PRESS STATEMENT 14 February 2010

Communist Party to contest Newcastle East in General Election

The Communist Party has chosen its Northern district secretary Martin Levy to fight the Newcastle East seat in the coming general election.

Mr Levy works at Northumbria University and is a well-known local trade unionist.  He contested the former Newcastle East & Wallsend constituency for the Communist Party in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 general elections, and was on the North East candidate list for the No2EU - Yes to Democracy campaign in the 2009 European Parliamentary election.

Speaking today, Mr Levy said “The spotlight is on the scandal of MPs’ allowances, but this is nothing compared to the massive fraud that is being perpetrated by the tiny minority of super-rich and their friends in big business, investment banks and private equity companies in Britain and around the world.

“It is their pursuit of superprofit that led to the credit crunch of 2008 and the economic crisis that has followed it.  Now working people are being expected to pay for the crisis with their jobs, pay, pensions and public services, although it is the crooks in high finance who are responsible and are getting away scot-free.

“The capitalist system has failed Britain. The Communist Party will be campaigning in the election for a different agenda, for a left wing programme of alternative policies, policies for the millions, not for the millionaires.”

These policies include:

•    Tax the rich and big business profits.
•    Substantially raise pensions, benefits and the minimum wage.
•    Stop subsidising the railways and the banks – take them all into public ownership.
•    Invest public money in public services and productive industry.
•    Cut household gas and electricity tariffs.
•    Take the energy sector into public ownership and invest in renewable non-nuclear resources.
•    Freeze supermarket prices.
•    Scrap nuclear weapons and switch military production to civilian use.
•    Withdraw British troops from Afghanistan immediately.

Contact details:

Martin Levy (candidate): t: 07799 040570; e: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Klemens Veth (agent): t: 07799 195105; e: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Issued on behalf of the Communist Party of Britain by Klemens Veth (agent), 41 Osborne Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1JS