Coventry Socialist Election Results: May 5th 2011

Here are the Coventry local election results for May 5th, 2011. The Socialist Alternative candidates are highlighted in each of the 18 wards. The Socialist Alternative candidates polled 3,081 votes (3.59%), which was up 0.51% on the last election.

Bablake:
Laura Dodd (Con) 1873
Philip Jones (BNP) 208
David Kershaw (Lab) 2687
Walter Milner (Green) 233
Hannah Seaman (Socialist Alternative) 45
Peter Simpson (Lib Dem) 231

Binley and Willenhall:
Steven Adams (Green) 123
Dave Clarke (BNP) 207
Lindsay Currie (Socialist Alternative) 79
Ram Lakha (Lab) 2436
Jonathan Smith (Con) 970
Colin Stubbs (UKIP) 329

Cheylesmore:
Kevin Foster (Con) 2493
Alison Gingell (Lab) 2188
Judy Griffiths (Socialist Alternative) 161
John Verdult (Green) 331

Earlsdon:
John Fletcher (Lab) 2482
Thomas House (Socialist Alternative) 136
Greg Judge (Lib Dem) 469
Scott Redding (Green) 343
Ken Taylor (Con) 2596

Foleshill:
Shabbir Ahmed (Con) 1124
Betty Booton (BNP) 125
Gavin Collins (Green) 133
Jim Hensman (Socialist Alternative) 77
Abdul Khan (Lab) 3184
Scott Tallis (Lib Dem) 116

Henley:
Lynnette Kelly (Lab) 2409
Josie Kenny (Socialist Alternative) 113
Brian Patton (Lib Dem) 1170
George Robinson (Green) 171
Liesel Wagstaff (BNP) 337

Holbrook:Joe Clifford (Lab) 2793
Charles Cox (Con) 897
Danny Foulstone (Green) 243
Richard Groves (Socialist Alternative) 57
John Hurren (BNP) 252

Longford:
Linda Bigham (Lab) 3036
James Edgar (Socialist Alternative) 101
John Griffiths (Green) 165
Will Jones (Con) 602
Keith Oxford (BNP) 252

Lower Stoke:
Robert McArdle (Socialist Alternative) 291
John McNicholas (Lab) 2608
Mary Nicholls (BNP) 261
Laura Vesty (Green) 353
Nick Williams (Con) 1018

Radford:
Gareth Fowler (Con) 699
Stephen Gray (Green) 226
Hunter Helmsley (BNP) 205
John Ryan (Ind) 159
Tony Skipper (Lab) 2607
Glen Watson (Socialist Alternative) 94

Sherbourne:
Frank Bates (BNP) 195
Damian Gannon (Lab) 2606
Jamie Simpson (Lib Dem) 281
Jason Toynbee (Socialist Alternative) 117
Jane Williams (Con) 1281
Justin Wood (Green) 220

St Michael’s:
Dial Masih (Con) 434
Jim O’Boyle (Lab) 2419
Rob Windsor (Socialist Alternative) 1263

Upper Stoke:
Denise Beech (Con) 508
Derek Benefield (Lib Dem) 799
Colleen Fletcher (Lab) 2536
John Halpin (Green) 159
Paul Smith (Socialist Alternative) 95
Darren Thomas (BNP) 193

Wainbody:
Rachel Adshead (Green) 393
Daniel Crowter (Socialist Alternative) 83
Napier Penlington (Lib Dem) 410
Tim Sawdon (Con) 2452
Mark Taylor (UKIP) 379
Sundeep Virk (Lab) 1909

Westwood:
Mark Badrick (BNP) 256
James Donnelly (Socialist Alternative) 95
Merle Gering (Green) 291
Nigel Lee (Con) 1793
Richard Sandy (Lab) 2184

Whoberley:
Teresa Chalcroft (Socialist Alternative) 109
Ken Charley (Con) 1392
Tom Gower (BNP) 270
Dan Howells (Lab) 2561
Brian Lewis (Lib Dem) 295
Jo Rathbone (Green) 330
Martyn Richards (Ind) 119

