Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/734/15258
From The Socialist newspaper, 19 September 2012
Fight Tameside library cuts!
Jamie Godding, Tameside Socialist Party
Councils across the country are obediently forcing working class communities to suffer Con-Dem cuts; the Labour-controlled council in Tameside, Greater Manchester, is no exception to this.
One of the measures pursued by the council is an attack on an open source of knowledge, a place of employment and a vital hub utilised by numerous social groups within the community - from the young to the elderly and to those using the computers to search for jobs: libraries.
Councils have, under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, a statutory responsibility to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. In order to oblige this responsibility and fulfil their commitment to cutting services, the council is deliberating on three possible options; each option will see closures, redundancies and libraries operating on a reduced capacity.
Amid the ranks of people signing the Socialist Party petition against the library cuts, there were some who had, given the many local cuts, mistaken what we were there for. Some asked if we were petitioning over the public toilet closures or campaigning against care services being stopped.
Hundreds of signatures have been collected, with several copies of the Socialist sold and £170 raised in support of the Socialist Party's campaigning work.
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In The Socialist 19 September 2012:
Socialist Party news and analysis
We can beat Con-Dems' austerity
All forces to the point of attack against austerity
Cable launches new attack on workers' rights
Global warming: Capitalists skating on thin ice
International socialist news and analysis
Marikana miners remain defiant
Education
Stop the deportation of London Met students
Interview with NUS vice-president for union development
Socialist Party feature
Hillsborough disaster: Truth is out, now justice
Socialist Party workplace news
Sparks' picket blockades Crossrail site
Workers die on tower cranes - Con-Dems cut safety regulations
HMRC seeks to axe workers' childcare
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Save Oaklands Pool - "This is what we pay our council tax for!"
Salford: Uniting to save mental health services
Save Hampshire residential care homes
Stop the fire service cuts in West Yorkshire
NSSN supporter invited to address RMT
Socialist Party women
Slutwalk: there's NO excuse for rape
Sexism - a product of capitalism
Socialist Party review
Review: "From dole queue to corner and back again"
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