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From The Socialist newspaper, 19 August 2020
We can't take any more cuts
(Click to enlarge)
Hampshire
Tory-run Hampshire County Council has cut £480 million from public services since 2008. It wants to cut an extra £80m by 2021.
The pandemic cost the council £21.6 million more than they got in government grants. It will want more cuts.
£43 million could go from social care, 120 jobs in substance misuse, disability services and the youth offending team.
Eight of Hampshire's 45 libraries are set to close, putting 50 jobs at risk. All remaining libraries will have their hours reduced by 20% on average.
Four community libraries will lose their council funding and be run entirely by volunteers. How many of these would be able to stay open?
The cuts affect the poorest the hardest. Hampshire Unison union must mount a campaign to save the libraries and other services.
Services have already been severely cut, and austerity is not over for local government. Councils need to demand the return of funding which has been withheld by the government, so they can set a budget that meets the needs of the people and restore our lost services.
Jane Ward
Nottingham
Nottingham City Council, where Labour has 50 out of 55 councillors, has asked for voluntary redundancies, and announced further job and service cuts.
Like other councils, it is considering cutting everything except statutory services and threatening another emergency budget in October.
The council has salami sliced cuts since 2010, while getting involved in commercial ventures, including investing in property in other cities. None of the Labour councillors have voted against this.
We call on Labour councillors that want to stand up for the working class, to vote against the cuts when they come up in October, and start building a campaign to defend services now.
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 19 August 2020:
Socialist Party news and analysis
Students 2 : 0 Tories - Protests work!
Student protests force government retreat
"As a working-class student, I already faced struggles"
Tory planning deregulation: a charter for building profitable slums
NHS workers demand improved pay - 15% for all now!
International socialist news and analysis
Revolutionary mood in Lebanon following horrific explosion
Mass protests and strikes rock Belarus
Leon Trotsky
80th anniversary of Leon Trotsky's assassination
Yorkshire: Celebrating the life and ideas of Leon Trotsky
Education
September school return must be safe for all workers and students
NHS pay
NHS pay: unions must take fight to U-turn Tories
Socialist history
75 years since the publication of Animal Farm: From 'two legs bad' to 'two legs better'
Workplace news and analysis
300 Covid cases at Northampton food plant - management to blame, not the workers!
PCS union: Vote Yes in DWP ballot! Reject longer opening hours
Support the Tower Hamlets council workers, vote for Hugo Pierre!
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Black Lives Matter: this generation is willing to stand up and fight
Nottingham: oppose the far right and attempts to divide us
Your donations help us campaign
Leeds: Little London residents are celebrating
To push change we need to be organised - why we joined the Socialist Party
Brighton: Another luxury development
The Socialist: back to weekly soon
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