Hello, I have lived on the ladder all of my life and have experienced lots of the cuts to our public services first hand under both Tory and Labour austerity.

Full statement

We can beat this by coming together as a community and fighting for the funding and services we need which is something only TUSC stands for, we wont reverse austerity by carrying out more austerity as is either explicitly or implicity promised by every other party.

Every TUSC candidate is mandated to run on these minimum policy platforms:

1. Oppose all cuts and closures to council services, jobs, pay and conditions. Resist the privatisation of services or their transfer to social enterprises or ‘arms-length’ management organisations which are the first steps to their privatisation.

2. Reject council tax, rent and service charge increases for working-class people to make up for cuts in central funding.

3. Vote for councils to use their reserves and prudential borrowing powers to avoid making cuts in their 2026-2027 budgets and demand from the Labour government the additional funding needed to make up any future shortfall.

4. Refuse to co-operate with any commissioners or ‘envoys’ appointed by the government to attempt to impose cuts on local services.

5. Support only democratically debated local Climate Emergency plans that create new employment, build flood defences, reduce emissions and improve air quality and the local environment, while protecting the jobs, pay and living standards of all workers.

6. Fight for united working-class struggle against racism, sexism and all forms of oppression, including against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Back all workers’ struggles against government policies making ordinary people pay for the crisis.

I will of course work with local residents and allies to build this out.