Maaz Nayyer and Ali Cook, Sheffield North West Socialist Party
The no-cuts conference – organised by Sheffield Your Party supporters – posed a simple question: What is the point of the economy, if it cannot provide the services its people need? The morning session was chaired by Sophie Wilson, a former Sheffield councillor who has fought for no-cuts budgets, and included four speakers.
Economist Jamie Gough said how no-cuts budgets could be funded. Jamie thought central government is critical, because focusing on local taxes only would leave deprived areas behind. He suggested raising corporate tax, cutting business exemptions, clamping down on tax transfers, and a fairer land tax.
Sam Moorcroft, Sheffield Trades Union Council president (personal capacity), emphasised an alternative to the current system that actually served the working class. He described the awful outsourcing contracts, as well as job and service losses. Sam spoke about the need to insource council services to improve quality and accountability.
Sam highlighted the threat of Reform. Given the desperate situation, he wondered if the public would even notice if Reform were worse.
Onay Kasab – Unite the Union national lead officer – provided insight into the ongoing battle between Birmingham Labour council and the bin workers. Onay also talked about the failure of this Labour government – the new bill for SEND support (special educational needs and disability), selling off council houses, and ‘fire and rehire’ of workers.
Workers striking back
Onay also pointed out the link between deteriorating public services and the rise of the far right. Crucially, he provided hope – agency workers voting unanimously to join the Birmingham bin strike.
Nottingham Socialist Party member Gary Freeman spoke about Shuguftah Quddoos – a councillor in his local area that has tabled a no-cuts budget. Contributions from the floor talked about the Green Party, and we finished this session stating that councillors should act on behalf of their public, not the government.
Sessions on ‘housing’ and ‘jobs and services’ drew up a budget for what Sheffield needs.
- No to zero-hour contracts
- £15-an-hour minimum wage
- Move services back in-house, and introduce comprehensive apprenticeship schemes
- Rent caps – linked to income for affordability
- Abolish ‘right to buy’
- Expand works department to build and retrofit council homes
- The feedback was that the event was a significantly more positive initiative than much of the other Your Party meetings. In particular, the emphasis on policy was welcome. 44 attended.
We are taking these demands to the council budget. Labour and Green councillors have promised to vote for cuts, with none of the resistance that is required.
