SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY.

WALES

North West West Midlands South West  Yorkshire & Humberside
North East East Midlands South East Eastern
Wales Scotland London REGIONS

Regional Secretary: Liz Screen

This region can be contacted on email: lizscreen@talktalk.net

For further information on meetings etc please contact the Regional Secretary at the email address above.  

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  PRESS RELEASE

 
 
Arthur Scargill will make his first visit to West Wales next week. He is in Wales to attend the Socialist Labour Party Wales Annual General Meeting and will take this opportunity to address a Public Meeting on the

 

 

The Evils of globalisation and the European union

 

 

Speaker; Arthur Scargill

 

At The Cambria

Marine Terrace

Aberystwyth

SY23 2AZ

 

Saturday 17th November 2007

11.30am – 1.30pm

 

 

PLAID LAFUR SOSIALAIDD CYMRU

 

CYRARFOD CYHOEDDUS

 

 

Drygion globaleiddi a’r gymuned Europeaidd

 

 

Siardwr: Arthur Scargill

 

Yn Y Cambria

Marine Terrace

Aberystwyth

SY23 2AZ

 

Bore Dydd Sadwrn Tachwedd 17eg 2007

11.30am – 1.30pm

 

 

 

SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY

 

 

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

The  all Wales AGM will be held on 17th November 2007

The Railway Club Rheidol Retail Park

 Aberystwyth

2 – 4pm

 

(If you are coming by public transport it is 5 minutes walk from the railway station. Turn right out of the station, right again and it’s behind the supermarket near the railway line.)

 

South Wales News

 

Members and supporters in South West Wales now hold regular meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. These are proving successful with interesting ideas and lots of enthusiasm.

 

One of the issues discussed at our meetings has been the proposed military academy at St. Athan. Members are also campaigning against the LNG  terminal and pipeline from Pembrokeshire across Wales.

We have supported the postal workers and the prison officers in their industrial disputes and have members active in the PCS union supporting civil servants. To find out more about these activities please come to the next meeting.

Luke is preparing a newsletter, so hopefully this will be available before too long.

 

We have been meeting in Carmarthen library but this venue is not available for a few months and so the next meeting will be in Swansea at:-

 

The Unitarian Church

High Street

Swansea

Tuesday 6th November

7.30pm

 

 

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THE SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY ARE STANDING CANDIDATES IN ALL REGIONAL LIST ELECTIONS IN WALES AND SC0TLAND AND IN LOCAL AUTHORITY ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND.

WE URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR OUR CANDIDATES AND SUPPORT THEIR CAMPAIGNS.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP PRACTICALLY WITH THE CAMPAIGN PLEASE CONTACT THE NATIONAL OFFICE.

DONATIONS TO THE PARTY FIGHTING FUND ARE PARTICULARLY WELCOME AT THIS TIME.

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ELECTION HEADLINES

1) YOUR SOCIALIST LABOUR CANDIDATES

2) WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ? - LABOUR CONDEMNED BY OWN WORDS.

3) GETTING THE  SLP MESSAGE ACCROSS AND VOTING TACTICALLY FOR SLP

4)LAUNCH OF MANIFESTO FOR WALES

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1) YOUR SOCIALIST LABOUR CANDIDATES FOR WALES ARE.

 

 SOUTH WALES EAST.

 

John Cox

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Sue Deare

Glenn Eynon

Cerian Screen

Joyce Giblin

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SOUTH WALES CENTRAL

Liz Screen

 

 

 

Harry Parfitt

Ina Marsden

Rob Hawkins

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SOUTH WALES WEST

Jacob Bowen.

 

Martha Page-Harries

Miriam Scale

Howard Rees

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Mid and West Wales

Alun Davies

Luke Hume

Trish Bowen

Maggie Davies

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NORTH WALES.

Bob English

 

 

Dave Roberts

Judith Sambrook

Paul Liversuch

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2) LABOUR CONDEMNED BY OWN WORDS

 

Whatever happened to the ‘River of Red’ that was to have been forged between England and Wales?

 

Many claims are being made about Labour’s achievements in Wales – here are just a few.

 

Rhodri Morgan: ”the NHS needs to meet the ministers’ vision of being ‘world class’ by 2013.

 

Why then are more and more people opting to pay for private treatment they can ill afford? The National Health Service in Wales is a shambles. Across Wales Healthcare Trusts are disappearing in a spiral of debt which amounts to £100million.  Swansea NHS Trust is threatening the closure of one hospital and closing wards at others in a bid to save £12million. Gwent has announced ‘efficiency’ plans at 21 hospitals to claw back £12million. Hospitals all over Wales are threatened, as District General Hospitals are downgraded and acute services transferred to miles away. In a desperate bid to save money, groups of patients are being set against each other in the postcode lottery over the availability of certain drugs. Despite the reduction in the training of district nurses, patients are being discharged much sooner than previously.

