The Socialist 4 January 2012 Defend our pensions - escalate the action 
Defend public sector pensions - "action must be escalated" PCS Left Unity open organising conference in defence of pensions Reject pensions 'deal' - fight until we win 2012: Millions face poverty and homelessness Liverpool's managed decline: Tarzan to the rescue? "Seismic collapse" of private pensions National meeting for women in the Socialist Party Unity against wage cuts in construction Cuts used to attack trade unionists Nigeria: Boko Haram's Christmas Day bombings USA: Occupy movement links with working class PDFs for this issue |
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Home | The Socialist 4 January 2012 | Join the Socialist Party Liverpool's managed decline: Tarzan to the rescue?Tony Mulhearn, Former Liverpool councillor The campaign built by Liverpool city council in 1983-87 to win extra funding inspired thousands of workers, photo Dave Sinclair (Click to enlarge) In a breathtaking example of Tory mendacity former 'Minister for Merseyside' Michael Heseltine claims he rescued Liverpool from 'managed decline'. This fate was proposed by chancellor Geoffrey Howe following the 1981 Toxteth riots, as shown by recently released government archives. But the blunt fact is that the decline continued. In the two years after the riots not a single house for rent had been built by the Liberal/Tory alliance which controlled the council; council rents were the highest in the UK outside London; 5,000 council jobs had vanished, and some £30 million had been slashed from Liverpool's rate support grant by Heseltine's Thatcher government. Youth unemployment in some areas of the city was in excess of 50%, and the defeated Liberal/Tory alliance had left behind a financial gap of £10 million pounds of unallocated cuts. This was the dark scenario inherited by the newly elected socialist Labour council in May 1983. Unlike the capitulation of today's 'Labour' councillors, that scenario was not used as an excuse for doing nothing, but as a reason for carrying out their election promises by launching a programme of action which included: building houses, freezing rents, creating jobs, expanding services, and opening six new sports centres. By contrast Heseltine planted hundreds of trees. If Liverpool's dogs could vote no doubt his Lordship would top the poll. Liverpool A City that Dared to Fight Liverpool - A city that Dared to Fight By Peter Taaffe and Tony MulhearnClick here to buy online from our bookshop Usually £14.99 - £12.50 including postage to readers of the SocialistAvailable from Socialist Books, PO Box 24697, London E11 1YD020 8988 8789 bookshop@socialistparty.org.uk In this issue Anti-cuts campaign
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