The Public Gallery

Steve Gower is the parliamentary candidate in Gloucester for the Worker’s Party of Britain. This interview took place on 3/7/24

Question 1: What does it mean to you to be a Parliamentary candidate?

Steve: To be honest, it means everything, because I feel like Gloucester, actually the country’s, been let down, by false promises. And I’d feel so proud to represent this city. And I’d feel honoured to be able to manipulate the outcome of life in this city

Question 2: Do you think the WPB has the ability to take over as the left wing party?

Steve: You should ask me that on July 5^th. But saying that, most definitely. We are the only left wing party in this country. Labour is not the left.

Interviewer: Ok, so what would you say about the Greens and the Lib Dems, are they not far enough left?

Steve: Personally, no. What needs to be represented in this country is the people. Not just the working class, but those who can’t work. Those that’ll never work, and those that have worked but can’t anymore due to retirement or what have you. We have been let down by governments since 1979. What we’re proposing is to help the working class and those individuals that I’ve just mentioned: the young, those who can’t or are unable to work, and pensioners. In our, my, our manifesto, in my experience and being an advocate for homelessness here and seeing how poor the social care system, the mental health system and the NHS basically. Working all the hours God sends with little reward and little money. And it’s going to get worse. And I can’t see any party in Gloucester that’s actually got an answer. Everyone gets in power and gets enriched by deeds that the political system can do. Pay, working conditions, the factpeople don’t get taxed. I shouldn’t say people, I should say businesses, you can see it in Gloucester, the city’s a state. But then when you see what companies are running them, you can see the money doesn’t come back into Britain, it goes to offshore sea accounts. Or they don’t even pay tax at all. And when you follow the money, it shows no matter how hard you work, it won’t improve the situation because there’s always a business trying to suck the money out of what you’re doing to survive. That’s in the city centre, that’s big businesses. That’s Amazon, you know what I mean, people are working- and we don’t own nothing. That’s what I say on the stall, and I’m cheesed off. I own nothing and I’m really chessed off. So let’s tax big businesses not paying their fair amount of tax, and let’s tax those offshore accounts. And if they don’t like it, leave, we’ll do it ourselves. We’ll change the label on the store, it can be Gloucester-bucks, or Gloucester Fried Chicken. Anything that’s open in our city, you just trace the money and it’s not coming back into Gloucester. We don’t own a pub! In the city centre, you’d be surprised how many pubs are run by offshore accounts. They’re selling the ale, and merrily saying “Gloucester here we come!” and the money’s being sent to an offshore account. If people knew what was going on in that city, you’d understand why when you go to the shops, your money’s being filtered away. And then what’s it being spent on? Not Gloucester. And when you look at the troubles in the world, on occasion, it can be traced back to that. It’s really disheartening when all parties, the Greens, Lib Dem, Social Democrats, Labour, Tory, they don’t seem to mention it. But we see it. The Workers Party. But we don’t have Independents in Gloucester. The Greens, I had high hopes for them, they’ve got activism in their blood. But Caroline Lucas was on Question Time on February 2^nd, and she said all the right words, as some of them do, about Palestine. Then she brought up Ukraine… and I thought ‘you’ve lost the plot, woman’. There’s no good in war. She should have a history lesson. Perhaps they might change their tune. But why are we financing wars when we can finance the NHS, our homes, decent pay and coniditons? So I’m embarrassed for Gloucester, everyone else is pro-war. Some call it war, some call it genocide. But that’s not politically correct in this country or else we wouldn’t be able to arm them with munitions, built in Gloucestershire, so that’s embarrassing. That’s the biggest disappointment with all candidates, they all want one war, or two wars. But we say no to war. Bring that £14,000 a minute spent on warfare and bring it to Gloucester. And the life expectancy in Ukraine is 3 hours, so I don’t want my son to fight in that. I don’t want him to fight with the Azov Batallion, which our grandfathers fought against, in a World War. I mentioned [at the Hustings] on Monday [29/6/24] that 6000 allies died in that war. 27 million… 8 million should I say, of our Allies, our forefathers, passed away. And 27 million Soviets died as well. And they want our boys to go and fight with the Azov Batallion. It ain’t happening. My son, he ain’t going. And if it does happen, and it’s likely to, it’ll be likely to be a nuclear war. If you’re pro-war, you’re more likely to get a nuclear war. And the Greens don’t say that, none of them do. I had high hopes for the Green, and hang on, the biggest environmental issue, is war. I can work that out.

