is here.

One curiosity is that the vote of candidates claiming to be socialist hasn't varied much since 2005.

In 2005 we were the only such candidate. We got 240 votes.

In 2010 there was us and Workers Power. We got 143 and they got 109 (a total of 252)

This time there was us and Left Unity. We got 82 and they got 188 (a total of 260).

Of course we don't regard either Workers Power or Left Unity as really standing for socialism but we can't deny that some people regard, and treat, all three of us as part of the "far left".

It also confirms something that we have noticed before that when we (proposing the maximum programme only of socialism) come up against others (claiming to be socialists and proposing vote-catching reforms) clash, about a third of the "far left" vote choose to vote for socialism.

Prince's by-election result

This can be seen here.

Labour 3452 (44.5%)
LibDem 1748 (22.5%)
Tory 1519 (19.5%)
Green 901 (11.6%)
Left Unity/Trade Unionists and Socialists (Kinglsey Abrams) 99 (1.3%)
The Socialist Party (Danny Lambert) 42 (0.5%)

Par for the course for us but a poor result for LU/TUSC considering who their candidate was (ex-Labour councillor and ex-Labour parliamentary candidate).

Who (in London) is afraid of the SNP?

Out yesterday delivering, to ensure we weren't left with too many, our leaflet for constituencies we're not standing in, I came across leaflets from the parties standing in Wandsworth and in Kingston. I hadn't realised that the Tories had such an obsession about the SNP.

Here's what a leaflet, for just a local council by-election, in Wandsworth says: either we have a Conservative government

Or we have a Labour/Scottish Nationalist Government, taxing London and harming Britain.

But the prize for this sort of thing goes to Tory leaflet for Kingston & Surbiton. Headed "SNP puts Miliband in Downing Street. Your vote can stop this", it is entirely devoted to the subject and says:

A Vote for the Lib Dems will help Ed Miliband and the SNP take us back to square one.

I suppose they think this will get them votes from people who don't like the Scots.

Anyway, the SNP is just another capitalist party, whose aim is not so much independence, but to gain some strength to bargain for a bigger grant for the Scottish regional administration from the central givernment. Just the same as the Democratic Unionist Party is trying to do for Northern Ireland. Come to think of it, you could just as (il)logically argue that a vote for the Tories will be help the Paisleyites get their way -- though they might decide to support a minority Labour government instead if it offer more money. Who knows?

Prince's Ward by-election hustings 30 April 2015

The Prince's Ward by-election Hustings took place on Thursday 30 April 2015 in St Anselm's Church, Kennington Cross. Prince's Ward is in the north of Lambeth borough, comprising mainly Vauxhall and Kennington. The most interesting thing about council by-elections and their hustings is seeing capitalism in a microcosm and its effects on people at the local level in Lambeth with regards to housing, libraries and schools. There was a small demo outside the hustings before it began – local community activists carrying a 'Hands Off Durning Library' banner.

Around 50 people turned out for the hustings and all 6 candidates were there: Danny Lambert, the Socialist Party candidate, Kingsley Abrams (Left Unity-TUSC), Labour, Lib-Dems, Green and Tory. Danny stood (all the other candidates sat down for their speeches/answers as they had nothing to be excited about to stand up) and gave his 2 minutes opening which was a concise exposition of the Socialist case.

The Green Party had some support at the hustings but their candidate was weak. The point of the Greens seems to be what Caroline Lucas said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, as a group that puts political pressure on Labour from the left. There was no support for the Lib-Dems and I can't recall a single thing he said. The Tory candidate was personable and probably right when he said 'I'm the only candidate here who can beat Labour' but he had no support there.

The Labour candidate is a shoe-in to win Prince's Ward, she had lots of support there. But what a candidate! Mealy-mouthed, charmless, professional Blairite career politician in the making, a product of the Vauxhall Labour Party Machine. I thought of Danny's observation 'anyone who wants to be a politician is the last person you'd want'. The Vauxhall Labour MP Kate Hoey was in the audience.

