Election Activity
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Yes. One is being submitted to the EC meeting tomorrow. May also be an insert in the i paper if they have a free day.
The EC did approve the text of a “generic” leaflet yesterday, i.e one for distribution outside the two consistencies of Cardiff Central and Folkestone & Hythe that the Party will be contesting.
Here is what it says (for Party members to spread on social and — anti-social — media):
“Profit or Needs, not Leave or Remain, is the real issue
This election, we’re told, is about Brexit. Whether ‘we’ will be richer or poorer, freer or more subservient if we stay in or leave the European Union, with or without a deal.
But does anyone seriously expect that Leaving or Remaining will end child poverty? Homelessness and food banks? Collapsing health and social services? Unemployment – or the mass insecurity of zero-hour-contracts? War and forced migration? The destruction of the Earth’s wildlife and natural resources? The threat of disastrous climate change?
The Brexit ‘debate’ simply obscures the real issue: a failed economic system where nothing is produced unless a profit can be made from it. Where human needs are everywhere subject to the inhuman demands of market forces. And this system will continue to rule our lives whether our new leaders are based in Brussels or London, Belfast or Edinburgh.
The Socialist Party stands for putting an end to this profit system. For replacing it with a society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the world’s natural and industrial resources.
We live in a world of potential plenty, where we could meet our needs by freely cooperating on the basis of ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.’ There is no need for anyone anywhere in the world to go without what they need to live a happy, healthy and fulfilled life. What prevents this is the ownership of resources today by a privileged few and production for sale with the aim of making a profit.
The parties committed to running the market system – and that includes the Labour Party and the Greens – are making empty promises. A vote for them is a wasted vote as this system operates on the basis that making profits must always come before meeting needs, whatever those in government might want or have promised.
You can show that you reject the profit-driven market system, and want a classless society of equal men and women geared to directly satisfying people’s needs, by casting a write-in vote for “WORLD SOCIALISM” on your ballot paper.”
Can branches, members and sympathisers let Head Office know by email how many copies of this leaflet they would like.
The draft election address of our candidate in Cardiff Central in the election can be found here. 45,000 will be distributed by the post office to households in the constituency. Another 1000 will be distributed at street stalls that the local branch will be doing.
15,000 of the leaflets for distribution outside Cardiff and Folkestone will be delivered to Head Office tomorrow. So branches, members and sympathisers can now obtain some for distribution in their local area. Just email Head Office.
This is the ‘generic’ General Election leaflet suitable for widespread distribution.
The nomination papers for our candidate in Folkestone & Hythe (Andy Thomas) were handed in today and accepted.
We won’t know who are opponents are till nominations close on Thursday but as this is a Tory-held seat, under Farage’s cunning plan there won’t be a Brexit Party candidate. So, there could just be the usual gang of three (Tory, Liberal, Labour) plus the Greens.
The nomination papers for our candidate in Cardiff Central (Brian Johnson) were handed in today and accepted.
As a Labour-held seat there will be a Faragist candidate but, as it’s one of the constituencies in the “Remain alliance” deal, there will be no Green or Welsh nationalist candidate, only a LibDem one.
Nominations closed at 4pm and it turns out that there are 8 candidates standing in Folkestone & Hythe. Our opponents are: Tory, Labour, LibDem, Green, SDP (yes, they still seem to exist), Young People’s Party, and an Independent (Henry Bolton, who was leader of UKIP for a few months).
The Young People’s Party is not really that at all, but a party advocating the views of Henry George, the 19th century supporter of capitalism who wanted to replace all other taxes by a Single Tax on land values. Their candidate, Rohen Kapur, stood there in the 2015, as did we.
There are 7 candidates standing in Cardiff Central. There, our opponents are, as expected, Labour, Liberal, Tory and Brexit. There is a Welsh nationalist candidate but not Plaid Cymru and also an independent. There is no Green candidate as this seat has been reserved by the “Remain Alliance” for the LibDems.
The Welsh nationalist party is a rightwing outfit calling itself “Ein Gwalad” (Our Country) and is standing in some other seats. Its description on the ballot paper is “Gwalad Gwalad” which is part of the chorus of the Welsh “national” anthem — which will give an idea of how nasty it is. It opposes Plaid Cymru as being too leftwing and in fact Plaid (which simply means “Party”) has on occasion even called itself “socialist”, ridiculously of course.
It appears the BBC are publishing all the manifestos of each political party. Is this something we should insist on being included in?
‘ Is this something we should insist on being included in?’
Yes!
By the way, the Northite Trots (WSWS/’Socialist Equality Party’) are standing candidates:
Our election address for Cardiff has been approved by Royal Mail and is at the printers. If all goes to plan it will be delivered to the 45 500 households in Cardiff Central next Thursday 28 November.
Election addresses only need Royal Mail approval to see they conform to their layout design and don’t introduce surreptitious advertising. It is not censorship though too blatant racism is banned. Ordinary xenophobia is not.
A mention in the Kent online newspaper:
And on Wikipedia here with a link to their entry on us.
By the way, the Northite Trots (WSWS/’Socialist Equality Party’) are standing candidates:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/cand-n18.html
I have made some interventions in the comments section of this article. Perhaps, others here might like to join. Typical Leftist misrepresentation of the postion of the SPGB on such matters as trade unionism etc
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