I am 52 and have a long record as a political and anti-racist campaigner, and as a lay trade union official.
I was involved in the counter demonstration against the National Front in Lewisham in 1977, organised early Rock against Racism concerts in the late 1970s, and joined the Anti-Nazi League (ANL) at its inception.
I was a trade union official in Southwark for 25 years, most recently as the UNISON branch secretary for the town hall branch, comprising more than 3,500 members. I also organised support for all the major industrial disputes during that time, including the miners, firefighters, printworkers and ambulance workers in my capacity as president of Southwark Trades Council.
I left the Labour Party after 13 years as an activist, including the role of constituency secretary for Bermondsey Labour Party, on the day Tony Blair became leader, and contested both the 1997 and 2001 general elections as a socialist candidate.
I joined Respect when it first formed, and stood as its candidate in the last Euro-elections.
I believe that, if elected, I can use the position to fight for the people abandoned by the New Labour.
It's unbelievable that after 11 years of a Labour government, half of London's children live in poverty and thousands of pensioners die from the cold each winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes.
The gap between the rich and the poor is wider than ever, with business paying less tax than it did under Thatcher. Working people need a party that will fight for their rights. Respect is that party.
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