Local Lambeth issues dominated the hustings - 'estate regeneration' or really the housing crisis in particular Knights Walk, threatened closure of Durning Library, the need for expansion of the Archbishop Sumner School. Lambeth Labour Council got in the neck from 4 of the candidates, the Labour could not stick the boot too much! Even Danny had to agree that Lambeth Council data is not to be trusted. Another local issue that has recently developed is the future of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern future which has been bought by a property developer. The LGBT community and continuing existence of the RVT supported by all candidates, although Danny pointed out the inevitability of things like this happening when we live in an economic system where profit comes before people's needs.

If I was one of the community activists at the hustings then my vote would go to Kingsley Abrams of Left Unity-TUSC. He had some support at the hustings, and was a very capable speaker. He should be, as he is a professional local politician, many years experience as a Merton Labour councillor and Lambeth Labour councillor. His refrain was 'I will never vote for cuts' but he sometimes spoke of himself in the third person using his forename! 'Kingsley will never vote for cuts!' He never once mentioned the word 'socialism' although even Steve Nally, Trotskyite TUSC candidate at other hustings doesn't either. Abrams is also LU– TUSC parliamentary candidate in Southwark against Lib Dem Simon Hughes. Abrams is unusual in that he is not a Trotskyite and is standing for TUSC. He is Labour left. He praised the so-called 'independence' of Vauxhall Labour MP Kate Hoey who was in attendance for part of the hustings. I spoke with Simon Hardy (Vauxhall Left Unity candidate) in Brixton last Saturday, and he said LU were there to push Labour to the 'left'. So that is the point of Left Unity.

Abrams 'pledges' were music to the ears of the local activists involved in the Knights Walk, Durning Library, Archbishop Sumner School campaigns. He got passionate (although he did not stand up!) talking about 'regeneration' means 'social cleansing', it is a a disgrace, he proposed rent caps, scrapping the right to buy, scrapping the bedroom tax (the only time it was mentioned – probably because of its unpopularity even a Labour government will scrap it if elected on 7 May)

Our socialist Iranian comrade pointed out to the hustings there were 1 million empty homes, and that 'housing should be held in common'. On a question of working with local faith communities, Danny had the best answer when he spoke about the 'human community', although I feared he was going to do Marx on religion but really that was me wanting to do a socialist exposition on 'religion' along the lines of Feuerbach and Marx !

The hustings switched then to a quasi-Anglican caring capitalism feel when the Vicar's curate made a statement on the plight of Carers in the borough who are paid below minimum wage, are on zero hours contracts, and not paid travel expenses for travelling between clients. Abrams again gave his support as a trade unionist for UNITE, and representing TUSC and Left Unity, proposing £10 minimum wage, and the scrapping of zero hours contracts. I gasped inwardly when the Labour candidate said the minimum wage of £9.15 was a 'reasonable wage' ! although nobody at the hustings felt that the Labour candidate had just revealed her contempt for working people.

Danny pointed out that the Curate had nicely put into words an indictment of capitalism.

5 of the candidates want a more 'caring', 'compassionate capitalism', believe capitalism can be reformed to be better although Danny pointed out several times that capitalism cannot be made to work in the interests of working people.

To round off a peculiar hustings the Tory candidate had the best line right at the end of the hustings when he said 'Finally, what is the use of words. Let us be seen together in Action' which clinched the finale, and was taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

SPC

Prince's ward hustings

This now confirmed but for Thursday 30 April (not Friday 1 May as originally enisaged).

Danny Lambert, the Socialist Party of Great Britain candidate for the Prince's Ward by-election will be attending the election hustings that will take place at St Anselm's Church, Kennington Cross, 286 Kennington Road, Lambeth SE11 5DU at 6pm on Thursday 30th April 2015

The running order will be drawn by a lot. All candidates will be given 2 minutes for opening statements. Questions will then be taken and at the end and all will have 2 minutes for a closing statement.

Chair: The Revd Angus Aagaard, Team Rector of North Lambeth Parish

Leafletting begins

Leafletting has begun in the Prince's ward by-election (up to now we've been concentrating on the general election: there's another stall in Clapham High Stteet tomorrow from 12 noon). The Tories have produced a glossy A3 leaflet for the by-election despite not having a chance. The other discarded leaflets found were general election ones for Labour, the Tories and Left Unity as well as one of ours (for our archives). There's going to be a local by-election hustings on Friday 1 May, in St Anselm's Church in Kennington,but what a few for the general election?

