Nottingham
Grant Shapps said at the 2013 Conservative Party conference: “When we said [in 2010] we would reduce their budgets by 26% over four years, we were told councils would be going bust by this stage but they haven’t, I think they can do another 10%.”
This is the reward for what both Nottingham Labour councillor Graham Chapman and the Green Party byelection candidate describe as “managing” the cuts.
TUSC candidates do not believe in “managing” injustices, we believe in fighting them. That is why I’m standing in the 7 November Dales ward byelection.
Just imagine if councillors said “enough is enough, we will not pass on the cuts” and used some of the city’s £133 million reserves as a stop gap, while building a campaign to demand the money we need from the government. TUSC councillors are prepared to lead that fight.
Cathy Meadows
Sefton
At the 7 November byelection in Derby ward in Labour-run Sefton, only one candidate has a track record of supporting the trade union movement: TUSC’s Graham Woodhouse.
Thousands of Bootle residents are hit by the bedroom tax. Labour in Sefton has cut £71 million from services, increased already-high service charges and is closing another seven libraries. The Labour council is simply doing what the Tories tell it to do.
Graham is a branch secretary for the PCS civil service union, and is also on the union’s north west regional committee and the PCS Department for Transport group executive committee.
Peter Glover
Stoke
Unite and Socialist Party member Liat Norris is standing for TUSC in the 14 November Stoke-on-Trent byelection in the Baddeley, Milton and Norton ward.
TUSC will be the only party that is prepared to make a stand against all cuts.
The Labour-run city council has already cut £77 million, decimating jobs and services. Council leader Mohammed Pervez has now announced further eye watering cuts of £100 million over the next four years.
It’s not surprising therefore that there is a seething anger against the plans to carry out further savage cuts while blowing a minimum of £50 million on a new and unnecessary council HQ!
Stoke Socialists
Merseyside
Liverpool TUSC will be challenging the Riverside council seat made vacant by deputy mayor Paul Brant’s resignation.
Brant, who was also cabinet member for finance, referred to vicious cuts as ‘savings’.
Brant remains chair of Riverside Housing, and we emphasise our implacable opposition to the bedroom tax.
A further tranche of £150 million is now proposed which will savage the city’s remaining services.
TUSC demands that the council defends jobs and services and that the city’s financial reserves be used to restore services already cut. We call for a campaign of resistance to this millionaires’ government.
