Vote Socialist Party Number 1

A Worker's Voice…

Jim Barbour is an executive member of the Fire Brigades Union, representing firefighters in Northern Ireland.

Jim led firefighters in the recent dispute over pay and against the run down and privatisation of the fire service.

If elected he will act with the same resolve to defend public services and uphold the jobs and conditions of the people who work in them.

Jim was a founder of the South Belfast Campaign Against Water Charges and is currently helping setting up anti water charges groups around the constituency.

Jim is married with one daughter and lives in the Four Winds area.

…on a firefighter's wage

The thing MLAs were quickest to agree on was their pay rises - their 'basic wage' is £41,321 plus more than that again in "allowances". They are completely out of touch with the problems of ordinary working people.

Jim Barbour will continue to live on a firefighter's wage and will donate the rest of his salary to socialist, trade union and community organisations.

Water Charges - We Won't Pay!

Despite their denials the local parties were about to introduce water charges before the Assembly was suspended. The Socialist Party has helped launch the "Water Charges - We Won't Pay!" campaign.

If elected Jim Barbour will:

Oppose water charges and the privatisation of water.
Help build a mass campaign of non payment if charges are introduced.
Press for proper investment in a publicly owned and democratically run water and sewage service


End Low Pay

While the major parties in the Assembly were administering low wages the Socialist Party was on the streets fighting poverty pay. Our "End Low Pay campaign" exposed hundreds of low paying employers and won significant wage rises for many.

If elected Jim Barbour will fight for:

an immediate increase in the minimum wage to £6 per hour
the abolition of the youth exemptions


No privatisation - Defend services

Our public services are being sold off to profiteers. Every Minister in the former Executive carried out privatisation.

Jim Barbour will fight to:

Stop the sell off of schools, hospitals and other services
Halt PFI and PPP
Bring back into public ownership industry, land and services that have been sold
Provide adequate funding for Health, Education and Housing
Provide massive investment in public transport, so that all areas have cheap, regular and reliable services
Run public services democratically through governing bodies that are elected, not appointed.

Nursery and childcare

37% of children here grow up in poverty. 67% of lone parents live in poverty.

Jim Barbour will campaign for:

Free crèche and nursery facilities for all working parents.
Equal pay and genuine equality of opportunity for women.

The money is there!

The excuse for cuts in services, low wages and privatisation is that the money is not there.

The money is there!

When it came to waging an unjustified war against Iraq Tony Blair had money to burn!

Jim Barbour will propose that the Assembly spends what is necessary to provide decent services and that we fight for an increase in the Westminster block grant to cover the cost.

Socialist Policies

When they were in power, the UUP, SDLP, DUP and Sinn Fein presided over redundancies, cut backs and closures, all carried out in the name of profit.

Jim Barbour will campaign for the public ownership of the major sectors of the economy so that the wealth they create can be used for all our benefit.

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