Fury in Camden

ON 28 February, hundreds of angry demonstrators tried to storm the council meeting at Camden Town Hall, as the Tory/ Lib-Dem led council was trying to axe £40 million from the council budget over three years. This year, 350 jobs and vital services are threatened. The demo involved members of UNISON and NUT unions and parents and workers from a play centre threatened with closure.

When local residents and workers were barred from a council meeting where councillors were voting to flush jobs and services down the toilet, that enraged everyone. "This is a public building; we've a right to be here;" "We voted you in, we pay your salaries, you're supposed to represent us", were some of the cries heard.

As protesters charged the council chamber doors, councillors ran to escape from a side door, like frightened mice. Tens of thousands of angry workers and residents in Camden are a powerful force. By uniting them in struggle, this campaign will succeed in stopping these vicious attacks.

Mandy Rabin