Woodlands:
Jacqueline Basu (Lib Dem) 549
Christian Cliffe (Con) 1972
Dan Gower (Green) 187
Patricia Hetherton (Lab) 2286
Lenny Shail (Socialist Alternative) 44
David White (BNP) 283

Wyken:
Jaswant Birdi (Con) 1727
Jodie Hannis (Socialist Alternative) 121
Adrian Roll (Ind) 206
Hazel Sweet (Lab) 2606
Cathy Wattebot (Green) 220

Anarchist Numbers To Rise In UK

The Sex Pistols sang about 'Anarchy In The UK' but the reality has hit the streets in 2011 as a growing number of young people take direct action rather than just protesting via a demonstration. Numbers of anarchists will soar as students and some of the 1m young people who can't find a job turn away from traditional political parties and take matters into their own hands.

London witnessed what anarchists could do during the TUC 'March For The Alternative' on Saturday 26th March, as windows at the Ritz hotel were smashed and paint thrown at the luxury hotel along with Topshop being attacked due to tax avoidance by Sir Philip Green and others. Viewers on the BBC saw anarchists spraying slogans like 'class war' on buildings as anarchists and police fought away from the main march, which was attended by around 500,000 people.

Many young people not only feel let down by the betrayal of the Liberal Democrats, who had been instrumental in mobilising them to vote in the 2010 General Election - only to sell them out as soon as they got into power! Students were the first in line when the coalition announced it's plans to slash £81b from public spending, seeing them as an easy target. This gave birth to a student movement that put traditional unions to shame - young people didn't spend months in deliberation about whether they should take action or not. They marched in their thousands around the country and especially in London, but their shouts of 'no ifs, no buts, no education cuts' fell mostly on deaf ears for those in government. The over reaction of the police and subsequent kettling only made matters worse for the young people who wanted their voice to be heard.

It is little wonder that students could start turning to more radical outlets in order to get their point across. Direct action is on the increase and no matter how many new laws or impositions Home Secretary Theresa May introduces, anarchists will work around the law to get their point across. The main political parties have failed young people and peaceful demonstrations, in their opinion, do not work. For many anarchists, taking matters into their own hands has become the only option. We will see more events like this over the coming months unless the government gives young people hope instead of hurting cuts.

The UK will see an increase in anarchist action as more young people join in the resistance, unless young people are heard by the ruling class. The new generation have seen rulers swept away in the Middle East and North Africa, they don't want to wait another four years to vote for change (only to get the same sort of policies with a political party that has a different colour). Yet there is an alternative for young people that doesn't involve smashing up shops - it does involve smashing up this old failed capitalist system and replacing it with socialism. Big business and banks need to be taken into democratic public control and run for the millions, not for the millionaires. Education should be free, like it was before Labour and the Tories started charging students. Britain has the wealth, the problem is down to capitalism that ensures the wealth remains in the pockets of the ruling class, while the working class are left to pay for the crisis in capitalism. For more info visit: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/


Video footage from the BBC of the March 26th 2011 of anarchist action in London


Video footage by ITN of Trafalgar Square as it becomes a battleground

Why We Should Be Angry With The Banks

The governor of the Bank of England has been surprised that the British public have not been as angry with the banks as he thought they would be. Mervyn King told the treasury committee,"The price of this financial crisis is being borne by people who absolutely did not cause it," he said. "Now is the period when the cost is being paid, I'm surprised that the degree of public anger has not been greater than it has." The financial meltdown of 2008 is now being felt, yet widespread anger has yet to erupt. People are beginning to wake up to the reality that the governments £81 billion austerity cuts are linked to the banking crisis - the same crisis that has crippled Ireland.

