The Scottish Socialist Party’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election candidate, Collette Bradley, has accused the modern Labour Party of having lost its soul, and challenged the Labour candidate to come out of hiding and justify their dithering over Labour’s two-child benefit cap, winter fuel payments to pensioners, and savage cuts to sick and disabled people’s incomes.
Trade union activist and SSP candidate, Collette Bradley, said:
“This area of Scotland was one of the birthplaces of the Labour Party 130 years ago. But founding figures like Lanarkshire coal miner Keir Hardie must be spinning in his grave at the state of Labour under Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar.
“After people in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse joined millions of others in booting out the Tories last year, on the promise of ‘Change’ from Labour, they’ve instead been landed with yet more Tory rule; a new Thatcherite government dressed up as Labour.
“What on earth would the pioneers of the Labour Party think of the denial of child benefits to 90,000 kids in Scotland, depriving them of food and clothing?
“What would Keir Hardie think of Labour’s removal of winter fuel payments from nearly 1,000,000 pensioners in Scotland alone?
“And how would the trade unionists and socialists who set up Labour as the voice of workers over a century ago react to the planned robbery of £5billion from the benefits of sick and disabled people?”
“Due to the backlash from the general working class and the pressure brought on them by the likes of the Scottish Socialist Party’s campaigning, Labour now seems to be humming and hawing over whether to at least partially reverse some of these vicious cuts to kids and pensioners.
“Why is there even a debate within Labour on this matter? It really does show what Labour has become: the mouthpiece of the millionaires, and not of the working-class millions.
“I’d like to challenge Labour’s candidate Davy Russell on where he stands on these issues and whether he will publicly condemn Labour’s austerity. But the problem is, he never turns up to any debates, whether hustings organised by Scottish CND, No Cuts Lanarkshire, STV, or Radio Scotland.
“I’m proud to stand by the policies of the Scottish Socialist Party for universal child benefits that actually match the cost of child-rearing; for introduction of the best state pension in Europe, instead of it being the lowest, as it is now; winter fuel payments for all pensioners and others on rock-bottom incomes; sickness and disability benefits that allow people to live a full and dignified life; and taxation of the millionaires and big business to fund these measures to transform the lives of millions of working-class people.
“Will the Labour candidate agree with any of these socialist demands? I challenge him to answer”.