Prince's ward by-election: the runners

Nominations closed yesterday at 12 noon. There are 6 candidates: Labour, Green, LibDem, Tory, us and "Left Unity -- Trade Unionists and Socialists". No UKIP (no Elizabeth Jones, presumably she's busy trying to get elected MP for Dartford). It's a bit surprising that the Electoral Commission have allowed a candidate to stand as "Trade Unionists and Socialists" as they have refused to allow us to register "The Socialist Party" as a variant of our name on the grounds that this could cause confusion with "other socialist parties". In that case, so should "Trade Unionists and Socialists" but I suppose "Left Unity" in the name is the let-out. In order words, Kingsley Abrams is basically standing for Left Unity.

Since the result of the general election in Vauxhall is a foregone conclusion -- a walk- over for the outgoing MP Kate Hoey -- this by-election could be the centre of political interest in constituency: ex-Labour councillor trying to get back on the council, splitting the Labour vote and letting in the Greens or even, though hardly a realistic possibility, the LibDems (who once held the ward), etc, etc.

More on Prince's ward by-election

We will be standing a candidate, Danny Lambert, who is also standing in the General Election for Vauxhall. Our nomination papers have already been handed in and accepted.

Left Unity and TUSC are putting forward a formidable joint candidate in ex-Labour councillor, Kingsley Abrams, who is also standing for Parliament in the next-door constituency of Bermondsey & Old Southwark. See here.

Another local by-election

A vacancy has occurred in Prince's ward in Lambeth Council. It's in the Vauxhall constituency (it's the area between Vauxhall bridge and Lambeth bridge behind the Oval cricket ground). We'll have to consider whether it's worth standing there. The by-election will be on the same as the General election, i.e 7 May

Who Will Debate With The Socialist Party in Vauxhall?

The Socialist Party has attempted to debate a number of political parties in Vauxhall as part of the run up to the General Election.

Waleed Ghani of the newly reformed Whig Party agreed but suggested dates in early March that were not practical and unfortunately he is too busy in April to debate with the Socialist Party. We were looking forward to debating topical subjects such as whether to impeach Prime Minister Robert Walpole, or should the 1832 Great Reform Act have extended the franchise to the working class or even was the South Sea Bubble the Wall Street Crash or 2008 financial crisis of its day?

The Green Party candidate Gulnar Hasnain  rejected the call for a debate by saying: "I'm sure we would have a very interesting discussion and would share common ground but during the election period I need to be committed to public hustings and not any organised by political parties."

The Pirate Party candidate Mark Chapman also rejected the call for a debate by saying: "In principle I am in favour of anything which increases public engagement and understanding, and am very willing to put myself forward for any debate or hustings which you, or anyone else, is willing to organise. My only comment would be that it should be seen to be open and transparent, and in my opinion all confirmed candidates should be invited (even if some may choose not to accept)."

We expect to meet up with the above candidates at hustings to be organised in the Vauxhall constituency.

Acting globally

Received a request for an organisation calling itself Simpol (Simultaneous Policy) asking to sign a pledge of theirs. Here's our reply:

Thank you for your email, and request to sign up to your Simpol principles. I'm afraid I cannot.

Whilst the Socialist Party shares your general principles of democracy, co-operation and worldwide action, we see the problems facing the world as stemming from the ownership of the wealth of the world by a privileged class. We do not think the world's problems can be solved until the wealth of the world is taken into the common and direct democratic ownership of the whole of humanity.

Specifically, we think this requires a self-conscious and active movement of people working together, worldwide, and we cannot allow this movement to be divided into nation states or rely on Governments to help us.

If you would like to know more about the World Socialist Movement, please do take a look at our website at www.worldsocialism.org

Your for World Socialism,

Bill Martin (Socialist Party Candidate, Islington North).

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...