Banks have continued to reward themselves massive bonuses while thousands of workers have lost their jobs, all of this comes after banks like Lloyds and RBS were bailed out by the government. British taxpayers were forced to handover almost a trillion pounds when the capitalist money markets failed. RBS recently reported an operating profit of £1.913bn (core RBS operating profit was £7.418bn) but told the government it could not afford to start paying back the bailout money. Unsurprisingly the bank somehow managed to find £950m to award themselves bonuses, with over 100 bankers earning more than £1m each. As Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite pointed out, "Taxpayers will be baffled as to how it is possible that while we own 84% of this bank it continues to so handsomely reward its investment bankers. This is an institution in which over 21,000 front-line and support staff have been sacked."

Barclays boss was indignant when he faced the Treasury Select Committee earlier this year, Bob Diamond told them, "There was a period of remorse and apology for banks. I think that period needs to be over." Just a few weeks later Barclays announced pre tax profits of £6.07bn and a bonus pool of £2.6bn, with investment banks seeing a salary increase by around 40% over the past year. As a result pay, pensions and bonuses per head at Barclays Capital have risen 20% to £236,000 on average - no wonder Bob Diamond wants to see an end of banker bashing. He must have been annoyed when it became public that Barclays paid just £113m in corporation tax in 2009. The bank was able to use tax avoidance rules in order to protect their bonuses, while at the same time the government began to force the British people to live with £81bn cuts to services.

What will it take for the British people to rise up and say "enough is enough"? Will it be the news that 37% of the FTSE 100 companies did not pay any corporation tax in 2010, while we have been forced to pay an extra 2.5% on VAT this year? Could it be the fact, Lloyds will not pay corporation tax until profits hit £15bn? The bank reported £2.2bn profits, while getting rid of some 26,000 workers since it bought HBOS - many of those former workers have a right to be angry with Lloyds for it's failure.

For the banks it is business as normal, clearly seen when Standard Chartered announced pre-tax profits leaping 19% to a record £3.8bn. The government must be pleased it is being able to rush through it's savage £81bn austerity measures with little or no protest from the vast majority of the British public. Mervyn King hit the right cord, even though his monetary polices and the system of capitalism are a failed system - there is anger at the banks and that anger is not going away. As the cuts begin to hit home and more and more people lose services and jobs, that anger will rise.

Many people are questioning the system and also see the failure of the main parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats) as they deal with the effects of the financial meltdown. Scores of young people, sold out because of banker greed, are looking for alternatives to capitalism. A future of sky high university fees, youth unemployment nearing 1m and the prospect of being able to afford a mortgage a distant dream - young people are very angry. Anger will not be enough to change our society, we need to change the system.

A socialist society would see the banks and financial power houses taken into public ownership, ending the big bonus culture as surplus monies are channelled back into society. Instead of a small number at the top benefiting, society as a whole would see investment. Education would be a provided for free because a socialist society would be run differently to this greedy capitalist system. The idea of a democratic planned economy has been growing in a new generation of young people who have seen the terrible effects of capitalism - where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer as the ConDem government role back the advances made by the working class during the past 100 years. Labour no longer represent the working class as they mirror the right wing policies of the Tory party, having sacrificed workers to the gods of the financial markets. We need a new mass workers party and the Socialist Party (England & Wales) are building for this future - a future where young people receive an education that is properly funded, housing is created to ensure everyone can obtain a home at an affordable price and a banking system that is properly nationalised for the use in a planned economy that benefits society.

References:

* Guardian - Lloyds bonuses , RBS profits 

* Telegraph - Corporation Tax avoidance , Mervyn King bank anger , Standard Chartered profits , Lloyds avoid corporation tax

* BBC - Barclays bonuses

* Daily Mail - Bob Diamond on banker bashing

* Socialist Party - Socialism

You Caused This Crisis

There has been a shift in responsibility during the past 18 months, and it seems WE are the ones to blame for the financial crisis. No longer is it the fault of the market speculators, nor the banks that happily lent billions on dodgy deals.

The ConDem government (and Labour), have shifted the debt burden to local councils - basically telling them to cut budgets by around 25%. That means YOUR services get cut because YOU are now to blame for the crisis!
Added to the misery of public sector cuts, employers have used the crisis to their advantage - forcing wages down as inflation climbs and reducing employee head count, even though British businesses have billions in the bank. The business world have used the historic low interest rates to their advantage, paying off debt which has enabled many companies to sit on a large pile of cash.

