I am standing as a candidate for the Socialist Labour Party in Handsworth Wood Ward on May 1st. Adrian Goldberg has placed my leaflet on his site “The Stirrer”. Thanks are due.
As last year the thrust is to counter the privatisation of public services. This has proved costly in the past with more benefit apparent to shareholders than service users. PFI schemes to build hospitals and schools repeatedly show large sums of money going to the firms involved, while those sponsoring the Academies are able to dictate the curriculum, decide on staffing and who goes on governing bodies. New Labour is indistinguishable from the Tories and the Lib-Dems, who in Birmingham have allowed the Conservatives to lead Birmingham City Council. Socialist Labour believes we need a new bus putting people before profit, not just a change of driver.

We draw attention to last year’s campaign against the loss of Birmingham’s City Hospital. In the debate voices from Sandwell have been loud and clear whereas there appears to have been nothing from Birmingham. Khalid Mahmood MP said he would come down on the side of his constituents, but a petition signed by several thousand of them showed clearly they were against the decision made by Secretary of State Alan Johnson. Although the result was supposed to have been announced publicly in January, a hasty back door result came out before Christmas. Many staff at City Hospital are unhappy, and it seems that ambulance drivers will be instructed to take residents of Handsworth Wood to Sandwell Hospital instead of City.