Stop the £90m Cuts Lambeth Town Hall 25 February

We will be outside Lambeth Town Hall at 6pm on Wednesday 25 February for the Anti-Cuts demo organised by trade unions such as UNISON, GMB, UNITE, and the NUT. We will be distributing a leaflet announcing that our candidate Danny Lambert will be standing for the Socialist Party of Great Britain in the Vauxhall constituency.

Lambeth Discussion Group

We have set up a new group in Lambeth comprised of members and sympathisers to support the General Election campaign in the Vauxhall constituency. Our candidate will be Danny Lambert.

The new Lambeth Group had it's first meeting on 12 February attended by several members and even more sympathisers. It was decided to hold election/literature stalls in Clapham High Street, and possibly stalls in Stockwell and in Brixton. A leaflet will be produced to be distributed at tube stations in the constituency. It was agreed to contact the Pirate Party, Whig party and Green Party candidates to enquire about debates between our candidate and their candidates.

The next meeting of the Lambeth Discussion Group will take place at 52 Clapham High Street at 7.00pm on Thursday 12 March when candidate Danny Lambert will speak on 'Why I Won't Make a Good MP.'

And now the ex(?)-Trots

One of the handful of Left Unity candidates in the general election will be standing in Vauxhall. Their candidate here is Simon Hardy, formerly of Workers Power, the Trotskyist group who stood in Vauxhall in the last general election in 2010 (and got less votes than us). He has moved on from orthodox Trotskyism but still seems to have a soft spot for Lenin.

Meanwhile the Green Party candidate in Vauxhall in 2010, Joseph Healy ,has also joined Left Unity and is calling on people to vote for Simon Hardy rather than for his successor as Green Party candidate, Gulnar Hasnain.

TUSC is not standing as the sitting Labour MP, Kate Hoey, is a member of the RMT Parliamentary Group and TUSC don't want to alienate RMT. Steve Nally, who we've come across in various local by-elections in Lambeth, has been shunted to the other side of Brixton High Road to contest Dulwich and West Norwood for TUSC.

After the Pirates the Whigs

Talk about back to the 18th century but the Whig Party has been revived and will be standing in Vauxhall. Their candidate will be Waleed Ghani. More on the revived Whig Party here.

For those who don't remember their school history, in the days before the extension of the vote to the industrial and urban midddle class in 1832, the Whigs were the least reactionary section of the landowning ruling class as opposed to their more reactionary section, the Tories. They later became absorbed into the old Liberal Party.

Not sure what we could debate with them. Perhaps: That the 1832 Reform Act should have extended the franchise to the working class? Or: Were the Chartists wrong demonstrate on Kennington Common in 1848 to demand One Man, One Vote?

William Morris had something to say about them (he didn't think much of them). Or, to hear it read, go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpMBQiz9Ac

The pirates come on board

The Pirate Party, a minor reformist party, is also standing in Vauxhall. See here.

Another letter.

Another letter has been published today:

Dear Friend,

an election must be coming. Jeremy Corbyn has been appearing in print around the shop calling for rent controls as a means of curbing the housing crisis. Rent controls, though, have never worked, and never will. They are an attempt to fix the market, and market rates will out, with landlords either letting their stock go to wreck or withdrawing from the market to protect their profit rates.

The only solution to the housing crisis is to build enough homes for all; but the market is patently failing to do this, and never will. If there were enough homes for all, how could a landlord collect rent?

No one can help taking up space, or needing shelter, and no-one should have it denied them because of market whims. Just as no-one can help falling ill, and should not have health care denied them because of market whims. We need housing free at the point of use.

The only way we can get this is through the common ownership of the wealth of the world. Anything less will always see profit (and rents) put before people's need.

Bill Martin Socialist Party Parliamentary Candidate for Islington North.

In the Islington Gazette no online letters page, but there is an e-edition here.

A flurry of letters

So, I promised letters (I think). Here goes

In the Islington Tribune I also sent one to the Morning Star, that appears not to have been published. Text below:

Dear Friend, the current debate about "splitting the vote" in Croydon is missing the point. If people are in organisations so similar that they are robbing each other's votes, then they should become one party. The fact that they are not one party suggests they are putting forward different policies and different choices for the electorate, and should have no shame in standing their ground. As Eugene Debbs said: "It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it." The Socialist Party will be standing in ten seats, to put forward the case for the abolition of the wages system, and will stand irrespective of whoever else puts themselves forward in those seats.

