Having already announced they will vote Labour in round two one
wonders why these globalists bother standing at all?
http://www.electrespectcoalition.org/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&task=3Dv=
iew&id=3D19&Itemid=3D41
Policy Priorities
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
1. Housing.
We need an emergency building programme of council housing to deal
with the chronic crisis which leaves many families overcrowded or
without proper homes. Young working class people find it all but
impossible to buy or rent at market prices. 'Affordable' housing
simply does not solve this problem: even if 50 percent of all
developments are affordable, they are still beyond the reach of many.
Part buy part rent is expensive.
All London homes should be affordable and the assumption that at least
half are beyond the reach of most living and working in London is one
that we should reject.
Everyone has the right to a home that they can afford. Council housing
is the best way of achieving that. The market has never provided
decent housing for all and the policies of recent years right to buy
and tax breaks for buy to let have only distorted the market further.
2. Trans****t.
Decent and cheap public trans****t to encourage people out of their
cars and onto buses,trains and tubes. Bringing back conductors and
guards on all trans****t to make it safer and more pleasant. Staffing
of all stations when open.
Cuts in bus and tube fares which are some of the most expensive in the
world for one of the worst systems. New tube lines to ease
overcrowding. A return of all public trans****t to public owner****p.
Extension of Oyster to all rail and the introduction of transfers for
those changing buses as exists in many cities around the world so that
passengers don't have to pay twice.
Abolition of bendy buses which could be the origin of the phrase hell
on wheels. Development of a new Routemaster which is ecologically
friendly and accessible to people with disabilities and those with
children.
Good wages, conditions and training for all who work on trans****t, and
full recognition of union rights.
3. Education and Health
Education and Health should be a right for all Londoners of whatever
age and background.
A good local school for every child regardless of race, faith,
nationality or class should be the aim, with money spent on the
schools to make sure this happens. No to academies, which aim to bring
big business and the market into education.
Free breakfasts and fruit for every child. No selling off of
playingfields for development, these are a resource which belong to
everyoneand should ensure future healthy generations.
The NHS should be fully funded with no rationing. There should be
enough GPs and health centers to provide round the clock
treatment,with no hospital closures and more A and E, which is under
strain everywhere.
An end to PFI.
4. Young people
Young people are the future of London but are suffering. Last year 27
young Londoners died as a result of gun or knife attacks. We have to
ask serious questions about why this is happening to our children, why
they feel they need to resort to violence against each other. They
should feel valued and feel that they have a future, and that requires
an education system which meets their needs, and which treats them as
people who have a future.
They also need facilities which offer a wider horizon, with more youth
clubs, s****ts facilities, arts projects and other alternatives to
hanging around street corners, drinking, drugs or violence.
These are not optional extras in a civilized society but an essential
part of it.
5. Inequality.
London is one of the richest cities in the world but contains a
growing gap between rich and poor.
The richest individuals and companies should pay far more tax, which
should be prioritized to finance public trans****t, education
andhousing, so that there is a redistribution of goods and services
towards the majority of Londoners.
Among the poorest in London are high numbers of women and ethnic
minorities. Policies must be geared towards ending discrimination and
inequality for all, both by challenging direct prejudice in the form
of***ism, racism, discrimination against LGBT, and by developing
specific aims which can help particular communities or groups.
6. Crime.
Although the crime figures have gone down in recent years, perception
of and fear of crime remain high. We have high numbers of police and
record numbers of CCTV cameras but they are not reducing this fear of
crime.
We need a different approach where we attempt to create a community
which aims to prevent crime before it takes place rather than simply
dealing with it at the police/judicial end.
Over the past 30 years we have lost caretakers on estates, park
keepers, bus conductors and tube guards, youth clubs, community
buildings and much more. These have helped balance council books
buthave made London a more uncaring and hostile place.
It is time to restore those jobs as a means of preventing crime and
dealing with insecurity. Let=92s also place more resources into fighting
crime against people.