Little wonder business leaders are now calling on the government to lower taxes further and toughen union laws beyond what Thatcher did in the 80's. Money didn't disappear from our society, it just shifted into the hands of the few. The ruling class now have more of the wealth and YOU are being made to pay for 'the crisis'. While pensions are destroyed and earnings spiral downwards, the big bosses want even more from us - they want us to pay for their crisis. This is a crisis of capitalism, a failed economy that is now destroying the very fabric of society.

Barclays boss, Bob Diamond told the select committee that banker bashing needed to end, while he enjoys around £9m in bonuses during the coming year. He might be surprised to see people are angry that Barclays not only announced £6.07b in profits, but also robbed the UK by paying just £113m corporation tax. It has been business as usual at the banks, the millionaire government ministers do not know the reality of living on the poverty line. Sadly we can't afford a team of lawyers and fiddle our taxes, we are meant to just be grateful we have a job - even if rising inflation means we take a pay cut year after year.

It is a lie to say WE caused the financial crisis, even though the capitalist elite would like us to think otherwise. The £81b of spending cuts that are being forced through now are being blamed on YOU, but the truth is - these cuts are not necessary. They are an excuse to roll back advances made by the working class, our NHS and schools are all under treat because they don't make money for the capitalist system. Britain is heading back to the Victorian times unless we fight with all our might against the cuts. We need a democratic workers led society that runs a system for the benefit of all, not the elite.

Royal Mail Sold Out

The Tory and Liberal Democrates have voted to sell off Royal Mail, with only the House of Lords being able to stop the destruction of this much loved public service. Although Labour were against privatisation this time, we need to remember that Labour sought to part-privatise this 350 year old service.

In private hands Royal Mail will transform from a daily universal UK delivery into a post code lottery, where those in cities will be cherry picked and those in rural areas will eventually see the daily delivery of post eroded and eventually wiped out.

A privately owned Royal Mail will no longer be willing to offer a 'one price goes anywhere'. The logic of cost will compel any capitalist company to exert the maximum profit and posting a letter from Lands End to John O'Groats does not fit into this business model.

Separating Post Office Counters from Royal Mail will signal the end of the Post Office, as the two companies will quickly go their separate ways and the interwoven link will fray. As Royal Mail loses a third of it's income from the Post Office both will become more fragile.

Not only have Royal Mail been sold out by the coalition, the British public will be worse off as this public service will be lost forever. Margaret Thatcher sold off our gas, electricity, water and railways, Labour opened the door for privatisation of Royal Mail, education and our health service. It is of no surprise then that Cameron and Clegg want to get their greedy hands on our remaining public services and sell them to their business friends.

We need to continue to oppose the sale of Royal Mail and call for the investment into the Post Office, as communities and businesses rely on this publicly run service. What next - will we see the BBC sold to the likes of Rupert Murdoch? Privatisation of Royal Mail was defeated before (on it's final reading) as Michael Heseltine was forced into retreat because of the public outcry. A Socialist government would make sure the postal service remained 100% in public hands and used for the benefit of all, not for the greed of the few.

Nationalise The Banks - End The Crisis!

Barclays Bank Chief Bob Diamond has exposed the banking sector for what it really is as he showed no remorse for the banking crisis Barclays helped create. No wonder he said banks should not be relying on British taxpayers for bailouts, his bank refused to go to the government for help. Instead Barclays went to the Middle East and borrowed £5bn from investors. Had investors not come forward, then Barclays would have relied on a bailout like RBS and Lloyds Bank.

Questioned by a committee of MP's, Bob Diamond displayed arrogance and offered little in the way of answers. While we are forced to pay for the bankers casino gambling through spending cuts, Diamond thinks it is time to put the crisis behind us. Maybe he should tell that to all the families who will continue to lose jobs because of the banking crisis. He expects us just to move on and forget BANKS caused this crisis! While it is back to business for the banks - rewarding themselves with MASSIVE bonuses for failure, it will be years of lower living standards for millions of people as the government pays back the money (with higher interest rates!) it borrowed to bailout the banks. So much for the coalition government getting tough on bankers, little surprise as the multi-millionaire ministers look after their own!