I wonder why they didn't publish that one?

Anyway, another letter has been sent, this morning, to Islington Gazette, this time attacking Jeremy Corbyn, on rent controls. Updates when/if it appears.

So, while other parties gear up for the long campaign, we chug to the starting line. Activity so far this week: two letters to the press (I'll put them up here once I know whether they've been published or not). At the end of last week I got some interview practice with a student journalist (who was very good at lobbing soft open questions my way). I explained how often we get stitched up by the media. The debacle of the leaders debates shows what a mess it is, rather than being a tool to assist candidates putting their case forward, the media is a tool of power that shapes the debate, and gets to select who speaks. There's not a shortage of air time, over the next hundred days press national and local will not be short of parties to give ten minutes to, surely? We'll have to find a way to reach as many people as we can. Interestingly the student found out about us from the wikipedia article on Islington North (where I'm contesting my first Parliamentary seat). I know Wikipedia isn't for advertising, but, still. But still.

Us and the General Election

As we can't avoid knowing, there will be a general election on Thursday 7 May. We'll be standing two candidates in London (and another 8 elsewhere in the country).

The two constituencies are: Islington North and Vauxhall where our candidates will be, respectively, Bill Martin and Danny Lambert.

West London branch will be organising our campaign in the two Oxford seats (just up the M40 from west London).

A meeting has been fixed for Thursday 12 February at 7pm in our offices at 52 Clapham High Street, SW4 7UN (nearest tube: Clapham North; nearest overground: Clapham High Street) to form a committee to help organise the campaign in Vauxhall.

August by-election in Lambeth

Here is the result of the by-election in Knight's Hill ward of Lambeth held last week which we chose not to contest. The Independent candidate was standing to protest against the Labour council's plan to sell off to developers land in the area cutrrently used for sheltered accommodation for the elderly

The reason for this by-election, so soon after the full council election in May, is given here.

We will continue to contest local by-elections, especially in the Vauxhall parliamentary constituency.

Percentages

It needs to be pointed out, and has been, that the percentages that the Lambeth Council website gives for each candidate are percentages of the total votes cast but as each voter has three votes it is not a measure of how many individuals support each party. This method underestimates the number supporting parties which put up only one candidate (in our words, us, TUSC and UKIP), but it is unclear how this could be worked out. Anyway, TUSC, UKIP and us will have more support than the Lambeth website figures suggest, perhaps twice as much.

This means that UKIP has the support of about 5% of those who bothered to vote in the two wards they stood in (Ferndale and Clapham Town). Not much compared with elsewhere. Commentators have been noting that UKIP is not doing so well in London. In fact, when you look at the composition of the population in London, especially central London, you wonder why UKIP thinks it has any chance in the inner London boroughs. Here for instance are the 2011 census statistics for Ferndale ward:

38.7% White British
20.9% Other White
10.8% Black African
9.9% Black caribbean
5.0% Black other

Of course these are unscientific categories and measure only what people classify themselves as when given a limited number of choices and told they must choose one, but, given that most "Other White" will be EU migrants, UKIP's on to a hiding in places like this, just as their parent group, the Tories, have been.

Clapham results

Three of us attended the count this afternoon in the Recreation Centre besides Brixton railway station. The results for the three wards we contested can be found here:

Clapham Town

Ferndale

Larkhall

The results in the two wards we contested both times (Ferndale and Larkhall) are almost exactly the same as last time in 2010.

The new council will be completely dominated by Labour with 50 seats to 3 for the Tories and 1 for the Greens.The Liberals have been excluded from being a serious contender for council seats in the future, with the Greens taking their place as the main opposition to Labour. UKIP got nowhere (look at their result in Ferndale) and, although TUSC got more votes than us in the two wards we both stood in, in the other wards they contested they didn't do much better than we would have done.

