THE chairman of the Worcester Stop the War Coalition has announced his intention to stand in this year's city council elections.

Rob Menzies, from Wyld's Lane, will contest the All Saints ward as a Socialist Alternative in the election, which will be held on Thursday May 1.

He said he is standing because of the support he has received from people in the Worcester STWC along with others from the Wyld's Lane area of the city.

Mr Menzies, who works as a social worker at the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric hospital in Birmingham, said money has to be spent on public services not on wars of aggression.

"Between £1.75bn and £3.5bn of tax-payers' money is being spent on this war and it has nothing to do with democracy in Iraq."

"The Government told us - in Worcester, that we have to stop the transfer of council houses because there is no money to modernise them.

Sitting on money

"But we also know that the Government is sitting on money from the sale of council houses, going back some 20 years, of more than £10bn.

"They have refused to release this even though they promised to do so when they were elected in 1997," said Mr Menzies.

Mr Menzies, aged 40, added his concern about the privately financed Worcestershire Royal Hospital was another reason for standing.

"It costs around £95m to build and the NHS has to pay £527m for the next 30 years to rent it."