The Socialist Party is setting up a local discussion group in the borough.
Our motivation is that workers here have no political voice. There is no strong focus for socialist work in Sutton.
There are, of course, many excellent campaign groups focusing on issues such as defending St Helier’s. There is also the Merton and Sutton TUC, and parties such as the National Health Action Party, which operate locally.
And there’s Sutton & Croydon TUSC (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). The Socialist Party actively participates in TUSC because by pooling resources, left parties, campaign groups, unions and individuals can more readily build a platform to electorally challenge the mainstream, pro capitalist parties.
But the borough itself needs a political party that consistently stands with workers and young people; that's fight against the domination of big business and fights for democratic socialism.
And, not least, we must begin to challenge the decrepit, "Do It Yourself" Sutton Council!
The posturing LibDem council pretends to be “progressive” and “green", but it is nothing of the sort. Under the LibDems, the fate of the people of Sutton is left to the tender mercies of developers and big business. They are indistinguishable from the Tories.
But what about the local Labour Party. Isn’t that the voice of Sutton's workers?
Despite the “Corbyn surge”, which we wholeheartedly welcome, we regret to say that Sutton Labour seems to be, at least for the time being, a pro-corporate Blairist left-over. Its manifesto (available on its website) is a model of meaningless management-speak. Unsurprisingly, Sutton has not a single Labour councillor!
Initially we are setting up this online presence to provide a commentary on Sutton politics and what we, or perhaps TUSC, could do if elected.
We will soon be selling the party newspaper - The Socialist - most weeks outside Sutton station.
We also plan to organise monthly discussion groups - which will be both educational and practical.
We will work in a friendly and co-operative way with everyone in Sutton - individuals, groups and parties - who believe in challenging austerity politics and big business domination of society.
The Socialist Party has several thousand members across England and Wales. We are part of an international socialist organisation with members in 60 countries. So we learn the lessons of struggles in Greece and throughout Europe, get reports on strikes across Latin America, Africa and Asia, and are encouraged by our electoral successes in Ireland and Seattle (USA).
At present, we are a small force in Sutton but we do have a significant role across London.
Find out more and join the force for Socialist Change.
Contact us at - SocialistPartySutton@gmail.com
