From the leaders of the labour
movement, in particular the Labour Party, the idea that the Tory cuts
are “ideological” is often put forward. The idea is that the Tories are
doing this out of ideological commitment against the welfare state. This
is misleading. The cuts are a product of the crisis of the Capitalist
system.
The small print at the bottom of the EU/IMF
Bailout would be an enough to make an Asset Stripper’s hair curl. If
anyone in the state was labouring under the delusion that all this snow
meant that Santa had come early then the announcement last night of the
conditions attached to the loans would have put paid to that.
At around 12:15 on Wednesday the 24th
of November, UCL students who had gathered in the main quad for a rally
as part of the ‘National Day of Action Against Education Cuts and Fees’
marched into the Jeremy Bentham Room in the UCL main building amidst
chants of “no ifs, no buts, no education cuts”. A vote on whether to
occupy was then immediately taken and passed by an overwhelming
majority.
Students occupying Leeds University’s
most important lecture theatre have now been in occupation for a week,
in opposition to the Tory attacks on higher education.
Last Wednesday around 480 students and
staff filled the largest meeting room of the Bristol Students Union.
This was an Extraordinary General Meeting, called as a result of a 24
hour occupation of the union last week.
At the Emergency General Meeting in
SOAS November 18th the students voted for the occupation of space that
the university usually rents out for money. SOAS is a unique institution
because it focuses on a variety of topics and languages such as those
from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The school has already announced
cuts to 95 specialist courses
I found myself stuck in Newcastle
on Monday night due to the cancellation of the busses and took the opportunity
to walk over to the fine arts building at the University to see how the Students
were getting on in their occupation and asked if there was any other support
that they might need.
100,000 marched from Wood Quay to the
GPO today (Monday) in protest against the austerity measures outlined in the
four year plan despite the cold wintery weather. A few even
demonstrated in a curagh on the Liffey – the workers navy has arrived.
Meanwhile the government are behind closed doors discussing the
bailout package with the officials.
On Saturday 27th November 2010, Worcester Trades
Union Council chair Steve Martin welcomed over 40 trade union and political
activists to the conference called by the Trades Council to seek a co-ordinate
campaign of resistance to the Coalition plans to cut public expenditure.
After weeks of dancing the seven veils,
trying to hide what they were up to, the government, the EU and the IMF
announced on prime time television today (Sunday)that they have signed up to an €85 billion bailout. The money which has 5.8% interest rate attached to it will go to recapitalise the banks( €10bn); fund the budget (€50bn) and deal with “banking contingencies” (€25bn). So in other words the whole lot is going to bail out the banks and keep the government finances going.
John Swinney’s launch of the Scottish budget went down like a damp squib
as the Nationalist government attempts to balance its way between the
cuts from Westminster and the increasingly unpopular administration’s
electoral prospects in May. The Finance Minister announced a raft of
cuts, “efficiency savings” and real wage cuts.