Anger against plans to close Bradford libraries


Ian Slattery, Bradford Socialist Party

The planned decimation of library services in the Bradford area of West Yorkshire has led to angry scenes at recent ‘consultation’ meetings, where details about the possible closure of eleven libraries have been put on the table.

Blaming budget pressures, Bradford Council proposes to fully fund just seven libraries in the region, with the other eleven to be run by volunteers or closed.

Socialist Party members are among those organising opposition to these plans, to give a voice to the anger that exists on the issue.

The council will debate the issue on 25 February. This leaves predictably little time to regroup and organise resistance, but they will have a shock later if they expect the meeting to take place without a wall of opposition outside.

With Labour running Bradford council there is hope among some that a re-think may yet happen. As we made clear at the consultations, the £218 million they have in useable reserves must be utilised as a first step to building a challenge to the government’s cuts.

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Party has recently sent Labour councillors detailed letters outlining how to set a legal no-cuts budget that would be the basis of this campaign, with Momentum locally also pushing councillors to resist the cuts. We look forward to hearing their response, or to them hearing ours on 25 February and beyond.