Islington result

Junction ward result in: Labour win all three seats, taking one from the Lib Dems. Riddhi Bhalla​ (Conservative​) 320
*Janet Burgess​ (Labour​) 2,228
Michael Collins​ (Conservative​) 361
Giorgia Gamba​ (Liberal Democrats​) 297
Mick Holloway​ (Green​) 717
Daniel Hudson​ (Green​) 621
Stefan Antoni Kasprzyk​ (Liberal Democrats​) 333
*Kaya Makarau Schwartz​ (Labour​) 1938
Bill Martin​ (The Socialist (GB)​ 90
*Tim Nicholls​ (Labour​) 1,779
Jill Renwick​ (Green​) 720
Victoria Savvides​ (Liberal Democrats​) 245
Oliver Peter Jonathan​ (Conservative) 314

I make that about 2.6%, I'll need to read around to see what that says, but, as per last year, I think the signs are a swing to supporting Labour...

Labourites fall out

Only just got round to reading Tuesday's Evening Standard and so missed this account of a dispute between the Labour MP for Vauxhall, Kate Hoey, and one of the Labour candidates in Clapham Town ward. Apparently, she doesn't agree with him breaking a promise not to support the eviction of long-standing tenants from houses they took over and did up which the Labour Council is planning. Some Labour Party members have more principles than others, even if they all support capitalism. We have a copy of the offending leaflet.

And all over in Islington too...

So, last night four of us made it out to the Tufnell Park end of the ward, and we got rid of almost all our leaflets (a few will go out today, put probably outside the ward). It was hot work, but many hands made light work. When someone refused a leaflet, I tried to tell him we were from the campaign to re-route HS2 through their street (which would need to be demolished). After all, we have to let them learn it might be a bad idea not to read election leaflets. One man asked us if we'd seen the sign saying "No Junk Mail" we told him it was an election address, which he pompously declared he considered to be junk mail. I refrained from saying what I thought of him. We meekly collected our leaflet and went about our way. The only real difficulty of the night was my colleague, who became ill at the thought of deliering to houses with Arsenal posters in the window. Maybe when Spurs win the sup too, he'll recover...

Campaigning over

We have now finished leafletting Clapham. In the end we did manage to distribute door-to-door and at our three literature stalls some 9000 of the 9500 allocated to us. The Labour Party must have spent a lot on trying to retain control of the council, with glossy leaflets, posters and personalised voting cards. We saw no leaflets from either the Liberals or the Tories. Presumably they are only running a token campaign in the three safe Labour wards we are contesting and concentrating on leafier parts where they think they can win. Surprisingly we saw no TUSC leaflets in the two of these wards they are contesting. Only a Green Party leaflet in Clapham Town ward denouncing the Labour Council for betraying residents who had moved into abandoned properties in the 1970s and refurbished them and who are now to be evicted so the council can get more money by selling the land off to property speculators.

More news about Clapham after the count on Friday.

Brixton hustings report

The Brixtonblog have now published their own report of the hustings last Tuesday. It's a good report that accurately records what our representative said when he gave the socialist position on the various issues raised (housing, lecturers' strike, democracy, immigration and cuts).

Too many leaflets?

We finished leafletting Clapham Town ward yesterday. Larkhall has been done too and Ferndale is nearly finished but at the moment it looks as if we could have over a thousand left. We had 12000 printed, with 2500 for Junction ward in Islington and 9500 for the 3 Lambeth wards, i.e 3100 or so each. This was based on our experience of the by-elections we contested last year. We may still be able to get the figure down by revisiting blocs we left out because we couldn't gain access or streets which were difficult. We've also got a literature stall outside 52 Clapham High St later today (from noon). And we could leaflet the 4 tube stations in the area (Clapham North, Clapham Common, Stockwell and Brixton). We'll see.

Labour seem to be putting a lot of effort into holding Clapham Town with two glossy leaflets and more posters than usual. In fact they seem to be up to the old Labour Council trick of putting up some of their posters in empty council-owned houses. The only other posters are those for the Green Party in nearly every house in Rectory Gardens. Not surprising since the residents of this car-free street with insecure tenancies are threatened with eviction by the Labour council so that the area can be handed over to property developers to build upmarket flats (with a few "affordable" ones facing the dustbin area thrown in).