 

Rhodri Morgan: ”no hospitals will be built in Wales with PFI”

 

Private Finance Initiative, the well known scam which allows private companies to make vast profits by bleeding our public services dry, is alive and well in Wales. Last year 40 PFI projects were sanctioned – a number of them in the NHS. The company involved in the flagship hospital at Neath Port Talbot has projects as diverse as schools, water contracts, defence contracts, prisons and an immigration detention centre. Do we really want these people holding our Health Service to ransom?

The National Health Service is not a charity. It is a service for which we pay our taxes.

 

Rhodri Morgan: “Wales is nearing full employment”

 

Well, there are jobs and jobs. Wales is still a low wage economy and vast numbers of people are in low-paid part time work. The average wage in Wales is less than four-fifths of the UK average wage. Low pay is a major cause of poverty in working life and in old age. Many people have to take more than one job in order to earn enough money to keep their families. Since New Labour took office in 1997, industrial production in Wales has fallen by 10% with a loss of 28,000 manufacturing jobs.

 

Rhodri Morgan: “ We aim to eradicate child poverty by 2020”

This is 21st century Britain – not some remote part of a developing country. We live in the 4th richest economy in the world and yet appear to have no idea of the causes of child poverty. Decent housing, an efficient health service and equality in the education system would enable parents to give their children a proper start in life – this would lift them out of poverty.

 

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3) Getting the message across and voting SLP.

 

Here are two things you might do to help the Socialist Labour Party campaign:

1)       Write, email or phone as many people as possible suggesting that they view our website and suggesting, in turn, that they do the same.  Point out that we are not getting the same publicity as the major parties and that we need this grass-roots circulation to get our message across.

2)        Write a letter to the press supporting the idea of voting for the Socialist Labour Party list on the 2nd ballot, using any or all of the arguments I have provided on the previous page (adding a few more of your own if possible). The key point to put across is that regional list elections do not affect the number of Labour AMs elected – the 2nd ballot only decides the relative strengths of the non-Labour parties. By electing Socialist Labour Party candidates you will help to reduce the influence of the Tories in the National Assembly.  The boxed illustration gives the figures for the SOUTH WALES (EAST) region.

 

WHY VOTING LABOUR ON THE 2nd BALLOT ALLOWS THE TORIES TO WIN

(NOTE. These figures are for the South Wales (East) region. Similar arguments apply to three of the other four. The only region where Labour, in theory, might win a regional place in Mid & West Wales – everywhere else a 2nd ballot vote for Labour is wasted.)

The 8 constituencies of the South Wales (East) region are supplemented by 4 list places.

In 2003, Labour won 7 of the 8 constituencies and would have needed over 66% of the 2nd ballot votes to win a regional place (8/12). As it only won a 43% share, all its 76,000 votes in the 2nd ballot (the regional list vote) were wasted.

If Labour repeats its 43% share of the regional vote in May 2007, it will be entitled to 5 of the 12 places [5/12=42%]. If it lost 3 constituencies (only winning 4), it will become entitled to one regional place. But how likely is it that Labour will lose 3 constituencies?

Trish Law, for sure, could win Blaenau Gwent and Ron Davies, perhaps, may just win Caerphilly - but it would require a swing to the Tories of over 8% to lose Newport West (the most marginal constituency for Labour). That seems highly unlikely.

However, just suppose there was a swing of 8% away from Labour. If that did happen it is inevitable that Labour’s regional vote would fall below 43% - possibly not as far as 35% (an 8% drop) but certainly well below 40%. If that were to happen, Labour would only be entitled to 4 AMs in our region and would not win a regional place unless it had also lost Newport East (the next most marginal seat).

No one seriously expects an electoral catastrophe of this magnitude (with Labour only retaining Methyr, Islwyn and Torfaen). This arithmetic and logic is clear - irrespective of the exact swing, Labour will not win any regional places in May. This means that every 2nd ballot vote for Labour in May will be (1) wasted (2) help 2 Tories get elected.

Our alternative, to vote for the SLP list, would help defeat both Tories and put paid to all possibility of an anti-Labour coalition government. Unless the Labour Party itself contemplates a coalition with the Tories, it should view our intervention as a lifeline and advise all Labour supporters to vote SLP (in the 2nd ballot) to defeat the Tories.

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4) LAUNCH OF MANIFESTO FOR WALES

PRESS RELEASE
SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
WALES
 
 
The Socialist Labour Party will launch their manifesto on
Monday 23rd April at 2.30pm
in the Butcher's Arms, Llandaff, Cardiff.
 
 
Lead candiates John Cox and Liz Screen will be present to answer questions as well as other candidates and party members.
 
For further information contact:
Liz Screen on 07866 045 765 or at lizscreen@onetel.net
 

SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY

WALES

 

MANIFESTO

 

The Socialist Labour Party is a natural home for Socialists and for the millions throughout Britain who today feel disenfranchised or dispossessed, and whose lives are blighted by helplessness, hopelessness and despair.

The birth of the Socialist Labour Party produced howls of protest from across the political spectrum including both our traditional class enemies and those in the Labour Movement who claim to be supporters of Socialism. 

