WeeklyWorker

31.08.1995

Vote Communist on September 14

No more cuts, no more closures. Join us in fighting back

LAST SATURDAY the Communist Party of Great Britain launched its campaign in the Lochee West by-election in Dundee. Since the unitary authority elections in April the record of all the parties in Dundee has been clear.

The Communist Party has exposed the private plans to decimate the health service in Dundee. Last May at a public meeting CP members forced the Trust to admit to its plans to close Kings Cross and the Limb Fitting Centre, causing a public outcry which has resulted in the formation of the Dundee Support Group Against Hospital Cuts and Closures.

The Communist Party has continued, and gained support for, its consistent, rigorous campaign. But the council hatchet-men themselves, from the Labour Party and the Scottish Nationalist Party, did not join it, of course.

In fact they have consistently ignored the demands of local people to stop the cuts and closures.

The proposed closure of the Dundee Royal Infirmary alone will mean the loss of at least 300 jobs and 59 beds. It has been condemned by healthworkers, local people and top surgeons alike. Yet the Labour Party has not uttered a word against the closures.

John McAllion, Labour’s Scottish health spokesperson, seems content to chat to the trust in private while it threatens our health and jobs.

But we need your help. The anger against hospital closures is obvious. But to stop the plans we need to mount a massive campaign involving healthworkers and all workers in Dundee who rely on the health service.

The Communist Party demands:

That is why we are calling on workers in Lochee not only to vote Communist, but to join us in fighting back.

The Communist candidate

DOMINIC HANDLEY stood in Lochee West for the Communist Party in the April elections. We found that many working class voters were angry with the attacks on them and were looking for a way to hit back.

Dominic knows all about this. He has experienced it on the factory floor and as an unemployed worker. Recently Dominic worked in local hospitals and has been very active in the campaign against hospital cuts and closures.

He says:

“People do not trust Blair’s ‘new’ Labour or the tired, old variety that runs the city of Dundee. Voting Labour is no alternative. They will impose cuts, redundancies and closures - just like the Tories.

“People tell us they support the things we stand for, although they still vote for the traditional, capitalist parties because it is more ‘realistic’. But we know what Labour and the SNP will do to the working class - we’ve suffered it already. How ‘realistic’ is it to keep hoping that they will change?

“We need a party that stands for a different system; that puts people before profit; that isn’t afraid to stand for socialism and to fight for the working class. That party is the Communist Party.”

Why vote Communist?

A vote for the CPGB is a vote for real change. It is the only vote which is not wasted. The anger and discontent that all workers feel can be given a positive voice in these elections. Only by organising can we stop the attacks being made by Labour and the SNP in Tayside.

Both are promising nothing except more cutbacks and more attacks on workers. We should not give our vote to anybody who promises only to reduce our living standards and strangle our voice.

In power they have both proved that they spend their time making sure they stay there and are only concerned with their council perks and privileges. They will not lead any fightback and are actually committed to making cuts, making workers pay, so Dundee bosses and trust managers can rake in the profits.

To end council corruption we demand:

Labour punishes people for rent arrears by making them homeless. Against council cuts we demand:

The SNP has cut millions of pounds from the education and social service budgets. We demand:

Lack of money is not the problem. The rich rake in the profits while services are cut back and workers are made to pay. We demand what all people need to live a decent life. If the other parties say they cannot afford it, they must go, not our services. Vote for what we need, not what Labour, Tory or SNP say they can afford!

Helen Ellis