COVID hit Britain after 10 years of austerity decimated public services and increased inequality and poverty throughout the Country. Since 2010 we have seen major cuts to public services.
Fire stations have closed at a time when the risk to Londoners of high-rise fires was exposed by the tragedy of Grenfell.
The London Ambulance service has been decimated and ambulance stations closed.
Crime continues to blight the lives of Londoners. Successive Mayors have failed to develop and implement effective measures to combat gang violence and the exploitation of young people by organised criminals. The appalling rate of murders among London’s youth is an indictment of political impotence and a failure to provide the resources needed to protect our young people from harm.
The systemic failure by the police to protect women from domestic violence, sexual harassment, and assault and its ongoing failure to eliminate racism in its ranks requires immediate action by the Mayor and government.
The City of London remains the centre of global money laundering, tax evasion and avoidance.
London has the highest unemployment rate in Britain and has seen the largest number of jobs lost due to COVID. Retail, hospitality and London’s nightlife are among the worst affected; sectors which traditionally employ large numbers of women and young people who have been hit hardest by job losses.
The answer to austerity and unemployment, underemployment and zero hours contracts is organisation. The Communist Party supports workers fighting for secure jobs, decent pay and conditions. We urge all workers to join unions and fight for their rights at work.
London Communists demand a reversal of the cuts to local government, the NHS and our emergency services and for privatised services to be brought back in-house.
We support the arts, music venues and the leisure industry so Londoners can continue to enjoy a rich and varied cultural life, preserving jobs that are essential to the London economy.
Communists fight for all Londoners to be treated fairly at work, get paid enough to live on and have the protection of proper contracts of employment. We support the provision of universal, subsidised child-care and improved maternity rights.
Communists support the belated establishment of a Violence Reduction Unit in London and the treatment of violent crime as a public health problem. A permanent solution requires investment in youth services, top quality apprenticeships providing a route into well-paid, secure jobs and access to decent, affordable homes policing to protect working class communities.
Communists demand the closure of all tax havens under British jurisdiction, a full-scale investigation of the City, its associations with organised crime and the impact of its activities on the London, UK and international economies.