Anti-cuts, public services

Health, education, housing, benefits, local councils, ...

The shape of cuts to come

Q. The Tories promise an emergency cuts Budget within fifty days if they win the general election on 6 May. What will that include? A. The Tories aren't saying. This is a longer version of this article than in the printed paper. Q. What's our best guess? A. The Tories look for models to the Moderate-led Swedish government of 1991-4, and the Liberal Canadian government of 1993-8. When the global financial crisis hit its peak, in September-October 2008, David Cameron commented: "I will discuss the crisis... with Carl Bildt, the Swedish prime minister who 15 years ago showed how a centre-right...

To stop cuts, seize control of the banks!

The Tory shadow Chancellor George Osborne must think he pulled off a coup on Monday 15 March. He got Jeffrey Sachs - a real economist, an architect of Russia's "shock treatment" after 1991, but who has since distanced himself from extreme free-marketism - to co-author an article with him for the Financial Times. The article said that the Tories are right to go for rapid, big cuts in public spending to reduce Britain's Budget deficit, rather than a slower approach which includes waiting and seeing whether future growth will erode the debt more painlessly. The European Commission gave Osborne...

"We should focus on what unites us"

Q) Could you tell us about the anti-cuts campaigning you're involved in at your workplace? My college is being cut by £2.5 million - £2 million from adult and £550k from 16-18 provision. This is a 10% cut, and as well as threatening significant job losses, is going to critically damage our capacity to provide decent education for our community. The branch has voted unanimously to ballot for strike action in the event of compulsory redundancies. I’m Branch Secretary of the UCU at our college where the local MP is David Lammy, Minister for Higher Education. He embodies the complete failure of...

Tory co-ops: a smokescreen for cuts and privatisation

The Tories say they want to create “employee-owned” cooperatives within key public services. Under the scheme, participating workers — in, say, a clinic or a school — would be “freed” from the shackles of central government bureaucracy and would be able to have a share of any “financial surplus” that the service generates. Have the Tories been taken over by 21st century Owenites? Hardly. The plan is about: • Creating a smokescreen for massive cuts. By hiving partial responsibility for funding off to independently-run “cooperatives”, the Tories can increase their ability to cut central...

As we were saying: British Trotskyists and the beginnings of the welfare state in the 1940's

For fifteen years now, the Tories have been chopping away at the Welfare State constructed after 1945 on the basis of the 1942 Beveridge report. Back in 1942, the Marxists of the Workers’ International League [WIL] were already pointing out that any capitalist Welfare State would be unviable, likely to break down with mass unemployment. A WIL circular of 31 December 1942 called on WIL members to put the following motion to their trade union branches. "This branch… condemns the National Council of Labour for its acceptance of the Beveridge plan. These proposals leave the whole root of the...

Cuts fightback: Jersey workers prepare to fight

The tiny island of Jersey may be about to host some major class struggle. This year the island’s States (Parliament) decided to withdraw the money budgeted for public sector pay rises, over the head of the States Employment Board, which usually negotiates with the unions. At the end of October, a motion to reinstate free collective bargaining fell, with Chief Minister Terry La Souer commenting: “At a time when private sector jobs are being frozen or cut, a pay rise for States staff is not viable.” What was previously on the table was not a pay rise at all, but a real-terms pay cut. At the same...

Northampton: uniting service users and workers

Ron Mendel of Northampton Save Our Public Services (SOPS) spoke to Vicki Morris about their anti-cuts and recent election campaigns. How long has SOPS been going? We became SOPS in April 2009 when we registered with the Electoral Commission, but the predecessor Save Our Services goes back to 2005–6 when we were campaigning against cuts in mental health and disability services within the NHS. In 2007 we decided to run candidates in Northampton borough council elections. We stood in Old Duston ward — Conservative — and Lumbertubs ward — Labour. In Old Duston SOS finished in third place; fourth...

Support the Leeds refuse strikers!

Leeds refuse collection workers have voted to reject an offer by the council and continue their all-out strike, which started on 7 September. The latest offer saw some improvement on future wages, but at the cost of extending the working day by an hour and further changes in conditions. The workers are still calling for no change in working hours and maintaining current pay rates. With strong picket lines and the unions provision of strike pay, a return to work without the desired settlement is unlikely. 1,000 people came to a recent benefit gig — probably the largest demonstration of trade...

The first strike against the new austerity

Leeds City Council Street Scene workers have been on all-out indefinite strike since 7 September. These workers include street cleaners, depot staff, and household refuse collectors, all of whom are facing wage cuts of up to £6000 a year. The pressure of the strike may be beginning to tell on the council. They have finally agreed to talk to the unions. As I write on 6 October, the strike continues into its fifth week. Refuse collectors could see their wages falling to a little over £12000 a year. Many of these workers risk losing their homes as they lose up a third of their wages. The...

Library cuts stopped

On 1 October Wirral Council announced that all 11 of the libraries that were to be closed would now stay open. This is an important victory for the Wirral Against the Cuts campaign and shows that it is possible to win local anti-cuts campaigns. The victory was down to those of us who organised mass meetings, leafleted estates, collected petitions, demanded an inquiry, told the councillors and MPs that we wouldn't vote for them if they made cuts, organised demonstrations and lobbies and refused to go away. We were able to force a government inquiry and we co-ordinated the input into it. The...

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