The protests came from anger and frustration which was and is an inevitable reaction of a defining moment in politics.  There is nothing more painful than the birth of a new idea and the Socialist Labour Party has been no exception to this rule.  However, our principles and policies are firmly rooted in the Socialist values of our forebears who fought to build a better world.  Our Party was founded by people who fought consistently to save jobs, protect industries and services from butchery, save communities threatened with everything from unemployment to racism to toxic waste and secure justice for all.

The policies of the Socialist Labour Party are outlined in this Manifesto.  I urge all those who agree with our policies to join our Party – and help build the only force capable of bringing about a fundamental change in our society.

 

ARTHUR SCARGILL

Leader

MANIFESTO – CONTENTS

 

Foreword – Arthur Scargill

3-4

National Health Service

4-5

Pensions

6-9

Education

9-12

Housing

12-13

Transport

14-15

Energy

15-17

Environment

17-19

Employment

19-22

Minimum Wage

22-23

Anti-Trade Union Laws

23-24

Public Ownership

25-27

Taxation

27-28

Military Expenditure

28-30

European Union

30-32

Equality for Women

32-34

Racism

34-35

Arts and Sport

35-36

Disabilities Discrimination

37

Youth

37-38

Children’s Rights

38-39

Justice for All

39-40

Constitution

40

Welsh Assembly

40-41

Peace and Prosperity

42-44

Socialism

44-45

 


 

FOREWORD BY ARTHUR SCARGILL

The Socialist Labour Party sets out in this Manifesto our policies for resolving the economic and social crisis facing Wales and the people who live here.  These policies are essential if we are to deal with the immediate problems, but we believe that in the longer term Socialist measures are needed to tackle the root cause of the crisis itself.We believe that unemployment, poverty, homelessness, racism, sexism, ageism and all the social evils surrounding us have been caused not just by years of Tory and New Labour government misrule, but by capitalism – a system that creates inequality and injustice.No wonder in today’s society that many young people cannot even imagine a secure or happy future, and become easy prey to the drug and crime cultures which stem from unemployment, the racist propaganda of the far Right, and the greed of international racketeers.

Socialist Labour supports people, young and old alike, who take direct action against world poverty, nuclear weapons and civil nuclear power, the arms trade, live animal exports, opencast mining and the motorway madness which is destroying our environment. We are committed not only to winning seats and campaigning for Socialist policies in Parliamentary and Municipal elections but to extra-Parliamentary action which is taken because politicians refuse to listen.

In Wales, New Labour, the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru not only support the capitalist system and the concept of the ‘free market’ but have implemented the economic strategy, and continue to pursue these.

Neither New Labour, the Tories, the Liberal Democrats or Plaid Cymru have policies that can repair the damage of the past 30 years, which is why Socialist Labour is the only political party that can offer an alternative which can provide hope for everyone living in Wales, battered by successive United Kingdom governments and the European Unio 

National Health Service

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to a National Health Service available to all at the time of need, on demand and free of all charges – including prescriptions, dental care and eye care.  We are committed to NHS workers who deserve wages and conditions that reflect the social importance of their jobs.

 

The loss of hospital beds and outright closure of hospitals must stop.  Under New Labour, NHS hospital waiting lists in real terms have increased, while private health care has continued to flourish on the back of NHS resources, as it did under the Tories. 

 

Our objectives involve the abolition of all forms of private medicine and health care;  an end to all contracting-out services;  strengthening primary care, not at the expense of secondary or specialist services but properly funded care based on community, family and individual needs;  increased training and recruitment of all NHS staff;  an end to Hospital Trusts and GP fund-holding;  re-opening all “mothballed” hospital wards and re-establishing district and cottage hospitals;  restricting nurses’ and doctors’ hours to the average working week without loss of pay;  and adequate provision of NHS nursing homes free of charge for those who need them.

 

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to taking into public ownership the pharmaceutical industry, so that the provision of essential drugs is not determined by profits to shareholders but by the needs of all patients.

 

Our concern is not only for communities but for the workplace, where many workers become ill, disabled or lose their lives through poor and dangerous conditions at work.

 

Socialist Labour believes that a safe, clean workplace is not a luxury but a basic right.  The scandal of deaths in the construction industry is one example of why we are committed to improving the rights of workplace safety representatives, with increased powers and staffing of the Health and Safety Executive, and no notice for workplace inspections.

 

We want to extend the list of occupational diseases and to see a no-fault compensation scheme established so that discrimination is eradicated.

The cost of restoring Wales’s battered NHS to the best health service in the world requires an immediate massive investment.  This could easily be done by cutting the defence budget by two-thirds, abandoning the planned Trident Nuclear Programme and abolishing private health care.

Pensions

Restore the ‘Link’ Now

In 1978, the government concluded an agreement with workers and pensioners which guaranteed pensioners a decent pension which would not lose its value.  In exchange for workers paying higher National Insurance contributions, pensioners were guaranteed that they would receive an annual increase in pensions equal to the average increase in wages or the Retail Price Index, whichever was the higher.