Banks are expected to pay out £7bn in bonuses over the coming months and Barclays boss is expected to earn £8.5m. If the banks were all nationalised properly, then the surplus that banks create could be used for the benefit of all. We need a planned economy that ends the grossly outrageous greed of business and run society in a different way. Capitalism is failing, we are propping up this dying system at the cost of declining working conditions, increased poverty and attacks on public sector services.

Only when the consciousness of the working class is raised to see how the ruling class are trying to keep us down, will we be able to rise up and change society for the better.

*PIC: This Is London

If Labour Were In Power Today

Just suppose we had a general election now and Labour regained power, would Ed Milliband's all new Labour Party be any different from 'New Labour'? The latest YouGov opinion poll put Labour on 42%, Tories on 39% and LibDem's slumped down to 9% as the ConDem cuts became reality for more and more people.

Labour have been able to gain support at the LibDem's expense, enjoying a free ride on the back of Nick Clegg's dwindling popularity over tuition fees. Could Ed Milliband's new New Labour be a winning formula? Have Labour suddenly become the worker's party once again? Not on your nelly!

On numerous occasions Ed Milliband has distanced himself from workers and student struggles, failing to turn up for protests against cuts and condemning union leader's for daring to suggest coordinated strike action against the £81b coalition cuts. Milliband and Labour are no more friends of the working class now than Brown and Blair were. Labour would sooner suck up to the markets and fat cat business leaders than stand up for the workers who vote for them election after election.

If Labour were in power today, they would still be slashing public services and would still leave anti-union laws untouched, ensuring the UK continued to have the worst anti-union laws in Europe. Secretly Labour are hoping the public will turn on the LibDems and Tories, resulting in a Labour government. But the Tories will be able to remind voters that Labour, instead of resisting cuts, actually encouraged cuts on a local level as Labour councils up and down the country wielded the axe on much needed public services.

Ed Milliband is neither red nor representative of real workers, sadly the Labour Party sold workers out back in the early 80's and eventually became more blue than Margaret Thatcher as it encouraged back-door privatisation of our health and education service. Most Labour voters will be hoping Ed Milliband can usher the party back into power, but don't be surprised if the Tories win the next election as Labour fail to offer a real socialist manifesto defending services and workers from the greed of business.

The three major parties are failing the working class with their general centre-right policies, yet more and more people are discovering there is a better way to run society. Socialist principles are beginning to become a viable alternative to the failed capitalist market economy, as highlighted by the Socialist Party. A planned economy based on workers democratic control, producing goods and services for the nation rather than for the fat cat bosses is possible.

Visit: www.socialistparty.org.uk

Students - Who Can YOU Vote For?

Students are angry and this was clearly seen as 50,000 demonstrated in London this week in the largest protest against the coalitions planned cuts to public services. While the UK government continue their mantra about cutting the deficit, the same ConDem government is happy to burden university students with a lifetime of debt.

The Liberal Democrats have come under fire for breaking their pledge not to raise tuition fees, Nick Clegg doing the media rounds in a desperate attempt not to lose anymore in the opinion polls (currently 11%). Students feel particularly sold out by Lib Dems, they were meant to be the party students could feel safe with - after all it was the Lib Dems who opposed Labour's introduction of tuition fees. But students have found the Lib Dems have opted to clinch a piece of power and sacrifice students in the process.

There is no safe haven for students in the Liberal Democrats, so does this mean students should return to the Labour Party again? The answer is an emphatic NO! It was Labour who introduced tuition fees in the first place, creating the foundation for class divide of the haves and have not's. It was Labour who let students down again and again as it clung onto power. Pandering to the markets and  private investors was a deliberate privatisation of our education system. Voters can not trust Labour, who would have introduced MASSIVE public sector cuts had they gained a fourth term in office. Instead, your local Labour councillors can be found wielding mini Tory axes and cutting public services instead of standing up and opposing them in deed and not just word.

