Election News

LOCAL ELECTION 2018: SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN’S KEVIN PARKIN SAYS SOUTHWARK’S PROBLEMS CAN’T BE SOLVED BY CAPITALISM

Kevin Parkin is standing as the Socialist Party of Great Britain’s only Southwark candidate, in Borough and Bankside ward.

Mr Parkin is described by his party as “Boroughnian”, having been born and brought up in the area.

The candidate stood for the party in Southwark in the 2016 Greater London Assembly elections, and for parliament in Oxford East in the 2015 General Election.

He told the News: “I am standing to make the point that the problems wage and salary workers face, for example, housing here in Southwark, arise out of the capitalist system and cannot be solved within it.

“The only way out is to establish a society based on common ownership, democratic control, production to satisfy people’s needs, and the principle “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs”, in a word, socialism.”

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/local-election-2018-socialist-party-of-great-britains-kevin-parkin-says-southwarks-problems-cant-be-solved-by-capitalism/

Hustings last week in Peckham, organised by the Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations, with speakers from Labour, LibDems, Greens and ourselves. About 40 people present. The main theme was housing, a major problem in Southwark due to demand for housing near the Thames with easy and quick access to central London driving up land prices, so making it profitable even for the council to encourage up-market housing projects proposed by developers. This has given rise to criticism of "social cleansing."

Our candidate, Kevin Parkin, said that we had nothing against tenants association -- he himself was vice-president of his local one -- any more than we were against trade unions; but they were only defensive organisations for workers under capitalism; the solution to problems workers faced could only be found within socialism; the housing problem, for instance, arose because under capitalism houses were built for profit.

 Last Thursday our candidate, Kevin Parkin, attended a hustings organised by the Bankside Residents Forum. He reports that it was an acrimonious meeting with the Labourites and LibDems playing the blame game about housing. He was able to make the point that in a capitalist society houses are built for profit not social use, hence the problems.

 On Monday morning this week there was another hustings, organised by the Southwark Pensioners Action Group. Our candidates always get a good reception at such meetings; quite a few leaflets handed out.

No report of hustings in Islington or Richmond. Leafleting has continued in both places. In fact whole of Barnes ward except for some mansions (and blocks of flats you can't get into) has now been leafleted. 400 of the 3000 ordered left over but branch members should be able to distribute more at the street stall in Barnes (Church Road) on Saturday from 12 noon to 2pm.

VOTE 

ISLINGTON JUNCTION:

Bill Martin

RICHMOND BARNES:
Adam Buick

SOUTHWARK BOROUGH AND BANKSIDE:
Kevin Parkin