ANTI CUTS PROTESTS

[cleef]

For everybody in the UK who is pissed off about these cuts...

George Osborne’s spending cuts are a declaration of brutal class war.

The Tories deliberately set out to hammer down the living standards of workers and the poor in order to fatten profits and enrich the bankers and the bosses.

Wherever you are in the UK there is a protest going on near you, we need to be on the streets of every town and city this week—and opposing every cut locally.

Tens of thousands of people are set to protest, march and rally this Saturday, 23 October, against the Tories’ brutal cuts.

Scotland-wide STUC protest in Edinburgh: There is a Better Way march and rally. Assemble East Market Street, Edinburgh, 11am for rally at Ross Bandstand at 12.30pm. Coaches from across Scotland—for details go to http://www.thereisabetterway.org

Birmingham protest at 12.30pm, Victoria Square

Bristol demonstration and rally, Castle Park, Broadmead, assemble 11.00am for march through Bristol centre. Rally: College Green, 12 noon

Cambridge assemble 12 noon at Parkside Fire Station, rally at 1.30pm at Cambridge Guildhall

Cardiff march against cuts, assemble Cardiff City Hall, 12 noon

Leeds assemble Victoria Gardens (outside the art gallery), Headrow, Leeds, 12 noon

Lincoln assemble Castle Square, march to rally in the Cornhill, 12 noon

London march against the cuts, assemble outside the RMT head office, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD at 11am. 12.30pm rally—Organising to defeat cuts in public services. Congress House, Great Russell Street. Go to http://www.tuc.org.uk/sertucevents

Manchester protest outside the BBC from 12 noon

Norwich protest against austerity, meet Hay Hill 12.30pm

Plymouth petitioning and campaigning with charities, campaign groups and trade unions. Meet at the Sundial in the city centre from 12 noon

Portsmouth “There is an Alternative” demonstration, 11.30am Guildhall Square

Yorkshire & Humber regional protest in Sheffield city centre, meet outside the Town Hall, 12.30pm. Sheffield Right to Work feeder march, meet outside Sheffield University student union on the concourse at 11am

York march and rally in the city centre, assemble 1pm in Parliament Street

[Lectre]

March through the centre? We need to take some lessons from France and block the oil supplies and transport.

[cleef]

We certainly do there needs to be mass civil disobedience, in the streets & strikes in the workplace!

[klashenkoff]

(10-21-2010 09:34 AM)Lectre Wrote:  March through the centre? We need to take some lessons from France and block the oil supplies and transport.

i concur, protesting doesnt do jack shit these days, if we want to get our voices heard we need to take some drastic measures

[cleef]

(10-25-2010 08:54 AM)klashenkoff Wrote:  

(10-21-2010 09:34 AM)Lectre Wrote:  March through the centre? We need to take some lessons from France and block the oil supplies and transport.

i concur, protesting doesnt do jack shit these days, if we want to get our voices heard we need to take some drastic measures

i agree that 'more drastic measures' do need to be taken and certain groups already are!

To say they do jack shit though isnt entirely true, it highlights an issue and shows major opposition to it, it makes the possibility to organise with other people who think like you.

Doing this shit one man army style isnt going to get you very far!

[Rob]

Some stuff needed cutting though !!

[cleef]

^^ yeah like the heads off of cameron & clegg

[Lectre]

(10-25-2010 01:35 PM)rob Wrote:  Some stuff needed cutting though !!

Why say that without stating what needs cutting and why?

Nothing needs cutting imo. Actually there needs to be MORE spending in investments in to self sustained economy. i.e, technological research etc. and more modern/efficient transport systems (electric rail). Most successful market innovations have been made possible by spending. The two main problems with social spending for me has been that 1) it's done in a non-efficient manner (millions of £'s worth of prescribed medicines, for example, are wasted annually) and 2) we don't have the resources to back credit because we hardly produce. If the country were to turn away from a consumption/financed based economy and towards producing for itself it would become more sustainable. In turn, other nations that produce for us would be more sustainable as it saves natural resources being exported on huge scale. Some Asian nations have capital ready and waiting for goods we can export.

The only thing we need to cut is faith based economic policy. The UK needs to turn away from its old status and relying on that to gain power and control and become more down to earth about itself.

[cleef]

Very well written Lectre, couldnt agree more, the way i see it the cuts are going to do little more than lead towards more privatisation of public industry...yet i dont see how the private sector is going to find a replacement for 500,000 jobs?

[Lectre]

I forgot to post a thread about the jobs issue which pissed me off when I heard about the companies stepping forward to replace the jobs lost in the public sector.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11561363

People are going to lose valuable, technological jobs and the companies talking about covering for it are the likes of Marks and Spencer. You get qualified, join the NHS then spending cuts come in for the "good of society" so you lose the job you've worked for, and have to now go join a company that's serving society more efficiently (i.e, it's making more profits - no doubt, at the expense of the welfare system). It's either that or you're jobless and claiming benefits which they're trying to... cut.

Watch the turnovers decline for these companies when the benefits get cut.

[Rob]

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/978...Waste-2008 its worth the £7 for a copy of that.

I did a FOI on BECTA - http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...up_ongoing - which is a quango that needs cutting. Free laptops sounds great idea, but when that is pure untargeted waste that ends up not benefiting anyone is a disgrace.

Waste in the public sector is simply theft from taxpayers. Just buy a copy of the local paper to see what meaningless jobs councils and the like have created.

I agree we should not cut education and investment but at the same time we should not jizz cash away on jobs-for-the-boys style non-jobs.

there is outrage locally about playground assistants being 'cut' from a tenner an hour on three of them. My mum and other teachers used to do that for free. Oh, add on the CRB checks and indemnity insurance costs - all paid for by taxpayer etc etc.

That is the type of shit that needs cutting

http://www.debtbombshell.com/public-spending.htm

"In 2009-10 the Government spent £671.4 billion of our money, despite tax revenues of only £496.1 billion. "


As Charles Dickens wrote in David Copperfield:
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery."

The UK and most of the world is in the 'misery' part right now. What should be done about it?

[Lectre]

The waste issues are about efficiency. Some businessmen have spoken out about how the government spends on the most expensive shit without knowing, because it doesn't research the market and doesn't need to with fairytale credit. That should change. When you're spending huge amounts of money you should definitely research the best deals. But this isn't done because spending is diffused through beuracracy, and in most cases I think the money is viewed as free money and thus it feels worth less in the hands of those actually buying stuff.

I don't know what meaningless jobs you're talking about. Usually I see ads for social services workers and teachers. It's ironic you mention jobs-for-the-boys style spending though, because 2/3'ds of the jobs being cut in the public sector are female occupied.

My overall opinion is that we need a more scientific approach to the economy and that resources need not be cut (working people struggle as it is), but redirected into a more forward thinking and less self-serving and short-sighted economy. Improving transport, for instance, improves commuting which is a component of all economic activity. Moreover, it could be made cheaper and more energy efficient by moving to electric light rail. It's better to do this sooner rather than later as oil is going to peak in the next 5 years, making fuel more expensive.