The Tory government of 1979-1997 blatantly betrayed pensioners and unilaterally abolished the ‘link’ between the annual wage increase/RPI – yet New Labour which came into office in 1997 has compounded this betrayal by refusing to restore the link, despite repeated promises to do so prior to the election in 1997.

Today in Wales there are millions of pensioners, many growing old in poverty, unable to buy sufficient food or heat for their homes.  Pensioners today are worse off in real terms than they were prior to 1997.

To add insult to injury, the Government and local authorities ‘steal’ the savings, assets and homes of pensioners who have to face long-term hospitalisation or who go into care. 

Our Party is committed to stopping this outrage; to take someone’s home, their savings and assets simply because they have to go into care is theft, and tramples on the rights of people who during their working lives have already paid for their own health and welfare care.

We want to see a properly funded contributory pension scheme based on contributions of employers and employees, which will guarantee all workers on retirement with a proper index-linked retirement pension.  Contributions to the national fund would be transferable to occupational pension funds (and vice-versa) with no loss of benefit.

The SLP opposes private pensions – a move by New Labour, the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru designed to further reduce government expenditure on pension provisions and compel workers to pay into private pension schemes or industry-based money-purchase pension schemes.

With private or money-purchase pension schemes, an individual’s pensions contributions are invested in shares, property and other assets designed – so the architects of this scheme tell us – to build up a fund which at the date of retirement can be converted into a regular pension payment. 

Occupational pensions were traditionally based on the principle of a final salary scheme.  In other words, workers on retirement would receive up to 66 per cent of their final salary plus their state pension for the rest of their lives. 

Even under the present arrangements a final salary scheme it is infinitely better than a private pension or money-purchase pension scheme – which is based on shares and on investment return over the lifetime of the pension scheme.

To add insult to injury, a private pension or money-purchase scheme will depend on what the annuity rates are at the time of retirement.  This is yet another scheme designed to remove government’s responsibility for providing decent pensions to men and women who during their lifetime have paid enough by way of national insurance contributions and tax to be entitled to a pension no less than the best occupational pension currently in existence.  It is also a policy which puts billions of pounds into the hands of private insurance companies.

Occupational pension fund monies are deferred pay. No employer or government should be able to take one penny out of an occupational pension fund.  Pension fund monies should be used for one purpose and one purpose only – to pay pensions to pensioners and beneficiaries.

The Socialist Labour Party condemns the new Pensions Act as a cynical attempt by the Government and employers to gain further control over occupational pension funds.  Our Party rejects all the recommendations and proposals which have already been thoroughly discredited.

The trustees of occupational pension schemes should be those who are members, either contributing members or beneficiaries (retired members) of the schemes.  Trustees should have control over investments which cannot be left to the incompetent (and, in some cases, corrupt) investment policy decisions taken by the so-called ‘professionals’. 

New Labour, the Tories, Liberal Democrats and the Plaid Cymru all support the Government and employers having control of occupational pension funds – including investment policy - and are committed to the introduction of private pension and money-purchase schemes.

New Labour, the Tories, Liberal Democrats and the Plaid Cymru all refuse to restore the ‘link’ for Britain’s 12 million pensioners.  If the ‘contractual’ agreement concluded in 1978 was restored, the pension of single pensioners would rise from a basic £87.30 to £121.90, whilst the pension for a couple would increase from a basic £139.60 to £195.30, an increase of 40%.  If this policy was implemented in full it would do no more than restore the level of pensions to the level paid in 1979.

Our Party is committed to restoring the ‘link’, a policy which would cost £10 billion; a sum equal to a two pence tax increase for the rich and a sum which could easily be met out of the billions which would be saved if we withdrew – as we should - from the European Union.

Education

We believe that all people have a basic right to free, high-quality education from infancy through to old age.  We want free creche, play group and nursery provision for all children, and full-time school-based nursery provision from the age of three.

Because of the stress caused by serious under-funding and wider social problems, teachers, including head teachers, are leaving their jobs and our schools in droves. 

School services and facilities are still being privatised.  The Government continues to destroy the comprehensive school system – a system which has been undermined for the past 25 years by Government through public spending cuts and ideological opposition.

School selection by so-called ‘ability’ must end.  The Socialist Labour Party is committed to retaining comprehensive education, and opposed to policies which provide a good education for those who can pay, a second-rate education for those who cannot - and a third-rate system for the vast majority of children.

Our education system must be funded according to need, which means radical changes in the way resources are distributed.  We are committed to abolishing all private and faith schools and colleges. The considerable resources they enjoy should be used for the benefit of entire communities.

All privatised education services and their assets must be public control.  Proper administration of nurseries, schools, colleges or universities is utterly incompatible with privatisation in any form, including competitive tendering.

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to the full restoration of trade union rights for all education workers, whose pay and conditions must be determined through proper negotiating structures.

 We believe that class sizes must be sharply reduced and more teachers employed, thus ensuring educational standards for our children that will benefit the nation as a whole.

