Vote Socialist Anne McAllister Scottish TUSC No1 in the North East, Glasgow by election

This Thursday 21st November voters across the vast working class, North East ward in Glasgow have the opportunity to vote/ 1st preference a socialist fighter, Anne McAllister into the council. Anne a member of Socialist Party Scotland and the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition have had a warm response to our campaign and pro working-class policies from Garthamlock to Craigend to Easterhouse.

Winter fuel

A major issue for voters has been the means testing, effectively the cut to the Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners by the Starmer Labour Westminster government in the context of the severe cost of living crisis. The SNP, who are the council administration have attacked Labour in their election material. It remains to be seen whether the current national polls showing the SNP ahead will translate into them gaining the council seat in North East ward from Labour.

But we have pointed out and also many voters know that originally this payment was devolved to the SNP Scottish government. Instead of funding the £160 million to keep the payment for Scottish pensioners the SNP currently have also made the cut. Pressure is building so we will have to see whether they use the extra funding for Scotland from Reeves Westminster budget to mitigate the cost. Scottish Labour are scrambling around in response to the backlash and now their leader, Sarwar says they would reinstate the payment if they are able to form the Holyrood government after the 2026 election.

Only Anne McAllister and Scottish TUSC, in this election, have clearly raised the demand, including by petitioning voters, that the payment is fully reinstated and that pensions are increased to meet the cost of living. We go further than any windfall tax on the energy industry and the wealthy, Labour or the Scottish Greens propose, we demand the socialist nationalisation under democratic working-class control of the entire industry to bring down bills, invest in renewables and plan for the needs of society.

Council cuts

We have also made clear that the SNP, Labour and the Greens by the votes of their MSP’s and councillors are all implicated in the years of biting austerity that the city as a whole and the North East ward as one of the most deprived areas have suffered. Cuts budget after cuts budget at Holyrood, in the council chamber and in the HSCP board has created endemic poverty, pressured public services, rising homelessness and a drugs death crisis. We cant also let the Lib Dem’s off, it was them and the Tories who introduced the hated Bedroom Tax. It was only the campaigning of working-class socialist fighters like Anne locally that forced the Scottish government to mitigate that piece of vicious austerity.

Chris Sermanni, the Branch Secretary of Glasgow City Unison has supported Anne personally as have other trade unionists as she and Scottish TUSC are the only ones who stand in support of the no cuts/ needs budget policy of the council’s joint trade unions, a clear fighting alternative that all these parties reject. There are cuts budgets coming from Holyrood and Glasgow City council over the next few months.

If elected Anne will use the council position to advocate and begin organising a mass campaign for a no cuts/ needs budgets. We demand the council use all it’s financial powers and mechanisms to hold off cuts including borrowing, reserves, recapitalisation of debt and the cancellation of PFI/PPP. Scottish TUSC wouldn’t just propose a no cuts budget in the council chamber we would along with the trade unions and working-class communities build a fighting mass campaign to demand the close to a billion stolen in cuts from Glasgow in the last decade from central governments. Anne in a hustings in the ward referenced the struggle of the Liverpool Socialist council in the 1980’s that defeated Thatcher and invested in jobs, housing and services with a fighting approach.

A key issue we have raised in this campaign is the need to fight for a new mass workers party based on the trade union’s that would be a weapon in fighting for socialist policies. This campaign and the Scottish TUSC campaign in Strathmartine, Dundee in October where we increased our vote are important steps in popularising the idea.

You can support Anne’s campaign here Support Anne McAllister Scottish TUSC for North Ea – a Politics crowdfunding project in Glasgow by Matt Dobson