Maybe students could feel safe voting Conservative? For those of us who are old enough to remember the damaging policies of Thatcher in the 80's, we clearly see that the 'new' look Tory party is no different from the old. It's ideological polices seek to damn the poor and reward the rich, with students being made to pay for education as the Tories move to a more elitist university system.

At the next local election students could be forgiven for not wanting to vote when they look at the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour and see three parties who are hell bent on forcing students into long term debt through tuition fees and cuts in public spending on education. Yet there is a political party that clearly says "No" to education cuts and tuition fees, it is the Socialist Party that speak out with students up and down this country. In Coventry - while every Labour, Tory and Lib Dem councillor voted through a £4.5m cuts package, only the Socialist Party councillor, Dave Nellist, voted against the cuts. Many people are getting angry about the cuts and a new workers party is welcoming people as they join the growing Socialist Party. Union candidates, those in the community and Socialists are seeking to field as many candidates in the next election, offering student voters an alternative to the failed capitalist policies currently being forced on voters.

To find information about TUSC visit the official website HERE, read more about the campaign for a New Workers Party HERE.

Youth Fight For Jobs is a website that campaigns against tuition fees, and Socialist Students can be found up and down the country - click here to find the nearest meeting place for Socialist Students.

Workers Lose Out Yet Again

UK workers have either had a pay freeze, pay cut or a very small rise in recent years, as the official chart shows above. As employers complained of hard times, workers had to be grateful for a job - for many that meant taking a pay cut or freeze back in 2009. By August 2010 the average pay increase was just 2%, still over 50% down on August 2008. Notice how the big bank bonuses made a return earlier this year, a further insult to UK workers who are being told they have to pay for the bankers crisis of 2008.




Now look at the UK inflation figures (pictured above) from the same period, you would expect that if workers pay increases slower, then prices for goods would rise slower. Instead we see prices rising at a faster pace, resulting in those workers who were lucky enough to even get a 2% wage increase in 2010 actually losing out. The millions of public sector workers are even worse off, as rising consumer goods would mean they were about 3% poorer. Women fare even worse as the Office of National Statistics show that clothing and footwear has increased 6.4%, a record rise in August and September 2010. The UK rate was 3.1 per cent whereas the EU’s as a whole was 2.0 per cent, meaning that UK shoppers were paying even  more overall than our European neighbours.

The markets and business leaders will be happy with these figures because it keeps workers pay down, resulting in higher profits for the company. This has not been fed back into the labour market - unemployment figures for 2010 prove this. Instead business leaders are paying off any debt while rates are so low, buying back shares and reducing total dividend payouts and many companies now have a cash surplus thanks in part to rising inflation and lower wages.

The UK government announced that Capital Gains Tax would be reduced to 28%, the lowest in Western Europe and the lowest rates ever for UK business. Yet it is ordinary workers who lose out as the markets just look after their own and seek to keep the working class down. Wealth will continue to remain in the hands of the few, instead of being distributed for the needs of society. Only an alternative to this capitalist culture can really make it a fairer world. A Socialist alternative would result in fair wages and a re-distribution of wealth as a planned economy takes shape. For more reading, visit:  http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/

*Both charts are from the UK Office of National Statistics

The ConDem Boat Rocks

As the ConDem Comprehensive Spending Review looms, it seems that the coalition is beginning to rock as the waters become choppy. Lib Dem energy secretary Chris Huhne now indicates that the £83 billion spending cuts were not "lashed to the mast", according to an interview in the Daily Telegraph. As the Lib Dem support ebbs away, Huhne said the government may have to "tack about" to get to where it wants to if the economic winds change.

Indeed the economic wind has changed, and Ireland is a clear indication of this. As the ConDem coalition follow the same route of tough public spending cuts, it is becoming more clear that Britain will end up on the same disastrous course as Ireland. Pointing towards a double dip recession as thousands lose their jobs and taxes for ordinary people rise.