Question 3: What would be your top priority if elected as the MP for Gloucester?

Steve: We’ve got 3500 empty properties in Gloucester, I don’t know if any of the candidates know that or mentioned it. But we repossess them. We had 5500 properties 4 years ago but 2000 of them have gone, probably to a private developer. But you know my background? I’m an advocate for the homeless. I would end homeless. And you know the care workers? The ones that were clapped in the Covid times? They get no money, long hours, no pay. Give them a house. And parents looking after children or disabilities, give them a house. Kids looking after their parents, give them a house. So, theres 3500 of them empty houses, but we’ve got an issue with our retention of young doctors, so give them a house. Low rent, low bills, lifetime tenancy. And teachers, graduate teachers, give them a house. Or otherwise it’ll go to the developer and they’ll flip their way into the offshore sea accounts. So yeah that’s the first thing I’d do: end homelessness, give a fair deal for coworkers, give a fair deal for teachers, and hospital staff like doctors.

Question 4: What is your favourite movie?

Steve: Probably the last film I saw, it was outstanding. Nye with Michael Sheen. Nye Bevan from my homeland, Wales. Inspirational.

Question 5: What is your favourite book?

Steve: It’s gonna be boring, because the last book I read was a few years ago and I was in Spain and I was reading this book in the villa, and it was perfect. It was about the Spanish Civil War. I’d heard about it, but never read about it. And it was set where I was staying. And I’ve always had a passion for the Spanish Civil War, and the bravery of the guys from Britain that volunteered and went to Spain to fight the fascists. I just couldn’t put it down. But I’m not normally a reader, I’m normally out doing other things. And the other one, would be the, I’m qualified in Law of Health and Safety. Which helps now. I did that when I was about 40, and I got qualified, and later on when I was homeless I took the exam for health and safety in housing so I like the Law, because it’s do’s and don’ts. I enjoyed it, and that got me into the Human Rights Act. So the Spanish Civil War, the Human Rights Act, and everything above it in Health and Safety.

Interviewer: I haven’t read much on the Spanish Civil War, I’ve been meaning to but-

Steve: Yeah, it’s so interesting. And the way those guys were let down. It was really interesting. And I met a gentleman, a good friend of mine, who wrote a book about his dad, Johnny Longstadt, in the Spanish Civil War. But when they got saved, when things went a bit wrong, when the Nazis got in and the Brits got in, but then after that they became conscriptioned to the Second World War.

Question 6: What is the WPB doing to appeal to younger voters?

Steve: Well I’m not going to send you to war. And I know, my son, with me in my one bedroomed flat, he’s sleeping in the living room. I not only know the issues to those sleeping rough, those in supported living, those that are in care, those that are in prison, those that are in hospitals. And you’ve got no future. 40 years of debt to go on the housing ladder. At 18, I knew I had a flat. And I want to ensure that for the next generation as well. 40 years of debt. That’s a lifetime.

Question 7: Some people say the Workers Party of Britain is Communist-leaning, would you agree with this?

Steve: If I said to you: you’ve got a house for lifetime tenancy, you won’t be fighting in wars, you’ll have a decent job with good pay, and you’ll have utility bills, to live your life. But if you call that Communism, that’s up to you. But I call it life.

Question 8: What are your opinions on AI?

Steve: I’m petrified. For me and my generation, AI is scary because we hear about what’s happening in Israel where it can see your face and recognise you. To me, we’ve got better things to create, like housing. And not spy on each other.