 We are also committed to promoting full democratic participation by students as well as teachers and governors in decision-making structures.  School communities should be more involved in the appointment of head teachers, and accountability should be shared by teachers, parents, students and pupils.

 In order to meet the needs of all working class children, girls and boys, students from ethnic minorities and students with disabilities, the school curriculum must be relevant to them.  We want assessment methods that promote and encourage students’ further development, with learning methods based on co-operation, not competition.

In higher education, student grants must be restored and the student loan system – which has kept so many young people from education – must be abolished.  The Socialist Labour Party believes that grants in line with minimum wage levels should be available for all full-time students. 

Education should be available to us all at whatever age.  All adults should have the right to planned study leave during their working lives – and effective campaigning by the Labour movement to reduce the working week can turn such an opportunity into reality for millions. 

There have been positive moves in Scotland on education, particularly insofar as student grants are concerned.  However, even this type of measure is only palliative.  

What is needed in Wales is a system which provides free education at colleges and universities, the payment of all grants and an undertaking to pay students an income equal to the national minimum wage.

The cost of providing Wales with an education system capable of meeting the needs of children and young adults in the 21st Century requires billions per year in education expenditure. 

Housing

Affordable, adequate safe housing is a fundamental human right.  We say that homelessness and housing unfit for habitation are products of the capitalist system.  In our towns and cities, thousands of properties lie empty and unused – from derelict homes and flats to office blocks which have never been occupied. 

Yet thousands of families try to cope day after day with hostel accommodation, while still more individuals are completely without shelter of any sort.

The Socialist Labour Party believes it is the responsibility of government to provide and regulate housing on the basis of need.  The so-called ‘right to buy’ of council homes greatly reduced social housing stock and contributed to homelessness.

We want a full programme of social housing, homes built and renovated, employing building workers hired directly – using the capital receipts at present still held by local authorities from the sale of council housing.  Such a programme would provide not only homes but jobs for the multitude of building workers currently unemployed.

We know it is possible with the right policies to make available thousands of new or rehabilitated homes every year for five years, a policy which would eradicate homelessness in Wales for the first time.

In the short term, we propose measures that could immediately improve the lives and welfare of many people; stop the mass transfer of public housing stock to the private sector; reinstate housing benefits so that everyone can afford adequate housing; integrate housing association properties into council stock, and promote co-operatives and the ‘right to rent’ as opposed to pressure to buy.

We are committed to a ‘fair rents’ system so that it again becomes unlawful for any authority to charge above the levels set by the Government’s rent officer.  ALL tenants must not only have security of tenure but be able to help determine their environment, and legislation should ensure that all authorities maintain high standards of upkeep and repair.

The cost of providing thousands of new or rehabilitated homes per year is costly but could and should be paid for out of the billions profits declared in 2005 by the major banks.  We could eradicate homelessness by simply using 75 per cent of the annual profits of banks.

Transport

For social and economic reasons, the Socialist Labour Party believes that all transport systems and industries – on land, sea, rail, inland waterways and air – should be in public and municipal ownership, managed in a fully accountable way and complementing, not competing with, each other.  This means that all transport (public or freight) and transport networks (roads, rail, waterways) would operate on behalf of the Welsh people, our communities, our regions and the environment.

Even our class enemies agree that the sell-off of Britain’s rail network has been an unmitigated disaster.  The Socialist Labour Party wants to see the entire rail network taken back into public ownership and control.  At the same time we want to see Wales’s bus services taken into or back into municipal ownership. 

 An integrated transport system requires massive public investment, not private finance initiatives (PFI), nor a system of bonds which involves big business.  The raising of capital to develop our rail, bus, tram and motorway networks should be funded by Welsh and UK Government.

Experts now acknowledge the detrimental effects of the car and heavy duty lorries on our environment, our roads, our villages, our countryside.  Only Socialist policies for an integrated public transport system can tackle the problem.

Long distance road haulage should be replaced by rail, sea and/or waterway.  Regenerating our railways, bus and tram networks and our badly disused inland waterways – would save us all from the hideous juggernaut lorries that do so much environmental damage.

A Socialist policy means not only taking all the railways, buses and trams back into public ownership, but putting into place low fares or free travel which encourages still greater use, stimulating local economies while liberating people from the ghettos created by high-cost transport.

This means creating or restoring public transport networks to serve isolated areas and communities.  A sensible integrated transport policy must also involve the introduction of environmentally-friendly trams in all our cities and town

Encouraging the safe use of bicycles and the protection of pedestrians, especially in our towns and cities, would further help to reduce our dependence on cars.

Developing such a policy – ensuring that all our rail, bus, airline and waterways are in municipal and public ownership, with accountability at all levels – will require billions over the next 10 years, but would still leave Wales trailing behind the French and Dutch systems. 

Energy Policy

Wales has never had an integrated energy policy.  As a result, our economy has never been able to plan energy supply and, more important, plan the cost of such a policy.