The ConDem boat is also being rocked by the growing 'Fight The Cuts' groups springing up and the Unions voice is starting to sound the bugle and alert members that the ConDem pirate ship is coming to rob the poor and line the pockets of the rich. For the rich, corporation taxes have been lowered to the lowest in the Western world, while VAT will rise to the highest in living memory - hurting the less well off the most.

Between now and Oct 20th spin doctors from the ConDem camp will be busy trying to minimize the devastating news of massive cuts between 25- 40%. Ramping up talk about the cuts being spread over several years and some cuts being scaled back in a bid to hang on to public support.

Yet a small, but growing army of ordinary people are climbing aboard boats in a bid to fend off the ConDem pirate boat that has come to rob them. The coalition is already weak and should enough people oppose the cuts (like they did with the Poll Tax that ended Thatcher's rule), then the ConDem boat can be sunk before it has has a chance to impose it's all out attack on the working class. Workers should not expect the Labour boat to come and rescue them, for too long this boat has been at the port of big business and failed to represent the working class.

Only a new mass workers party that truly represents the working masses can offer an alternative to the three main parties slash and burn policies, a party that runs the country for the people and not for the minority. In the next election we need to see real Socialists and  independents standing that will stand up for public services.

An Army Awakens

There is a war going on in Britain, and the working class are finally waking up in response to the all out ConDen attacks on public services and welfare cuts. I was one of the 7,000 crowd who marched in Birmingham as the Tory party conference got underway. The rain may have been coming down all morning but the mood from the demonstration was one of awakening - slowly those who serve the public or rely on public services are beginning to see how drastic the coalition cuts are going to be.

I was stood shoulder to shoulder with a group of women who had never been on a demo before, but now they were losing their jobs at Connextions in Birmingham - they took to the streets because these cuts were now affecting them. As we passed their place of work, the group stood in unity outside the building, chanting in unison. While Britain may be far behind Greece and France when it comes to demonstrating on the streets, slowly a consciousness is being aroused. The ConDem government has been firing shot after shot (or  cut after cut!) since it came into power, they are merely continuing the work of Labour but an army of people are starting to mobilise. People do not want to see the NHS destroyed through privatisation, nor do they want to see local services in their council outsourced or axed. Over the coming months Britain will see more demos and protests, but we need more than a march to save this country from slipping back into some type of Victorian era.

People are angry that not only did the banks take our money (£1.3 trillion) , they have continued to award themselves big bonuses as they profit from our bailout. People are angry that we are being forced to pay for their mistakes. Yet none of the three major parties have an alternative to cuts - Labour, Tory and Liberal councils are rushing to cut jobs and destroy lives. Eventually ordinary people will stand in elections as independents, anti-cuts or as Socialists in a bid to remove the politicians who have become deaf to the painful cries coming from the working class.

Nick Clegg Turns Tory

Nick Clegg grilled by voters
*pic by Andy Rain EPA

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was forced to say he was not a Tory after facing a tough grilling from voters on Mumsnet. As Liberal Democrat support continues to drop even further, voters have been angered as the party drops policies on Trident and tuition fees in favour of adopting Tory policies on cuts.

The millions of people who voted for the LibDems at the last election have been aghast at how Nick Clegg and other MP's have become puppies for the Tories. One Mumsnet user wrote, "Nick – when did you realise that you were actually a Tory? Was it before or after the election?" Clegg declared, "I am not a Tory." But the vast majority of people disagreed as the evidence proved otherwise.

YouGov currently have the LibDem support down to around 13%, plunging 10% since the May election. As Nick Clegg and Vince Cable taste power, they have clothed themselves in the Tory cloak. The Mumsnet online session could be summed up by this comment, "No question for you Mr Clegg just a feeling of great disappointment."

Sadly for LibDem supporters, they have been sold down the river - just the same as Labour voters were. The Tories will allow the LibDems to take the rap and become the fall guy. All three major parties intend to make the poor pay for the banker's crisis, but there is an alternative. The Socialist Party say "make the bankers pay!" It is a simple solution that protects public services and jobs, while making the culprits pay for the crisis.