What happened at the Brixton hustings

60 Lambeth residents or political activists attended the Brixton Blog hustings in a room upstair of the pub 'Prince of Wales' in Brixton on tuesday evening. The most surprising thing of the evening was the appearance as the Labour Party repesentative, of Lib Peck, the Leader of Lambeth Council. The Lib Dem rep was also a councillor from Streatham.

The increasingly 'notorious' Elizabeth Jones was there representing UKIP. Her appearance there and her statements drew lots of boos, hisses, haranguing and cries of racism from the assorted Trotskyites (SWP, SPEW) and Leftists (Left Unity were there but not standing candidates in the elections) in the room. She mentioned Alan Bennett but there were no protests... but when she mentioned 'Saint' Bob Crow and the 'No2EU' campaign that was too much for TUSC/RMT/SPEW activists!

The venom in the room was directed mainly at Lib Peck and Lambeth Labour Council with UKIP coming in second. The questions were about cuts to libraries, the poor performance of Lambeth Council's 'arms length' housing organisation 'Lambeth Living', pavements, car pollution in Brixton, social exclusion, immigration, Lambeth College lecturers strike. It was dealing with the symptoms and not the cause which is capitalism. The hustings saw the debut of the Pirate Party who advocated libertarianism and also transparency of council meetings.

All the speakers apart from Danny Lambert, our party representative, were clearly mesmerised with capitalism and could not see beyond its existence and all believed if they were in power they could tweak it and it would be a positive and good thing for people. Steve Nally for TUSC, sponsored by Trots SPEW and SWP and RMT trade union, would oppose all cuts and declare 'illegal' budgets, the usual activist reformist nonsense with no mention that the working class have the power to emancipate themselves, abolish capitalism and transform society to a socialist society of production to meet human needs and democratic control.

Danny put forward the Socialist case, he was on good form, and got a good reception from the assorted Leftists in the room although they would probably still vote TUSC or Green. Afterwards a man came up to Danny to say how much he enjoyed what Danny had to say but it turned out he was a Green Party candidate from another part of London...
Steve

More twitter feedback

here Comments from Telegraphista: "And no human nature, according to that shit! Human beings can't live like that, so we are all doomed!!!" Fnarr

Online socialist statement for Brixton

The Brixtonblog has published statements from the various parties contesting wards in Brixton. You can see them here.

Scroll down to see Danny Lambert's (our candidate in Ferndale} on our behalf (also the UKIP candidate there dancing with Nigel Farage). Anyway, here's what it says:

These borough elections are an opportunity for people to register their rejection of austerity, capitalism and the whole profit system.

The Socialist Party makes no apology for raising the issue of socialism in local elections. Things are not produced today to meet people’s needs, they are produced to make a profit and that’s the cause of the problems people in Lambeth as everywhere else face.

It’s not what local councils or even national governments do that shapes how we live. It’s the economic system which requires that profits be put before people. That’s what has to be changed to make things better.

Lambeth Council are under economic pressure, transmitted via the government, to balance their books both by cutting spending and increasing their income through selling off assets such as sheltered accommodation.

This year the Council plans to cut £4 million from helping disabled, vulnerable and older residents, also £3.9 million from children and young people services. They are evicting tenants from the short-life housing co-operatives where they have lived for 30 years. Some residents have even had to seek charity handouts from Food Banks.

It’s profits before people. That’s how capitalism works.

The only alternative is socialism, to replace the profit system with one based on common ownership and democratic control so that there can be production to satisfy people’s needs instead of for profit. Socialism, as a society of common ownership, will apply the principle “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.”

People in Clapham Town and Larkhall wards as well as Ferndale ward can register their rejection of the profit system and the need for a socialist alternative by putting an X next to the name of the Socialist Party candidate there.

It pays to advertise

After trooping up and down stairs yesterday (with two other party members off doing the flat bits, I'm please to Read this It pays to put ourselves out there. The only question is, will we let him vote for us? Only if he actually wants socialism!