The situation has become worse during the past 30 years, particularly as a result of the destruction of Wales’s deep mine coal industry.  Our indigenous energy resources are now so badly abused that we have to rely increasingly on coal imports, oil imports, opencast mining and gas for the generation of electricity, despite the fact that we warned that  gas supplies would exhaust as a result of using gas to generate electricity.

Economic commonsense plays no part in Wales’s energy programme.  Following the destruction of the coal industry, international gas and oil prices have rocketed and the price of oil and gas on the world market is at an all-time high. 

Without a sensible integrated energy policy – based on indigenous clean coal technology, Wales’s economy will face a major crisis sooner rather than later.

The price for deadly nuclear power is astronomic – at least 450% more expensive than indigenous Welsh deep mined coal, 400% more expensive than gas, and over 350% more expensive than oil.

Commonsense would see dangerous, unnecessary nuclear power phased out  as it has been in Denmark,  Sweden, Germany and other countries throughout the world.

Wales needs a long term integrated energy policy based on a deep mine coal industry which is publicly owned and controlled but at the same time our country needs to develop all forms of renewable energy such as wind, wave, tide, geothermal and solar power.

An energy policy of this kind would result in the employment of 50,000 people. 

The Socialist Labour Party would reduce Wales’s dependence on imported oil and gas and would reopen at least 15 pits including those closed in 1992/93.  We would also develop 15 new mines, many of them in areas which have suffered vicious deprivation as a result of the pit closure programme. 

The Socialist Labour Party’s energy policy is not only cost effective but a policy which would provide cheaper energy for the consumer.  Our proposals would actually reduce energy costs, not increase them.

Such an integrated energy policy would include the cost of new technology for power stations and a move away from nuclear power to an indigenous deep mine, clean coal-based, integrated energy policy – a policy which would involve taking the mining industry back into public ownership, the opening or re-opening of 30 coal mines and developing renewable energies. 

Already Wales has announced the re-opening or opening of six pits demonstrating that the SLP’s policy for Welsh coalmining is correct.

 

Protecting the earth

The Socialist Labour Party’s environmental policies are closely connected to those on transport and energy.  We believe that only Socialist strategies can deal with pollution and toxic waste, ensure animal welfare, protect food chains as well as forests from destruction.

As a Party committed to extra-Parliamentary struggle, we applaud direct actions taken against motorway development, the live export of cattle, opencast mining, nuclear power and nuclear weapons bases.  We are proud that Socialist Labour members are involved in these campaigns, and believe that their actions set an example for us all. 

 The commercial irradiation of many types of food – without our knowledge, let alone our consent – means that a number of foods now last weeks rather than days, but at what cost?  What effect does irradiation have on the human body, and how long before we all have to pay the price of the fast-food, get-rich- quick system which now operates in Britain?

The development of genetically modified crops is highly dangerous, and is something against which our Party campaigns. Those who try to ‘play God’ with our food, environment and the earth itself threaten disaster for future generations; they should be actively opposed in their manipulation of our eco-systems. 

We want to protect the countryside and all creatures that live in it.  We are completely opposed to all blood sports, and condemn those who advocate the killing of innocent animals and birds in the name of sport.  Oscar Wilde was right when he described fox hunting as the ‘unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable’.  We go further, and say that those who advocate hunting and killing for pleasure are the unacceptable pursuing for self gratification the defenceless and the innocent.

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to developing an environment in which living things are safe.  There was no point in holding world summits in Rio and Kyoto which lay down targets for reducing and eliminating pollution and then allowing countries like the USA – the worst polluter in the world - to blatantly breach international guidelines set `for the elimination of pollution.

We can transform the environment. We can eliminate acid rain by introducing gas de-sulphurisation units into our power stations.  We can eliminate the ‘greenhouse effect’ if power stations used fluidised bed combustion, together with a combined heat and power system and carbon capture. This would not only combat pollution but more than double the energy efficiency of coal-fired power stations.

Our Party is committed to dealing with toxic waste, which should not be burned in incinerators.  Pollution from chemical and other plants must be declared illegal throughout Wales.

 

Employment

Full employment should be an essential aim.  The human and financial costs of unemployment are devastating, as people in Wales know too well.  A study by the Rowntree Foundation revealed the facts hidden behind the  fabricated ‘statistics’.

The unemployment figure trumpeted by the Government is a lie.  The figure is based only on those who are allowed to claim benefit.  Unemployment statistics do not include the thousands who are in part-time work, or on short-term contracts trying their best to cope with low pay, poor conditions and total insecurity about the future.

Evidence of the real level of unemployment can be seen by reference to the number of households which have no wage earners. For example, in 1980, 5 per cent of Wales’s households contained no wage earners – a figure which had risen dramatically to 20 per cent

The present policies actually create unemployment, deliberately butchering industries and services, destroying not only individual lives and families but devastating entire communities, leading directly to the social misery and unrest around us today.

At the same time, official policies have backed employers who continue to pay miserable, almost slave wages, and ruthlessly exploit their employees. 

The massive privatisation programme has led to obscene salary increases, bonus payments and ‘golden hand-shakes’ for top executives and company directors – while anti-union laws have been brought in to stop workers from effectively protecting jobs, industries, pay and conditions.

