Socialist Party of Great Britain party candidate for Lambeth and Southwark’s GLA seat wants to stop London becoming a ‘city of glass’ despite not having any specific policies.
That Kevin Parkin is standing for one particular issue – the abolition of capitalism –will come as no surprise to anyone.
The party don’t have specific policies, specifying they are not a reformist group, but say capitalism is responsible for many existing problems and champion common ownership and democratic control as a replacement.
Regardless of policies, Brixton-born Mr Parkin has many thoughts on the city he believes is becoming ‘a city of glass’, a result of the excess of buildings constructed for the wealthy.
He compares the demolition of the Heygate estate and the imminent end to the Aylesbury estate in Walworth to social cleansing.
He said: “We need to focus on the conservation of social housing. It’s almost like social cleansing, the richer people move in because they are willing to pay higher rent.”
Living in social housing himself, Mr Parkin, who worked as a civil service administrator and trade union representative before retiring, is passionate about providing affordable homes, believing that the key is to stop people from exploiting houses for profit.
“On the street down from me there are houses for £4.5 million up. The people who own them don’t even live there while there are people struggling everywhere,” he said.
“It makes a mockery of the system.”
Mr Parkin’s anger is not limited to housing, when asked about police numbers being cut he stresses that David Cameron and Theresa May have police around them constantly yet few are seen around Southwark and Lambeth.
The shortage of police on streets is his primary concern rather than the lack of diversity in the MET.
“Efficient officers are the most important thing. It’s good for the police to reflect the nature of people around it but I’m unsure about giving people jobs because they’re in a particular part of society,” he said.
Mr Parkin, who ran as a MP candidate for Oxford East in 2015, believes the Conservatives have a lot to answer for, stating that Boris Johnson has left London transport in a mess with delays on the tube and problems on the roads, namely the Elephant and Castle junction.
He rejects Conservative led cuts and is keen to see all libraries, including Carnegie Library in Herne Hill, stay open saying they are an educational source.
Ultimately though, he says, problems will only be solved by people taking democratic action to end capitalism and establishing the socialist principle ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs’.
Featured image courtesy of the BBC via YouTube, with thanks
