Socialist Alternative Mayoral Candidate Explains Why Leicester Needs a Mass Movement to End Austerity

Since the financial crisis we have years of cuts and austerity. In Leicester our labour mayor and councillors have passed these on by slashing our services. With the exception of social care, Leicester council services have been cut by more than half in the past 10 years.

Steve said:

“If we don’t fight, we will have no services left at all. What the socialist party is proposing is to resist austerity – to set a no cuts budget. To use the money that does exists in the reserves. They have over £100million in the reserves.

“The money would not last forever, however. The point about using the reserves is that it gives you time to go to people in Leicester whose services are threatened, to go to workers on the council whose jobs and terms and conditions are threatened and say to them: ‘if you back us in setting a no cuts budget, we need you to be involved in a campaign to force the money from the government’.

“I think we have proved by our own record as the Socialist Party, involved in campaigns like the save Glenfield children’s heart centre campaign, of which I was the chair,a that if you mobilise people, if you get 1000s of people on the streets, if you get people involved in action, then that is a powerful force.

“We forced the NHS nationally, and the government behind them, and the politicians, to do a u turn about the Glenfield children’s heart centre. If we can do it over that, we can do it over council cuts – especially when we have a government that is on the ropes, as it is at the moment.”

Steve explained that, whatever the result on May 2, the important thing is to build a mass movement to end the Tories rule and build the fightback for socialism.