Swansea is an extraordinary city.

On Saturday June 13th, at 12:30pm, thousands will gather at the Guild Hall to march to Castle Square. As with other towns and cities across the UK, this event will mark the inception of a new alliance for hope.

Swansea Peoples Assembly and its supporters are united their rejection of the vile spin which sees the poorest in our community forced to pay for the worldwide financial crisis; caused in turn caused by the greed and lack of regulation.

We are ashamed to be living in a society where food banks have become an acceptable component of our welfare system. Single parent families and the disabled are made to pay the Bedroom Tax, then forced to choose between food and heat with their remaining household budget - often less than £15 per week.

We are horrified that the new Minister of State for Disabled people is opposed to protecting benefits for cancer patients and disabled children.

We are deeply concerned by some plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the continuing lack of access to Legal Aid for ordinary people.

We oppose plans to further enable private companies to profit from the sale of parts of our NHS. Whereas health is a devolved matter, the momentum of privatisation cannot help but impact services across the UK. In excess of £1 in every £3 of government spending on services is now delivered through the private sector industry. Multinational companies such as SERCO and G4S have been awarded the right to establish effective monopolies while service quality, wages and bargaining agreements are torn-up.

We are incensed that the new government refuses to crack down on widespread tax avoidance by big businesses and, instead, continues to shrink the state and widen the distance between the rich and the poor. Whilst the 1000 richest have doubled their wealth, since 2012, over 74% of private sector jobs created in Wales have paid below living wage.

We note the attacks on public sector and transport workers. We are aggrieved with the long hours and poor pay that the majority working in retail, hospitality and domestic services have to endure. Far from winning the ‘global race’, both in Wales and elsewhere, UK government policy seems set to establish a recovery on sweatshop foundations!

We are aghast at the complacency shown in regards to climate change which seriously threatens our very survival. We are dismayed that, despite widespread disapproval from the majority of people, the government continues to support the introduction of the unstable and dangerous practice of ‘fracking’.

We condemn the system that loads students with thousands of pounds of debt before they even start work. We fear for our teachers who are overworked stressed out and blamed for all of society’s ills.

We are sick of housing shortages, poor and overpriced housing and oppose the further sale of social housing that will force increasing numbers to rent from private landlords.

What kind of hypocrites insist that we accept the decisions of a party that only received 24% of eligible votes but propose that those who do not vote in a strike ballot are counted against the strike?

We demand that Welsh Councillors, Assembly Members and MP’s take a stand besides their communities. As of yet, opposition has been virtually invisible. Whereas we realise that Westminster funding cuts place our representatives in an impossible position, the answer is not for them to retreat to their bunkers. By doing so, they open up the space for UKIP and push a developing processes of hopelessness and disenfranchisement.

Swansea Peoples Assembly stands for hope. Across the UK, social movements are gathering to successfully challenge the notion that ‘there is no other way’. Austerity requires us to be hard, mean and frightened. We refuse to blame ‘foreigners’ ‘benefit scroungers’ or ‘strong trade unions’ for the mess that ‘our rulers’ caused. We prefer to embrace the logic of fairness, equality and social compassion.

Swansea is an extraordinary city! We now invite you to join us to demonstrate for the growing alternative.

Graham Lucas - Swansea Peoples Assembly
Martin Chapman - Swansea Unison Local Government

Bethan Jenkins AM
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Michael Sheen
Charlotte Church
Shav Taj - Public & Commercial Services Union
Cerith Griffiths - Fire Brigades Union
Jamie Insole - Cardiff & South Wales Against the Bedroom Tax
Haf Elgar - Stop Climate Chaos Cymru
Sue Leader - Unite Community