YOUR TRADE UNIONIST AND SOCIALIST CANDIDATE
Dave Hill is from a working class East End background, he was brought up in the back streets of Brighton in poverty with mother and his brothers, and joined the Labour Party, then a left –wing party, when he was 16. For twenty years he was a local and regional political leader. He stood twice for Parliament for the Labour Party for Brighton Pavilion constituency, and was the Labour Group Leader on East Sussex County Council, as well as serving as a Brighton Borough Councillor. He left the Labour Party, at last, in 2006 because of its pro-war and its anti-working class policies. He is now standing as a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate in Brighton Kemptown. http://brightontusc.blogspot.com/
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Stop all privatisation, including the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and the immoral privatisation of prisons. Bring privatised public services and utilities back into public ownership under democratic control.
NO CUTS - QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES
Take rail back into public ownership and build an integrated, low-pollution public transport system.
For a high-quality, free National Health Service under democratic public ownership and control.
Stop council estate sell-offs and build eco-friendly, affordable public housing.
Good, free education for all, under democratic local authority control; student grants not fees.
Keep Royal Mail as a publicly-owned service, not a privatised cash cow.
JOBS, NOT HANDOUTS TO BANKERS & BILLIONAIRES
Bring banks and finance institutions into genuine public ownership under democratic control, instead of giving huge handouts to the very capitalists who caused the crisis.
Tax the rich. For progressive tax on rich corporations and individuals, with a crackdown on tax avoidance.
For massive investment in environmental projects.
EMPLOYMENT & TRADE UNION RIGHTS
Repeal the anti-trade union laws.
A minimum wage set at half average adult male earnings, with no exemptions.
Invest to create and protect jobs, including for young people.
Solidarity with workers taking action to defend jobs, conditions, pensions, public services and trade unions. Reinstate full trade union rights to prison officers.
PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT - STOP GLOBAL WARMING
Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions - otherwise climate change, caused by capitalism, will destroy us.
Invest in publicly-owned and controlled renewable energy.
Move to sustainable, low-pollution industry and farming - stop the pollution that is destroying our environment.
Recognise that many of our planet's resources are limited and that capitalism fritters them away for profit.
Produce for need, not profit, and design goods for reuse and recycling.
DECENT PENSIONS & BENEFITS
Restore the pre-Thatcher real value of pensions. Reinstate the link with average earnings.
Protect entitlement to benefits; for living benefits; end child poverty.
DEMOCRACY, DIVERSITY & JUSTICE
Welcome diversity and oppose racism, fascism and discrimination. Defend the right to asylum.
Ensure women have genuinely equal rights and pay.
Defend our liberties and make police and security democratically accountable.
SOLIDARITY NOT WAR
Bring home all British troops from Afghanistan immediately - no more wars for resources.
No more spending on a new generation of nuclear weapons, huge aircraft carriers or irrelevant eurofighters - convert arms spending into socially useful products and services.
An independent foreign policy, based on international solidarity – no more being a US poodle, no moves towards a capitalist, militarist United States of Europe, no Lisbon Treaty.
SOCIALISM
For a democratic socialist society run in the interests of the people not the millionaires. For democratic public ownership of the major companies and banks that dominate the economy, so that production and services can be planned to meet the needs of all and to protect the environment.
2 comments:
Hi Andy
I've been mulling this over for a while, and finally got round to doing something about it. Looking through the list of 'What we stand for', I was struggling to find any differences between TUSC stated ideals and what I understood to be Green Party policy. I considered that perhaps I wasn't quite as up to speed on our manifesto as I should be, so I went through your post item by item to check against the Green Party Policies for a Sustainable Society (http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/index.html) and lo...
Every single item TUSC is standing for is already well established Green Party policy! That leaves me wondering; What is TUSC hoping to achieve that the Greens are not working towards? What purpose does your campaign serve other than to split the left progressive vote, and increase the chance of a tory win?
I know anyone has a right to stand as a candidate, and its great to have a diverse ballot paper that reflects all views, even if they are ones I disagree with. But TUSC seems to add nothing, it's platform is already there, called the Green Party.
I genuinely don't get it, help me out here. I really would like to know what is distinctive about TUSC. If it helps, I've done a document that inserts GP policy next to each of yours - I can forward it if you want, but it is too long to add as a comment here.
Cheers
Sven
Sven, a few points in response if I may, your comments that the TUSC offer nothing already done is baffling; to me it seems that your questions are just a thinly disguised attempt at undermining the TUSC position, or else without being disparaging you genuinely have a limited understanding of contemporary politics and are seeking answers.
If it’s the latter, allow me to explain the main distinction between TUSC and the green party.
You say that the TUSC’s platform already exists -its what the Green party currently promulgate, quite right too. However, I say platforms are where you stand to board a train, the TUSC is not interesting in politics for politics sake; or ideologues for ideologues sake; the TUSC stands first and foremost for the ‘people’, it is anthropocentric not ‘envirocentric’ and it falls under the umbrella of socialism whose focus is on ameliorating the condition of all humanity. If there is one criticism of so called ‘green’ organisations, it’s that their whole perspective is skewed by their obsessive environmental agenda that trumps everything else including the lives of human beings.
On the contrary, socialism is anthropocentric, it puts us humans first, since we are the species with the most clout on planet and indeed make the biggest impact –you try putting the polar bears in charge then we would be on a slippery slope(to errm…fish!). But you already know this –you are human aren’t you?
Yet whilst socialism is anthropocentric, it goes beyond the self centred sociological outlooks of Weberian market position and Foucauldian group theory to pursuing the dream and future realisation that every human being can have a life of dignity, equality and the pursuit of happiness, to the extent that it abrogates and annuls elitism and other forms of disparity forming social stratification; to the extent that one day, the world will be at peace, and in the words of the late Bill Hicks, we can then explore space, both in and out.
If your true intentions were to try and promote the Green party above the TUSC, then go stick lemon your vegetable patch!
No, only joking; no bad feelings whatsoever, all the best to you Sven –take care.
Regards
James
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