Question 9: The WPB manifesto says they will work to not criminalizing speech or thought, does this include hate speech?

Steve: Yeah, it- mm, uh, not, how do you classify hate? You’ve got to offend people. There’s already laws for hate against religion, race, disabilities. There’s alrrady human rights on that, that’s already covered. But if you say something someone doesn’t agree with, and its not harming anybody, we’ve got that law but theyre trying to take that law away from us. We’ve already got enough rights. But I want free speech. I want to be able to express a thought or an idea without imprisonment.

Question 10: What are your views on NATO?

Steve: Leave. That’s in our manifesto pledge. We’d put it to a referendum but our preferred option would be to leave.

Interviewer: So, if a referendum was called, and the people voted to stay in NATO, referendums aren’t legally binding, so would you still leave NATO even if the country voted no?

Steve: Well we do live in a democracy. That’s what George is on about. But some people don’t understand the orientation of leaving NATO. So we would take the public’s mandate not to leave but I’d fight my hardest to leave.

Question 11: What is your favourite song?

Steve: I play them on the stall. If I’m going to the 80s, it’d be the 80s. If I’m going to the 90s, it’d be the 90s. Today, if I’m on the stall, I like Bob Marley. When you get to listen to the lyrics, they’ve got a meaning. And John Lennon, what a legend. Incredible people.

Question 12: What is your favourite album?

Steve: Bob Marley’s Legend.

Question 13: How will you represent the people who don’t vote for you?

Steve: The homeless, they can’t vote, so there’s no problem there. But I hope in a term of office, I’d hope people could see the improvement in themselves, but to the people around them. If I got the mandate, you’d see what I was about.

Question 14: Do you think George Galloway is a good reflection of the values of the WPB?

Steve: Well, he created it. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea but I think on the Middle East, there’s no-one credible, even in Parliament, that could go up against him and his history, with his 40 years in Parliament. I love the policies, I just think some of them, one or two, he could express himself a bit better. But overall they’re fantastic.

Interviewer: I thought I’d ask you as I asked Chris Farmer the same about Farage.

Steve: Well, party leaders, not just Farage, it’s about their funding. They’re all bought and paid. George is financing it on his own, as far as I’m aware. I am, I certainly know that. We’re not bowing down to the lobbyists, we’re going to do what we say on the tin.

Question 15: What is the WPBs opinions on the Rwanda plan or immigration as a whole?

Steve: The Rwanda plan? Stop it. Wouldn’t happen. And refugees, I suspect you’re talking about the people on the boats?

Interviewer: Yeah, what’s dominating the news at the moment.

Steve: George answered that on his programme the other day. He said instead of having our boats, our war vessels, bring them back from the China Sea, the Black Sea and the Red Sea. Bring them back and place them on the border, on the White Cliffs of Dover and protect our water rather than poking our nose in other people’s arguments. We think we rule the waves, rule Britannia, we’ve got 3 boats and an aircraft carrier that goes in circles. Bring them home, and we’ll look after our own shores. And obviously if they’re illegal immigrants, they’ll go back. And funding needs to go into that. Bring our boats back and protect the White Cliffs, wherever they’re landing. We spent billions, Sunak gave billions to France. I’d ask for my money back. And the country has invested interest in immigration due to our shortage in the NHS, there’s a lot of wasted talent there and I’d love to utilise it. Gloucester is built on immigration. I’ve been here 8 years, but I’ve always been in the city helping the homeless. I don’t normally go out of the city square, but as a candidate, I’ve visited Tredworth, Barton. It’s fantastic. It’s like the United Nations here, it’s brilliant. All that culture, all that food. I’ve been to Jamaica recently, and it felt like I was back there, rice and peas. I’m honoured to be the choice of the Muslim community as their delegate- candidate. But they know me. It’s beautiful. Walking around town, people saying “Hi, Steve.”

Question 16: How would you tackle homelessness in Gloucester?

