Socialist Party statement

Brian Gardner is the candidate for the Socialist Party. We are standing to argue the case that Capitalism is past its sell-by date.

The world can now easily produce wealth sufficient to adequately house, feed, care for and educate the global population. Instead we see hunger, disease and homelessness around the world despite the concerns of governments, charities and popstars.

Closer to home, in a "developed" nation like the UK, we see child poverty and an increasing gulf between rich and poor. Rates of depression and anxiety are becoming epidemic.

Capitalism is failing: it now acts as a barrier, preventing production being geared to human need. Rather than keep trying to tinker with this system we should start looking beyond it to an alternative: a wageless, moneyless, classless world community based on production for human need, not profit.

This social change can only come about once the majority understand it and want it. It won't come about by following leaders or voting for someone else to do it. The face of our candidate is therefore a complete irrelevance. That's why we have no photo.

The other candidates contesting this election (whether openly pro-capitalist or avowedly socialist) are asking you to believe that they can run this society a little bit better. We’d argue that history shows that the money system actually ends up running them. Their pre-election promises usually amount to nothing.

So don’t vote for them - it only encourages the idea that capitalism can be made better. A vote for the Socialist Party in contrast, is a statement that you don’t want to live this way and that you think another world is possible.

If you have confidence that humans can live and work co-operatively without the pressure of the wages system, or the rationing system of money, then visit www.worldsocialism.org - and vote for the Socialist Party.