James Gretton, Southampton Socialist Party
Hampshire’s reorganisation plans alone would “threaten over £60 million in new cuts”, Southampton trades council (TUC) chair and president Maggie Fricker warned, introducing a TUC meeting in Southampton on 31 January. Khalid Sidahmed, a speaker from Portsmouth’s TUC, critiqued Labour’s broken promise to end austerity, calling their devolution plans “decentralised austerity” without necessary funding.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Hampshire has been fighting against cuts, including by lobbying Hampshire County Council. FBU Southern regional secretary Mark Chapman reported the impact of austerity on fire services. 12,000 firefighters have been removed from the frontline since 2010, leaving communities vulnerable. For example, on the Isle of Wight, which only has four engines for the island. Mark characterised these cuts as “no longer theoretical, they are measurable” and called for mobilisation against these threats to public safety.
Southampton has seen a series of anti-migrant protests organised by the far right and consistently opposed, including by the trades council. GMB Southampton secretary Ali Haydor echoed Khalid’s warning that austerity legitimised scapegoating and racism, which has targeted migrants, Muslims and South Asian workers. Politicians have weaponised racism to advance their careers and target communities, as evident in ICE’s terrorising of Minneapolis in the U.S. Ali also criticised the current minimum wage as “dismal” and unfulfilling for a dignified life.
The consensus among speakers and contributors was clear: fighting austerity remains a top priority for the workers’ movement, and international examples have demonstrated the need for workers’ mobilisation and revitalising jobs and services. As Maggie noted, 2025 saw numerous general strikes, including in Italy against the Meloni government’s complicity in the Palestinian genocide, in Belgium against austerity and pension reforms, and in Greece twice over reduced labour protections.
The meeting resolved: “We need a campaign in Southampton to fight for government funding of the jobs and services our communities need, and to unite against racist division” and that, “in line with Unite the Union’s policy we, ‘call on the Council to set legal, balanced, no cuts, needs-based budgets’.”
Anti-austerity councillors could play a key role. Your Party campaigner David Cowley has declared his intention to run in the Shirley by-election on 26 February, and has applied to do so as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. Socialist Party members support this and are continuing to campaign for Nadia Ditta’s election in Bevois ward for the local elections on 7 May.