Meanwhile, our manufacturing industries have been butchered.  Once Wales had over 80 per cent of its economy based on manufacturing, with vibrant coal, steel, heavy and light engineering industries, farming and fishing, supporting a strong economic structure.

Today, less than 20 per cent of our economy is based in manufacturing.  We have developed an inverted pyramid with a top-heavy service and financial structure, supported on a fragile 20 per cent manufacturing base – an economic system which is not sustainable.

Rebuilding and restoring our economy can only be done by regenerating our deep mine coal industry, re-developing our battered steel industry and ending all coal and steel imports into Britain. 

We have to rebuild – again, from the perspective of social need - our engineering industries and support our farming and fishing industries.

Unemployment – even under this unjust capitalist system – could be wiped out virtually overnight.  It requires just three basic measures:

·        A four-day working week;

·        A ban on all non-essential overtime;

·        Retirement on a voluntary basis with full pay at age 55.

These steps would create jobs for all who are able to work, but they must be real jobs – whether full-time or part-time (for those who cannot work full-time).  They must be permanent jobs (no more short-terms contracts) and they must be jobs paying a decent wage.

The introduction of a four-day working week, a ban on all non-essential overtime and voluntary retirement on full pay at age 55 would actually save money.  The vast majority of this cost could be met out of the billions currently paid out in unemployment and related benefits and by National Insurance contributions which would flow from the increased number of people in work.

Money lost through unemployment – lost through lack of purchasing power and income tax revenue - costs taxpayers billions a year.  Our employment policies would not only mean jobs for unemployed workers but a better deal all round for Wales’s taxpayers.

National Minimum Wage

One of the most terrible indictments of this society is the ever-growing gulf between poor and rich.  Workers, particularly youngsters and pensioners, are ruthlessly exploited in Wales’s so-called service industries, and child labour is back with a vengeance.

The gap between rich and poor is widening not only in Wales but internationally.  The richest 20% of the world’s population receive each year 86% of the world’s wealth - whilst the poorest 20% of the world’s population exist on just 1 per cent of the world’s annual wealth.

In Wales thousands live on or below the poverty level, whilst thousands of  pensioners have seen their pension decrease in value by over 40% since 1979 - a scandal of monumental proportion.  It is in fact theft on a massive scale.

Studies show that some of our lowest paid workers have actually suffered pay cuts over the past ten years, whilst Wales’s top  company directors received average incomes of millions per year.  By any standard, this is obscene.

The Socialist Labour Party is totally committed to setting a proper statutory national minimum wage as the first essential step in putting things right.  We call for the introduction of a minimum wage of £10 per hour – a figure which would give workers on a 35-hour week £350, or an annual wage of £18,200.

 Women workers, including those who work part-time, must be guaranteed equal pay (along with equal conditions and promotion opportunities) and young workers must have the same pay and conditions as other workers.

 The introduction of a national minimum wage of £10 per hour could be easily met out of the massive profits of the oil companies and bank profits. The tax revenue paid by oil companies could be trebled without any trouble, particularly if these oil companies are taken into public ownership.

Repeal all anti-trade union laws

The anti-trade union laws retained and introduced by the New Labour government relate directly to unemployment and low pay.  The Socialist Labour Party is committed to scrapping these laws altogether.  They have been a weapon used to frighten workers and their unions, and are designed to stop them taking action to protect jobs, decent wages and good conditions – including pensions and sick pay.

We believe that trade unions, controlled democratically by their members, are vital for a free and just society.  Welsh workers are being denied the human rights set out in the United Nations Charter and in International Labour Organisation conventions.  Trade union activity has become in many cases a criminal offence.  Workers are denied the right to effectively defend themselves or other workers without facing prosecution, and at the beginning of the 21st century we still have no right to strike in Britain.

 Trade unions which seek to defend jobs, services or industries face massive penalties, including the freezing of union funds (sequestration) or even receivership – all designed to stop unions from functioning effectively on behalf of their members, or in support of members of other trade unions.

Tragically, many unions are failing to defend members against exploitation and abuse.  The Socialist Labour Party believes that trade unions should refuse to co-operate with unjust laws.  Defiance by the trade union movement as a whole would render government anti-trade union legislation totally ineffective – as it did over a quarter of a century ago in 1971 and again in 1984/85 during the great miners’ strike.

Had this type of defiance been sustained and supported over the past 36 years, it would not only have saved the jobs of millions, but would have protected vital industries throughout Wales from butchery.  In place of these laws we demand a programme of positive trade union rights, in line with the United Nations charter and ILO conventions.

Public ownership and control of industries and services

Our economy is in a mess that cannot be fixed by cosmetics.  The real problem goes deeper than the terrible damage done by the Tories between 1979 and 1997 and by New Labour between 1997 and 2007.

It is Capitalism that is responsible for the destruction of our industries and services, mass unemployment, homelessness and the tragic social problems which follow.  We can only begin to solve these problems by attacking their root cause, and that means the eradication of capitalism itself.

