Chris Corney, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
The Labour council cabinet unanimously passed the decision to close Markhouse Centre in Waltham Forest – without even taking a proper vote, just a murmur of agreement – to jeers and cries of “cowards” from the public gallery.
In a final attempt to persuade councillors to stop the planned closure of the centre for disabled adults, Socialist Party members joined service users’ families and supporters at Waltham Forest Town Hall on 3 December.
Socialist Party member Kevin Parslow, spoke to the council chamber in his capacity as secretary of Waltham Forest Trades Union Council. He branded it a terrible decision for the 51 adults who use the service, and the workers whose jobs will be lost.
The decision was based on the alleged high cost of building repairs in a bogus ‘independent’ survey report. Service users produced evidence that, far from being ‘independent’, the survey company had Labour councillors sitting on the board of directors. Evidence was produced to councillors that the figures for repairs were wildly exaggerated, but to no avail.
It seemed that the decision had already been made months before, as it is likely that the council wants to sell the land for the centre to developers. 51 disabled adults will now lose what for many was a second home, their carers will lose vital respite, and the workers could lose their jobs.
‘Difficult decisions’
One Labour councillor called it “one of the most difficult decisions in my ten years as a councillor”. But she did not respond to demands that the council should use some of its £50 million reserves to keep the centre open, and demand proper funding from central Labour government.
People’s budget
She and her Labour colleagues showed no appetite to follow the methods used by the Militant (now the Socialist Party) led Liverpool Council in the 1980s. Mobilise local people, set budgets based on need, and successfully extract funds from central government to provide housing and protect vital services.
Waltham Forest, and other Labour councils up and down the country, have tamely passed on cuts to services. They try to blame 14 years of Tory austerity, but now they demonstrate that getting rid of the Tories has made no difference.
Private developers
The dwindling estate of publicly owned properties is being sold off in order to sustain profits for private developers, as the price of decades of economic capitalist failure is passed on to the most vulnerable.
The fight goes on. Service users are threatening judicial review of the decision. The Socialist Party supports every effort to save this vital service.
By mobilising the whole community to resist cuts, the remaining services will be preserved, and decades of Labour and Tory austerity will be reversed. Bold protest action can maximise pressure on this cutting council to reverse this scandalous decision.