Women=92s refuges and rape crisis centers should be properly funded and
their facilities expanded. We should consider a cab pooling system for
women at night to ensure they have safe and affordable trans****t
home.Policing against race attacks should be a priority.
7. Environment.
Creating a safe environment in London means severely curtailing the
use of the car. The congestion charge has made some advances on this
but does not go far enough.
At present, those living in central London, often the better off, have
little incentive not to use a car. Because the charge is based on
ability to pay, it discriminates against the poorer, and the rich have
no difficulty in finding the daily charge. The cost of public
trans****t further prevents people switching to it.
Entry into the city center should be based on need, not ability to
pay,and there have to be drastic improvements in costs, comfort and
provision in public trans****t alongside this.
Other forms of trans****t such as cycles and motorcycles should be
encouraged, with designated lanes.
There should be more specific footpaths for walkers and busy road
junctions should be made much more pedestrian friendly by giving more
time and priority to crossings.
Traffic should be set at 20mph in all roads except major routes.
More green spaces and parks are needed, and developers should be
compelled to provide open spaces as part of planning.
There should be no more new private building on the Thames, but a
mixture of open spaces and public housing and buildings.
No third runway at Heathrow, a restriction of flights and
encouragement of alternative forms of travel.
8. Olympics
London shouldn=92t have to pay for the Olympics. The cost of the
Olympics is rising to astronomical pro****tions. They will rise even
further if Games in other parts of the world are any indication.
There should be a cap on costs to stop profiteering, and any increases
in wages and other labour costs should be borne by the private
companies who stand to make so much money from it, not by taxpayers.
London=92s council tax should be frozen. At present money is being taken
from local s****ts, arts and community facilities to pay for the
Olympics and we are in danger of starving local initiatives for one
prestige project which will be over in a matter of weeks. Already
people have lost homes, businesses, allottments and s****ts facilities
on the site.
The site should be returned to local people afterwards, with good
permanent s****ts facilities, recreation grounds, restored homes and
amenities and most im****tantly cheap council housing to meet London=92s
most crying needs.
9. Work.
Jobs are increasingly stressful and difficult in London. Hours are
long, compounded by lengthy commute times in overcrowded
conditions.Unions are weak in many private sector areas such as retail
or finance.
Many jobs are low wage and low status, relying on large pools of
labour from people from outside London or from abroad. The boom in
London of recent years has passed many Londoners by, and the poorer
boroughs inthe east and south of the city have relatively high levels
of unemployment.
The London living wage has to be implemented throughout London, and
hours should be reduced to a 35 hour week. We are a rich and
technologically advanced country so should be able to afford this
move, which would immediately improve the quality of life of most
workers, especially those with families.
A universal childcare service, based on the same principles as the
NHS, should be available to all parents. Unions should be encouraged
and their reps given time and facilities at work to publicize their
cause.
We should aim for a job for everyone who can work, and decent income
for all who cannot; pensioners, people with disabilities and long term
sick, as well as unemployed.
There should be an end to privatization, with different industries
taken into public owner****p to protect jobs, especially failing banks
like Northern Rock.
10. War and civil liberties.
The majority of Londoners opposed the Iraq war but were ignored. We
have suffered in two ways: one the increase in terrorism, most notably
on 7 July 2005; the other that money which should have gone into our
public services has been diverted into war and militarism.
The Muslim community has borne the brunt of the war even harder
because of the increase of attacks on Muslims and because of the
general rise in racism against them.
We oppose the war on terror and call for the withdrawal of all troops
from Iraq and Afghanistan, closer links with those internationally who
oppose such wars, such as Hugo Chavez, and justice for the
Palestinians.
We oppose the attacks on civil liberties which have accompanied the
wars, and want an end to stop and search, the abolition of the terror
laws, and no shoot to kill, as happened to the young Brazilian Jean
Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube. We will only make London safer
and begin to end terrorism when we deal with the root causes of it,
themselves connected to the war on terror.
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