Saada Mohamed, Enfield and Lea Valley Socialist Party
Enfield was the London borough with the most libraries – 16 in total. However, the Labour council has decided to close half. These cuts will save the council around £600,000, and earn it £3 million on property sales. This is yet another example of Labour carrying on the Tories’ austerity measures, truly demonstrating that the only difference between the Tories and Labour is their colours.
The council is also refusing to reopen Edmonton Leisure Centre, and is refusing to admit that privatisation has failed. The private companies that operated this service before ran it into the ground.
In Enfield, Labour is defending these cuts, while Tory councillors have cynically launched a petition against library closures. But the national Tory government cut funding for councils for 14 years, and local Tory councils were happy to pass on those cuts.
These capitalist politicians do not work for the people. This is why the Socialist Party says the council should not make these cuts. Take the wealth off the super-rich, so that working-class people do not suffer under another wave of austerity. Keir Starmer’s Labour is threatening us with ‘tough choices’. Instead they should give councils the money they need.
