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.
Yestersday’s NUS/UCU demo in London against attacks on further education
attracted over 50,000 mainly students, who came in their numbers from
all over the country. Many of these were young people demonstrating for
the first time ever. It will not be the last. As the attacks start to
bite, more and more youth will come into activity and draw the political
conclusions.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in
Manchester, around 70 people gathered in the Friends’ Meeting House to debate
how best to fight the onslaught of cuts this Tory government is about to
unleash.
As the scale of the cuts start to sink in, we look at the background to this crisis and ask – why has this happened?
NUJ members at the BBC have voted by 70% to reject the latest offer
from the management on pension changes and are intending to take action
by striking for 48 hours on 5 and 6 November and again on 15 and 16
November with further dates to be named in the coming days. Here is the
text of an appeal now being circulated.
Since the days of the Thatcher government, public sector workers have
had to live with the repeatedly stated ‘fact’ that the private sector is
supposed to be better, more efficient and cheaper at providing services
than the public one. This was the stated logic behind decades of
privatisation and outsourcing.
On Saturday 20,000 people marched through
the streets of Edinburgh to show their opposition to cuts in public services.
The march was called by the Scottish Trade Union Congress to launch their
“There is a Better Way” campaign, which they have described as the beginning of
the fight against Tory cuts north of the border.
LAND AND FREEDOM: Come this Thursday 27th Oct at 6.30pm and see this acclaimed film
about the Spanish Civil War, the heroicism and the betrayal. Then hear
KEN LOACH, the famous left-wing director of the film, answer questions
and give his views about it.
Saturday 23rd October saw the largest demonstration in Cambridge for
many years with over 500 trade unionists, students and community
activists marching through the city centre in opposition to the cuts
announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review. The march, organised by
SERTUC and Cambs and District Trades Council, drew in trade unionists
from across the region, with workers from other trades councils in
the region, Cambridge Labour Party members, pensioners’ groups and
students.
Tens of thousands demonstrated throughout the country as the government
finally presented its ruthless spending review. After many months of
guesswork, now we know the facts – and they are every bit as bad as many
expected. This coalition of millionaires is set on forcing working
people to pay the bill for the bailouts to the bankers and their rotten
system.
On Wednesday evening, October 20th, around 200
trade unionists, students and community activists gathered on the steps of the
Council House in Coventry in protest at the national and local cuts. Tory
Chancellor Osborne’s announcement of the cuts package was a few hours old, but
the previous day Coventry City Council had announced that it would cut £146
million over the next four years from a present budget of £809m. This would
have represented a cut of 18% but with the knock on effects of higher benefits
and lower council receipts the cuts will be far higher.
Oct 20th – Today’s the day. For months now workers have been dreading
the arrival of this day – the date chosen by this bosses coalition to
announce the biggest series of public spending cuts in living memory.