1:49pm Friday 5th December 2008
By Alex Lewis
A NEWLY-FORMED St Albans political group is planning a demonstration in the city centre to call on the Government to combat the economic slump with radical action.
About 15 people, many but not all members of the Socialist Workers' Party, attended the first meeting of the St Albans Chartists, the local group of the national organisation People Before Profit, which since its foundation a few months ago has won support from many well-known figures on the left of British politics, such as Tony Benn, Caroline Lucas and George Monbiot.
Neil Faulkner, the local group's convenor, told the Review: "We are faced with a rising tide of home repossessions and all the Government is doing is spending vast sums propping up financial institutions in the hope or maintaining the status quo."
He argues that as the Government now owns much of the banking system it should use its powers as a major shareholder to stop repossessions, or change the law to bring other banks and building societies into line.
The demonstration in front of the Alban Arena at 11am on Saturday, December 13, will also call for an immediate major government programme to build affordable housing, stimulating the economy as well as providing much-needed homes.
Mr Faulkner, 50, who lives in Leyland Avenue, St Albans, and has an academic backround in archaeology, says the St Albans Chartists will be holding more meetings and demonstrations early next year.
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