The Socialist 7 April 2009

Visteon car workers fight for their rights

Reports from Visteon plants in Belfast, Enfield and Basildon

National Union of Teachers Conference: Call national action on workload

Youth march for jobs: This is only the beginning!

NUS leaders out of touch

No solution at London G20 summit

G20 Summit protests: Democratic rights trampled on

The battle to defeat the Poll Tax

EU presses for cuts in public spending

Fast news

Stop the slaughter of Tamils in Sri Lanka

Arundhati Roy indicts the Sri Lankan Rajapakse regime

Egyptian regime: 'Scared that independent unions will succeed; scared a revolution will happen'

Solidarity with Kazakhstan oil workers

Conned by John Lewis

Stockport cab drivers fight deregulation

No cuts to further education in Wales!

Campaign forces suspension of Wirral library closures

Unison elections

Rail workers fight job cuts

Previous issues, etc

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EU presses for cuts in public spending

LAST WEEK'S summit of European Union (EU) finance ministers gave the British government six months to come up with plans to cut public spending.

Meeting in Prague, the EU finance committee warned the UK to cut its budget deficit to the EU 'Stability and Growth Pact' limit of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) within four years.

In a press statement issued by the No2EU-Yes to Democracy electoral alliance, Socialist Party councillor Dave Nellist argued that, with a government deficit of £78 billion last year equivalent to 5.4% of GDP, meeting the EU target would mean cutting £35 billion of public spending in one year.

"Local authorities are already conducting a 'doomsday study' of the potential impact on local council budgets of up to 30% funding cuts and it paints an horrific picture for local services", he said. "Local councils would no longer be able to provide even the current standard of services, particularly in fields such as social care".

The No2EU-Yes to Democracy convener Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT transport workers' union, also condemned the EU decision. The EU's public spending criteria has enforced the privatisation of capital projects to keep them off the government's books, by means of private finance initiatives (PFI) and the disastrous PPP on London Underground, which increased the costs of public services and subsidised corporate profits.

"It is clear that EU leaders want ordinary working people to pay for the recession, by cutting essential public services, instead of the banks and finance companies that contributed so much to the economic crisis in the first place", he said.

"That's why a vote for No2EU-Yes to Democracy against the EU's privatisation agenda is so essential on 4 June".

No2EU-Yes to Democracy held its first meeting in the North West region on 4 April. A regional steering committee was elected to co-ordinate the campaign, with a launch meeting planned in Preston on Saturday 25 April. For more information contact no2eunorthwest@hotmail.co.uk

In this issue

Visteon car workers fight for their rights