On May 22nd, we will be offered a choice of who to elect for the European Parliament and in many places there are also local elections.
No2EU Yes to Workers’ Rights
No to austerity. Oppose all cuts.
Will defend and restore trade union rights.
Renationalise the NHS, Post Office, and energy companies.
For a fully-integrated, publicly-owned transport network.
Exit left from the European Union. The EU cannot be reformed in the interests of workers.
No to the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).
For a federal, socialist Europe.
No to racism and fascism.
For socialist policies to solve environmental catastrophe.
For an international struggle of all working people against capitalism.
Greens (mixture of soft-left, centre, soft-right). Green Left is an ecosocialist group within the Green Party.
Pro-EU.
For the environment and renewable energy.
For an increased income for poor workers.
No to the TTIP.
In power (Brighton Council), the Greens have still carried out cuts to services.
In power, the Greens have gone into coalition with mainstream parties, betraying their own principles (Ireland, Germany).
Greens tend to favour small business over large business, but have no strategy for getting rid of capitalism altogether.
The Green Party encapsulates a wide variety of political positions, from both left and right viewpoints. They have tried to portray themselves as neither left nor right wing, but purely environmentalists.
Labour / Conservatives / Liberal Democrats
All three main parties are in favour of cuts and privatisation.
Labour has done nothing to reverse Tory policies, Thatcher’s anti-trade union laws, or the privatisation of the railways under John Major, for example.
All three parties have already destroyed much of our NHS.
They are all in favour of academy schools or free schools and want to end comprehensive education.
They all back tuition fees for students (despite promises to scrap fees made by both Labour and Lib Dems in the past).
Labour, Lib Dems and Tories are all right-wing parties.
They are all officially pro-EU (to a greater or lesser extent) – however Tories and Labour are split on this issue.
None of them, in my opinion, are worth voting for. In local elections, a vote for TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) is an effective protest vote.
The far-right
UKIP are not a protest vote. They are part of the political establishment, being a right-wing split from the Tories. UKIP do not represent the interests of ordinary people. They are dangerous in seeking to blame immigrants for the nation’s woes, when in fact the real enemy is the banking sector, capitalist greed and financiers who were responsible for the banking crash of 2008. None of this was caused by poor immigrant workers, who actually contribute to our economy.
If you oppose Brussels and want to cast a protest vote, support No2EU Yes To Workers’ Rights.
Andrew Walton's Blog 