The privatising of key industries and services, telecommunications, gas, water, electricity, coal, railways and health and welfare care has devastated our economy, which has been in poor shape for over 25 years.

New Labour’s talk of a ‘share-owning’ or ‘stake-holding’ society is rubbish.  The entire basis on which our economy operates is not only corrupt but fundamentally incapable of meeting the needs of the Welsh people.

The fact is that nearly half (48%) of privately-held wealth is in the hands of just 10% of the population.  That contrasts sharply with the 8 per cent of wealth held by 50% of the population.  The myth of a share-owning democracy has long since been exposed – a recent report revealed that 87.9 per cent of company shares were owned by only 4% of the adult population!

The sell-off of key industries and services has been a major factor in Wales’s economic decline.  We see what privatisation has done to our rail, steel, coal, electricity and gas industries.

Privatisation means not only lack of investment, it means low pay, poor conditions, falling of safety standards, the destruction of jobs – and all that, in turn, means higher unemployment and further economic stagnation.

Energy, water, public transport, telecommunications are all vital to any society’s welfare.  Like health care they are services on which we all depend.  They belong by rights to us all and they must be returned to public ownership.  This time, however, they must be properly managed, so that our industries and services are controlled BY the people FOR the people.

The Socialist Labour Party is firmly committed to taking all the industries and services privatised in the past 26 years back into public ownership.  At the same time we want to see Wales’s banks, which recorded billions in profits, the major oil companies, insurance companies and other industries and services all taken into public ownership.

With public control and proper management operating for the common good, public and municipal ownership can always out-perform private enterprise.

Nearly 90 per cent of the Welsh people support the policy of taking back the entire rail system into public ownership and the taking back into municipal ownership buses which, together with rail, should be at the heart of an integrated transport system.  Experience has shown that privatisation results in chaos and disaster.  The solution is a commitment to public and municipal ownership where industries and services are owned and controlled by the people as a whole.

Taxation

Since 1997, the Welsh taxpayer has paid substantially more – not less – in taxes.  In fact, the average Welsh family is worse off now than it was in 1997 and considerably worse off than it was 28 years ago. 

Taxes have actually risen since New Labour was elected in 1997.  Mortgage tax relief for house buyers has been abolished and the tax burden has been moved from direct income tax on to indirect value added tax (VAT). 

This iniquitous tax, increased under New Labour, was introduced as part of the price Britain has to pay for being a member of the European Union.

A tax system cannot be fair when a multi-millionaire or someone receiving in excess of £500,000 per year pays exactly the same tax (VAT) for goods or services as someone who is unemployed or a pensioner struggling on less than £100 per week.  The Socialist Labour Party demands that new rates of income tax should be introduced, thus ensuring that those who earn most pay most.  We would introduce the following income tax bands –

1.         income under £15,000                                             no tax payable

2.         income between £15,000 - £25,000                      20 per cent tax

3.         income between £25,000 - £40,000                      30 per cent tax

4.         income between £40,000 - £50,000                      40 per cent tax

5.         income between £50,000 - £100,000                    50 per cent tax

6.         income between £100,000 - £200,000                  60 per cent tax

7.         income over £200,000                                             70 per cent tax

 

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to the introduction of a completely new tax system – one which would abolish the iniquitous VAT altogether, and transfer tax liability from indirect to direct taxation.

Our Party would increase corporation and capital gains tax by 100%.  These measures together with a graduated income tax system would wipe out the European Union’s VAT tax, as well as ensuring that the ‘fat cats’ and all those on very high incomes would have to pay income tax directly in accordance with the income they receive:  a fair policy based on Socialist principles.  This policy would provide Wales’s taxpayers with a fair and sensible tax system and would also pay - at least in part - for the policies advocated in this Manifesto.

 

Military spending

Arms expenditure should be cut by two-thirds and the nuclear missile programme scrapped alongside every other aspect of nuclear power.

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to turning “swords into ploughshares”.  We want to free the billions of pounds currently spent on weapons of death and destruction into rebuilding our National Health Service, education system, housing and guaranteed pensions in line with the agreement concluded in 1978.

Our Party condemned the bombing of Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and the unlawful invasion and occupation of Iraq which to date has cost the lives of over three-quarters of a million people.  The Socialist Labour Party would bring all the troops home from Iraq now. 

We are an internationalist party which believes that countries have a sovereign right to determine their own destiny.  They should not be dictated to by countries which are militarily stronger and who seek to impose their ideology on weaker nations, particularly when they seek to gain control over oil reserves such as those reserves in Iraq. 

The unlawful invasion of Iraq contrasts sharply with the abject failure of the United Nations and the United States to deal with Israel, who continue to occupy Palestinian land and murder Palestinian men, women and children.  Israel should be outlawed as a pariah and the United Nations should demand Israel’s immediate withdrawal from all Palestinian occupied territories.

Our Party calls for an end to the United States’ sanctions against Cuba – which has been subjected to a blockade for over 40 years.