Steve: First of all, I’ll tell you, millions of pounds spent on homelessness in Gloucester. And you can write this down, in 2018, the mayor of Birmingham come back from Finland and said homelessness in England is over, we’re going to use the Housing First project. Housing First. I tweeted to him that it wouldn’t work in England. And the reason is that there is 10 principles to Housing First, and 5 are the accommodation, and 5 are the support. There’s money in accommodation, there isn’t in support. Our support system is broken, and I knew that at the time, I said it wouldn’t work in Gloucester, and it didn’t. And the companies in Gloucester, who unilaterally accepted the contract, I’d put them in prison. And you can put that in writing, no problem. The fact that they’ve got to abide by, and they get money for, Housing First, is in small print. When I was working for the homeless, people would say “Housing First, look at the project, Steve.” And I’d say “Don’t tell me, cus it’s like I’m having a book and going to the last page to find the answer. I don’t wanna know. Give me time, I’m working on this project.” And I was working on this project, and I was ready to open Housing First. And Housing First married with my idea, and I worked it out. And I was so grateful that I had something that this island recognised as a cure for the homeless. And it matched my idea, so yeah I loved Housing First, but it’s never been implemented in this city. But my personal idea has bells and whistles. It’s Housing First Plus, and that’s all I’ll say.

Question 17: What is your favourite spot in Gloucester?

Steve: At the moment it’s my stall. I wear this cap for a reason, and it’s so that the homeless could recognise me and I’d usually meet them on the Cross or meet them on Eastgate or Southgate Street. On Westgate Street, it’s got a personal thing to me, because I remember advocating for these two guys, maybe about my age, and after conversation, I found out they were ex-army. Then next minute, poof, they were taken away. Then 3 days later we had army day, with all the service boys, they come waltzing up with the mayor and the MP, with their sticks. And 72 hours earlier, there were Falklands veterans. And I thought “Only if you could see what was here 3 days ago. Would they join the Army?”. I’ve also slept outside of Shire Hall with two gentlemen. One with mental health issues, one with drinking issues. Just to protest about being on the street when they shouldn’t be.

Question 18: What do you think of votes at 16 after the outcome of the French elections?

Steve: Votes for 16 year olds? Yeah, great. Bring it in.

Interviewer: Even after the French results? Where 16 year olds can vote and a large proportion voted right wing?

Steve: I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that in England, with the poverty, you know, they see their parents struggle to put food on the table and they’re told everything will be great and it hasn’t been. And they’re not old enough to remember what it was like before. If I was 15, 16, I might well have voted far right because I was thinking “my mum and dad struggled on their own”. And unfortunately the narrative is that. Our party can’t get on mainstream media because we’re so called “left” and anti-war. So I think it would be a short spell. I can see Farage being the next Boris and absolutely collapse, and then there could be trouble. Reform isn’t an alternative, it’s the same old Boris. Public school attitude. There’s nothing wrong with public school, but what do they know about life in reality? Growing up on a council state or what have you. But votes at 16, I’d definitely give it to them. If I was an MP, on a Friday, I’d make a beeline to a school and do a question time every Friday. I want to know what’s going on with the kids.

Question 19: Is the WPB committed to a FPTP voting system or would they like to see electoral reform in that regards?

Steve: Yeah, proportional representation. We’d get rid of this system. Get rid of this first past the post.

Question 20: In one word, what does the Workers Party of Britain stand for?

Steve: Hope.

Extra Question: Do you have anything you’d like to say before we finish?

Steve: Regardless or not if I get in, I’ve got a serious project to do with the homeless. And regardless if I’m MP, it will happen. And if you want to end homelessness in Gloucestershire, you have to do it in co-operation with Stroud, Cheltenham, Forest of Dean, etc. That’s a community project, not the private sector. And I can’t see Cheltenham doing it. They might help with the homeless. But people would want a bit of what’s happening in Gloucester and they’d conform. And that will happen, even if I’m not an MP.

Anything said by Steve Gower has not been independently checked