The council elections will be in a few months’ time, Thursday, May 4, and the new Community Party (CP) will be standing candidates in Alexandria, Dumbarton and Clydebank.

The CP is less than a year old but is growing and developing as we build our membership and develop our policies which, whilst taking into account the national picture will concentrate mainly on local issues that are important to local people.

Council housing, council services, jobs, poverty, equality, safety, Vale hospital, democracy, accountability of councillors, and many more local issues identified by local people which we will pick up and pursue for them on their behalf.

The clue is in our name, the Community Party, and that is where we hope to draw our strength from by not just listening, but acting and fighting on local issues for local people.

The financial scandals engulfing the council at the moment are symptomatic of the lack of political oversight and leadership by the part time labour council who have delegated so much power and decision making to senior officers that there is almost a feeling of being "bomb proof" and "untouchable" because they have been left to make so many decisions with no political accountability or the public and press having access to the decision making process which is done behind closed doors with private seminars and briefing notes. This is a recipe for disaster and needs to change.

Accountability and democracy needs to be re-introduced to the workings of WDC.

If it wasn’t so serious you would laugh at President Trump’s inauguration speech a couple of weeks ago. Eight years ago Obama made various promises when he was elected.

He kept very few but figures show that for every day Obama was in office the US was bombing some country in the world.

Poverty amongst the working class, particularly the black working class, has also increased under Obama as has the financial divide between the rich and the poor.

One of the main reasons we have ended up with Trump.

Obama gave so much hope to the working class when he was elected. Many thought he would challenge capital but he didn’t.

He done what he was told by the real power in the US and the west, big business and the banks. Trump will be the same.

It will inevitably be the men in grey suits who move the capital around the world to maximise their private profits for the ruling class that will dictate foreign and home policy in the US.

Scary times ahead for anyone who believes in democracy, justice and equality.