Letter printed

The below letter has been printed in this week's Islington Tribune and the Islington Gazette

Dear Friend,

in the Islington local elections, we have a choice between the Labour Party (who will cry as they cut), the Tory Party (who will laugh as they cut) or the Libral Democrats (who will just wet themselves while choosing whether to laugh or cry). Or you can vote for the Green Party, who promise not to cut, but will end up having to anyway because austerity is beyond their control.

Any party in govrnment, whether local or national is constrained by the power and interests of them as own the world. The power of private property. So long as the world is owned by a tiny minority, it will be run in their interests, rather than that of the majority. We cannot have functional democracy until we have common ownership of the whole world's wealth.

The Socialist Party is contesting Junction Ward making no promises. We will do nothing for you.

It is the people who vote for us who would be making the promise: to campaign and build for common ownership. Voting for the Socialist Party is saying we refuse to be governed or dragged into implementing the policy of the wealthy. Politics as normal is over. A vote for the Socialist Party is a revolt.

We campaign for nothing short of the abolition of the wages system and the common and democratic ownership of the wealth of the world.

Your for World Socialism,

Bill Martin (Socialist Party Candidate, Junction Ward).

Brixton hustings

I can't post the flyer, but I can link to the blog:Vote Brixton: Your chance to quiz council candidates

Candidates from all political parties will be grilled by the public at a Brixton Blog hustings event next week.

Ahead of this month’s local elections, councillors and would-be councillors from across the political spectrum will sit on a Brixton Blog panel to face questions about what they would do if they were elected.

The event is free to attend and you’ll be able to meet the people vying for your vote.

The event will be held upstairs at the POW (Prince of Wales) on the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Brixton Road, at 7pm on Tuesday 13th May.

Our candidate Danny lambert will be there.

Memories of Tulse Hill

Elizabeth Jones of UKIP has sent us this photo taken after the hustings in the Tulse Hill local council by-election last year. Also in the photo are the chair (Kaye Wiggins of the Brixtonblog), Steve Nally of TUSC, Adam Buick of us and the LibDem candidate:

In the olden days this would never have happened as Party speakers used to refuse even to shake hands with opponents.

Elizabeth Jones is standing against us again in the current elections in Ferndale ward. Earlier this year she represented UKIP in a debate with us, the opening speeches of which can be found here. She is also No3 on the UKIP list for the European Parliament in the London Region.

Hustings in Lambeth next Tuesday

The lively local online paper, the Brixtonblog, is organising a hustings next Tuesday 13 May of all the parties putting up candidates for Lambeth council. Details can be found here.

They have also offered parties standing in the 5 Brixton wards (Brixton Hill, Tulse Hill, Herne Hill, Coldharbour Lane, and Ferndale) space on their blog for a 300 word statement. We have already sent ours off.

Keep Our NHS public?

A reply to a campaign circular:

Dear Friend,

thank you for your letter dated 1st May regarding your campaign group's pledge against NHS privatisation.

The Socialist Party campaigns solely on the basis of abolishing the market system, whether in its private or state form. The NHS, as it stands, remains part of the market system, paying wages and salaries and buying drugs and equipment from suppliers.

The NHS is part of the social wage, won through class struggle; but so long as society is organised on private or state capitalist lines, it can only be run within the limits of the profitability of capital. We aim to abolish capitalist relations outright, so that the only limit will be that of our collective ability to work.

If elected to public office, until such time as we could carry through such a change, our delegate would be instructed to vote in the interest of the needs of the working class: in this case, ensuring they got the best health outcomes available.

This was a reply to Islington Keep Our NHS Public

Outer London (just)

Leaflet distribution in Clapham had to start a day earlier because of the tube strike (good luck to them). A 1000 or so (out of 9500) have been distributed so far, but the strike meant distributing instead the leaflet for the Euroelections in the South East Region. just across the Great London border in Surrey (the only county where the post office won't be distributing our manifestos free), but still in the KT6 (Surbiton) post code area. Met Liberal and Tory canvassers, but for the local elections (the Liberals were both councillors) which are also been held there as well as London. They didn't appear to know much about the Euroelections, perhaps because Elmbridge Borough Council has more powers than the European Parliament. Managed to find a council estate amongst the big houses, but that was the only place I saw an election poster. It said "I'm voting for UKIP". A sign of the times?