Dear Editor,
We are six weeks away from deciding who will be the new leader of the Labour Party. This decision could have the most significant impact on the lives of Newtonians within a generation.
The Parliamentary Labour Party is peopled by middle class privileged ministers who have no experience of living as ordinary working people do. And therefore the plight of ordinary working people comes a distant second to the needs and wants of the ruling class, the rich and powerful who our Labour ministers are allied too.
There is one exception, Jeremy Corbyn. Across the decades, Jeremy has spoken out often against his own party in the face of policies which erode living standards and community services for ordinary working people. The other leadership candidates are ‘Blairites’. A Blairite believes in the workings of the free market as a way of generating wealth. The so called trickle-down effect, of the richest buying goods and services provided by the poorest, which in turn in supposed to make the poorest richer themselves.
For £3 you can go to Labour.org and join the Labour Party as an affiliate which will entitle you to a vote in the leadership contest. A vote for Jeremy Corbyn will ensure that at the next general election, there is the option of voting in a prime minister who has a track record in fighting for ordinary working people like you.
A vote for any of the other leadership candidates will see a Labour Party competing for Tory votes, by promising the same level of hardship and austerity faced by ordinary working people.
A vote for Jeremy Corbyn will mean: an end to austerity, massive investment in decent jobs for a decent wage, a return to building social housing offering affordable homes to all, a fully funded NHS and education system free at the point of use. A vote for Jeremy Corbyn will mean: an end to public money being used to bail out rich bankers, an end to corporate business exploiting workers, an end to child poverty and the appalling way the Tory government treat sick and disabled people.
As the cost of rent, food, gas and electricity escalate, the value of wages falls. Many Newtonians live unsure of how many hours they will work each week, or if next week they will have a job at all.
Paying for healthcare essentials such as prescription charges, dental treatment, or a pair of glasses often plunges a family into crisis, necessitating the use of foodbanks or high interest doorstep loan.
A vote for Jeremy Corbyn will reverse all of these social ills. It is the only chance we have within a generation to claim the country back for ordinary working people. Go to Labour.org your vote counts.
Warren Saunders
Newton Aycliffe