Lindsey German is Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition which she helped found after the events of 11th September 2001.
She describes herself as having been an active socialist for over 35 years and has a lifestanding commitment to women’s liberation and anti-racism. She was part of the original National Abortion campaign in 1975, as well as the fight for equal pay.
She has written several books on women, most recently Material Girls (2007), which argues that women are still a long way from liberation.
A founding member of Respect she stood as the party’s mayoral candidate in 2004, beating the Greens and the BNP and coming within 0.43% of a seat on the London Assembly. In 2008 she is also running for mayor and heading up Respect’s GLA list.
Ms German says the issues central to her campaign are:
1. Housing – An emergency council housing building programme
2. Transport – Decent and cheap public transport to encourage less car use
3. Education – Good local schools for every child in every borough
4. Health – No to health rationing and a campaign to stop hospital closures
5. Inequality – Tax the wealthy to close the gap between rich and poor
6. Environment – Stop big business putting profits before the planet
7. Olympics – Londoners should not have to subsidise the games
8. Work – The London living wage of £7.20 an hour must be enforced everywhere
9. War – Make Londoners safer by opposing the “war on terror”
10. Respect – Oppose all forms of discrimination
Commenting on her campaign German says “London contains some of the richest people in the world, but most Londoners see little of the wealth. London is rightly hailed as one of the most multicultural cities in the world, but there is little acknowledgement that many ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from poverty. Londoners also pay the most expensive fares for one of the worst transport systems in the world.”
