Anti-cuts, public services

For the fight now coming against the Tory-Lib coalition government's cuts, we need to get the labour movement into different shape. Individual local cuts can and will be defeated by one-off campaigns. A local campaign has recently defeated plans to close the Accident and Emergency unit at Whittington Hospital in north London. That is good and important. But by itself it will only nibble at the edges of the £6 billion cuts announced on 24 May, and the much bigger cuts to be announced on 22 June. Maybe it will only shift cuts from one area to another. The British ruling class knows it is on new...

On 24 May the Tory-Liberal government announced its first instalment of cuts. It will announce its larger plans on 22 June. The cuts include: More than £1 billion from central government allocations to local government, i.e. cuts in local services. More than £700 million from central government allocations to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. £320 million by scrapping the "child trust fund" set up by the Labour government (which would pay small amounts to each baby, designed to accumulate into a still small but useful stash by age 18). £290 million by scrapping another Labour government...

On Thursday 13th of May, PCS members at the National Gallery and the National Gallery shop went on a 2-hour walkout against low pay. This was not the first time that National Gallery staff had taken action against the employer, who is paying 60p an hour less than the London Living Wage - but it was the first time that staff at the National Gallery shop had taken action. The gallery was brought to a virtual standstill when around 70 staff walked out. It was a show of strength, to demonstrate to management that they would not accept poverty wages - and they have the power to force gallery bosses...

Amanda McKenzie works as a social worker in London. Tell us a little bit about the work you do. I’m a social worker for an inner-city London borough. I currently work in a team working with adults with learning disabilities. My specific job involves working with people with learning disabilities who also have mental health problems, and I also work with learning-disabled parents. A lot of the services related to this type of work, such as care home provision, have been privatised but my work is still directly run by the local council. Do you and your workmates get the pay and conditions you...

On 11 May David Cameron took office as Tory prime minister, leading a Tory/ Lib Dem coalition government. Whatever the detailed concessions the Tories have given the Lib Dems, the new government will be no less harsh about cutting and union-bashing than a straight Tory administration would have been. The labour movement has to gear up for a fight. The unions have to break from their culture of recent years, in which a "campaign" would mean at most one or a few one-day strikes, followed by a face-saving deal. And socialists have to build a force of clear political opposition to the cuts and to...

Greg Albo is a member of the Socialist Project group in Canada, a professor of political economy at York University in Toronto, and a co-editor of the Socialist Register. He spoke to Solidarity about the "Canadian model" of cuts seen in Lib-Dem and Tory circles as a model of how to deal with government financial problems. The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien elected in Canada in 1993 made big cuts. That they were costless is a myth now being put around in discussions among the OECD and G20 governments. The social cost was huge. A big chunk of federal spending in Canada is intertwined with...

The enthusiastic demonstration and rally in defence of public services on 24 April was Jersey’s first since the 1920s. But critical questions face the movement behind the protest. The march, called by the teaching union NASUWT, was against £50 million in cuts on the island. It came at a time when teachers, nurses and uniformed services are all at various stages of organising industrial action over an imposed pay freeze. Unite announced in the rally that it will now seek to become more political and will back candidates for election to the island’s Senate. But what form will this take? Funding...

Teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public sector workers seem set to take industrial action in Jersey against a pay freeze and £10 million in cuts. The teachers’ union, NASUWT, have called a march and rally on 24 April, to defend public services on the island. It will be the first march and rally seen on the island since the Nazi occupation! Firefighters are due to begin industrial action on 20 April, with a withdrawal of goodwill escalating to strike action. The Jersey fire service is seriously understaffed with only just enough crew to cover shifts. It is already dependent on goodwill...

In the 24 March budget Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the first tranches of cuts to the public sector. But he did this by saying he wanted to save hundreds of millions of pounds through “improving efficiency”. What does this mean? As with so many New Labour announcements, this efficiency drive recycled elements from previous initiatives. For example, in December 2009 the Government launched “First Line First”. This had the same recipe as the budget — improvements in procurement, reducing sick leave, moving civil servants out of London, cutting back on consultant spend etc. Before “First...

Last year, when the Tories were very confident about winning the general election, Tory leader David Cameron promised “an age of austerity” and boasted he would take “difficult, unpopular” decisions. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said: “After three months in power we will be the most unpopular government since the war.” As the election approaches, the Tories have toned down their talk. But they haven’t shifted on basics. They declare: “A Conservative Government will hold an emergency Budget within 50 days of taking office... The first measures will start to take effect this year”. Alistair...