Brighton: Anti-cuts movement continues to grow

Two thousand people marched in the Brighton Stop the Cuts Coalition (BSTC) demonstration on Saturday 30 October.

South East Socialist Party

Marchers included local parents and workers from Bright Start nursery, and Connexions service staff, both threatened with closure by the local Tory council.

The speakers included FBU, RMT, CWU and Unison trade union members, workers in struggle and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

Pete Offord from the Socialist Party called on city councillors to support the movement and not to vote through a cuts budget, but warned that if they failed to do that, the anti-cuts movement should stand its own candidates.

The Socialist Party has been central to building this campaign. We had a vibrant and loud contingent near the front of the march, which led chants including: ‘Tory council, hear us say, the bankers’ crisis, we won’t pay!’

The demands raised by the BSTC, which were called for by Socialist Party members, included opposing all cuts, and not falling into the trap of accepting some cuts while opposing others.

The march was a big step forward for Brighton. It was the city’s biggest demonstration for years, and it attracted a lot of people who had never marched for anything before.