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What Would Socialist Councillors Do? We do not think that a few councillors can change society. District councils are subject to financial controls over their budgets and their political rights are narrowly limited by central Government. But we do have the beginning of model for socialists in local government: Clay Cross, where the Labour councillors made a long and courageous stand to freeze rents, in the interests of their working class supporters. * Our councillors would seek to be responsible to the organisations of the working class. Local democracy is a fiction. Corruption abounds. Any genuine democratic set-up would require the elected representatives of the workers to be under the constant control of those who voted for them. It would require the permanent participation by workers in all the affairs and decisions of the cities. Elected officials would be recallable at any time. Labour and socialist councillors would be responsible to the community - associations, womens groups, trade unions and shop steward organisations which elected them. * No district council can replace the activity of people themselves in fighting for a workers solution to their problems, any more than Parliament can. But a . district council which really represented
the interests of working people would grant aid to women righting for their rights through ensuring equal employment possibilities, total freedom of abortion, provision of nursery and child care facilities and free availability of meeting places and discussion centres. It would extend aid to the unemployed by providing tree transport and other facilities, by organising an emergency program of public works, by special rates on big business. * The district council would strive to foster class solidarity, not racial divisions. It would ban the use of public halls to theracist and fascists, and the use of police against anti-racists as was seen at Kingston Halls last year, would be a thing of the past. * The district council would support every effort to defend the environment against the pollution and exploitation of the multinationals - it would foster public transport, the demands of Glasgow bus workers would be supported; no fare rises which only drive passengers off the buses, no closure of garages and no reduction of services. The urban car parking facilities, owned by private business and used for private profit would be taken over and their revenue used to subsidise the public transport system.
* Finally the district council would ensure proper housing for working people. After generations of housing programmes, our cities are still slums. We would ensure that evictions are banned. Direct labour departments would be expanded to end corruption and provide jobs. Well over half of our rent goes on debt repayments to the banks an immediate halt would be called to these blood payments, and the capital used to finance new housing.