Flying pigs and the Euro elections
You might have heard of the Euro elections, the biggest in history, 500
million people, 27 countries, June 4th? You’re supposed to choose
which
of your local crème-de-la-crème get to go on free
holidays to Brussels and Strasbourg, and the powers that be are a bit
worried that you won’t take it seriously enough to bother voting.
Shame
on you!
Just to show how desperately important all this is, here’s a few
ways
in which the European Parliament has recently changed your life
enormously:
· working time directives limiting your weekly hours to 48 (but
don’t worry, the UK government opted out of that one pretty
smartly).
· all-inclusive air-fare prices (for those of you frequently
travelling to Brussels and Strasbourg...).
· REACH directive on industrial chemical use.
· roaming mobile phone directives (for those of you frequently
travelling to Brussels and Strasbourg...).
Alright, not very Earth-shaking, admittedly. If you’re struggling
to
make ends meet on benefits, or facing redundancy or any of the hundred
problems workers are always having, these are probably not the issues
that will drag you out to the polling booth.
The fact is, the whole Euro show is not really designed to do anything
for YOU, it’s just designed to stop the big Ruling Piggies from
going
to war with each other, like they did in the two World Wars. Though
it’s a good idea to avoid wars, since it’s always workers
who end up
suffering, it’s really the expense that bothers them, not your
welfare.
If they make the Euro-trough big enough, goes the thinking, they can
all shove in their snouts without getting in each other’s way.
It’s all
about the money, surprise surprise. While money and capitalism exist,
it always will be.
You might think, especially with this economic depression, that
capitalism does nothing but make a slave out of you, and that
it’s only
the rich that benefit. If your local candidates are not saying this,
why bother voting for them? Well, better to make a statement than stay
silent. All you have to do is write something rude across your ballot
paper, or if you prefer, ‘Abolish money and capitalism’ or
‘World
Socialism, common ownership and democratic control’, if
it’ll fit. A
vote’s always worth using, even when there’s nobody worth
voting for.
And when you’ve done that, go and find some like-minded people at www.worldsocialism.org
Download our election leaflets.
1, Manifesto for London
Region (where we're contesting) (PDF)
2. Manifesto for outside
London (where we're running a write-in
campaign) (PDF)
3. London manifesto in Bengali
(PDF)
( If anyone wants copies
of these leaflets to distribute they should send an email to
spgb@worldsocialism.org )
Français
(French) Italiano
(Italian) Svenska
(Swedish) Español(Spanish)
Polska
(Polish) Türkçe
(Turkish) German
(Deutsch)
MEETINGS
Sunday 17 May, 6pm
YOUR CHANCE TO VOTE
FOR WORLD
SOCIALISM
Speakers: Danny Lambert, Tristan Miller
Socialist Party Head Office, 52 Clapham High St, London SW4 (nearest
tube: Clapham North).
Tuesday 19 May, 8pm
YOUR CHANCE TO VOTE
FOR WORLD
SOCIALISM
Speakers: Simon Wigley, Adam Buick
Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, W4 (nearest tube: Chiswick Park)
Saturday 30 May, from 10 am onwards
OPEN DAY AND BOOK
SALE
A chance to meet socialists and discuss socialist ideas and to see how
we are organised and what we do.
Also at 52 Clapham High Street, SW4.
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