Reject the parties of austerity – Vote against the cuts on May 3rd

Standing in the council elections wasn’t  something I ever thought I would do. As an ordinary worker – I expected to vote at this election-not be a candidate. But having read the election newsletters coming through the door, it’s clear that not one of the parties speak for me.

Labour point out that “every council will see harsh budget cuts” –with no opposition from them. One SNP candidate said she “didn’t know” how to campaign for more funding for Glasgow! Even the Greens don’t oppose all cuts. And forget the Tories and the Lib Dems –they definitely don’t speak for me!

I watched the fiasco at Glasgow City Chambers as politicians fought amongst themselves to set a budget of millions of pounds worth of cuts – a budget that’ll mean jobs lost and services axed.

None of these politicians will get my vote.  They all want to make cuts.  Talking to my neighbours and workmates I know that many of us feel the same.

Who can ordinary people vote for? We have no voice – no-one to speak for us in this election.

So I’ve decided to stand as a candidate – part of the Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition.  I don’t know the inner workings of the council chamber.   But I see taxpayers’ money being used to pay bankers bonuses, I see workers’ pensions and pay being cut- to give tax cuts to the rich.  
And I see politicians doing nothing to oppose that. We need to fight back – and that includes giving ordinary people the chance to vote for candidates who are committed to standing up for workers and their communities.

That’s why I’m standing in this election- because we need councillors who’ll refuse to make cuts.

Diane Harvey – Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition candidate for Glasgow Newlands/Aultburn

Glasgow anti-cuts candidate for Langside ward and Socialist Party Scotland member Ronnie Stevenson wrote this letter to the Herald in April in response to an article by columnist Ian Bell. Ian pointed to the huge political vacuum that has opened up between the political elite and the majority of people. In one recent poll 68% believed politicians from the UK’s three main parties are corrupt.

Ian Bell highlights important points in his article “Austerity opens up a chasm between them and us” (The Herald, Wednesday, 04-04-2012).  As we approach the local authority elections Ian points out that 17% are looking for an alternative to the main parties.  

The response of the four main parties in Scotland to the devastation of the important services for the 99%, the us Ian refers to, has been to meekly cut services. Austerity has been the response of the politicians to the economic crisis brought about by the bankers and the politicians.

The main parties display various degrees of enthusiasm for austerity and making the 99% pay for the economic crimes of the 1%, the them.
No wonder there is such alienation from these parties. Not one of them has taken the only real decision in favour of the 99% which would be to refuse to implement the cuts and to mount a campaign for the return of the money handed out to the rich.  

The return of a mere 10% of the handouts made to the Royal Bank of Scotland would enable the local authorities and Scottish Government not to have to make cuts.

The Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition was formed by many leading Scottish trade unionists and anti-cuts campaigners to fight austerity and the greed of the 1%.  

They are standing candidates in the forthcoming local government elections who will refuse to implement cuts.  

Their candidates throughout Scotland are standing to give a voice to the 17% looking for an alternative to the main parties and appealing to the 68% who think British politics is corrupt to give them a chance.

 If decent services and living standards are to be in place for the vast majority of the population then the 99% must stand up and fight and elect councillors who will do the same.