The Scottish Socialist Party is standing a candidate in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, and will announce its candidate later this week, after completing the democratic selection process.
SSP Election Campaign Organiser, Richie Venton, today said:
“I’m proud to announce that the local and national SSP has enthusiastically agreed to put up a socialist candidate in this by-election, after the tragically untimely death of Christina McKelvie.
“After suffering 14 years of Tory attacks, working-class people feel utterly betrayed by Starmer and Sarwar’s Labour.
“We’ve spoken to hundreds of local people on the streets who are raging at Labour’s cuts to child benefits, pensioners’ Winter Fuel Payments, the incomes of sick and disabled people, workers’ jobs and wages, and planned privatisation of the NHS, while they can find billions for war.
“As Scotland’s socialist party since 1998, we feel duty bound to put up a principled socialist alternative to Labour’s savage attacks on working-class people, many of whom voted Labour all their life, only to be betrayed.
“There’s absolutely no excuse for Labour’s cuts to people’s incomes or public services. They should tax the rich and big business instead of attacking the poor.
“The Scottish Socialist Party will advocate a package of measures to use the wealth of the nation for its people, not for the profits and privileges of a pampered handful, including a 5% Wealth Tax on all millionaires. That alone would raise £260billion for jobs and public services in just one year, over 50 times as much as Labour has chosen to steal from sick and disabled peoples’ incomes.
“The people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse won’t have to choose between different brands of Toryism and austerity; they’ll have a genuine socialist alternative to vote for.”
