LOCAL trade unions and anti-cuts campaigners in Bolton are calling on people to ensure they cast their vote in the local and European elections, due to be held next Thursday, May 22. Here in the North West many ordinary people are feeling the pinch in the face of austerity due to the growing cost of living crisis.

We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet people worried about keeping a roof over their head and thousands are turning to food banks to get by.

We know from history that in times of economic and political uncertainty, there will always be those who point to scapegoats for the problems that people face.

It is always easier to target people who are vulnerable in our society than it is to challenge those who are the most powerful. This is no substitute for opposing the cuts and government policies. That is why, as trade unionists and anti-cuts campaigners, we firmly believe in solidarity against the austerity agenda — not racism and scapegoating.

We know from the European election of 2009 what can happen if people don’t use their vote. With a low turnout, Nick Griffin, of the BNP, won a seat with just an eight per cent share of the vote.

There is also growing concern about UKIP and what it stands for. Its leaflets have claimed that more people from Bulgaria and Romania would come to live in Britain than actually live in those countries.

Nigel Farage, the leader, said last July that “there haven’t been any real cuts” and that the current coalition cuts to public spending go “nowhere deep enough”.

On the NHS, UKIP supports calls for charges for people who need to see their GP. Paul Nuttall, UKIP deputy leader and North West MEP, has gone on record as supporting privatisation in our NHS.

We firmly believe that ordinary working people need policies which offer an alternative to the current climate of cuts and austerity.

That includes action to tackle low pay and zero hours contracts. It includes scrapping policies such as the hated “bedroom tax”, which penalises many disabled people and those on low incomes. It also includes campaigning to defend the jobs and services that people rely on.

Here in Bolton and the North West, generations fought long and hard — from the Peterloo Massacre to the Chartists and the Suffragettes — to secure our democratic right to vote. We should not take the democratic process for granted.

Whilst we know full well there is disillusionment with the political process, we firmly believe that a better and fairer society is something worth fighting for. Remember to vote on Thursday.

Martin McMulkin (Secretary Bolton TUC) Bernadette Gallagher (Branch secretary Bolton Unison) Sean Warren (Convenor GMB) Julia Simpkins (Branch secretary Bolton NUT) Bernie Wright (Branch secretary Bolton Unite) Brian Northey (Chair Bolton & District Pensioners Association) Karen Reissmann (Save Bolton NHS Campaign) Linda Charnock (Bolton Against The Bedroom Tax Campaign) Tom Hanley (Save Bolton Libraries)