'BIG SOCIETY' HERALDED IN BY MASSIVE CUTS

The Tory flagship policy of a 'Big Society' was launched today via Eric Pickles 'Localism Bill' and has set the future agenda with a massive raft of cutbacks the like of which the country hasn't seen in years.

Tory controlled Sedgemoor District Council had been working on a funding gap of £1.4m based on an anticipated cut of 7.25% and will now have to look at further savings as the Government has finally announced cuts to Local Authorities of 9.9% .

Local Labour representatives have attacked the unprecedented harsh cuts of 9.9% .Cllr Kathy Pearce, Leader of Sedgemoor District Labour Group said "This is terrible news which will impact especially on children, families, the elderly, disabled, the homeless and the vulnerable, who will feel the brunt of the loss of many of our public services.

The notion of "the Big Society" is completely disingenuous. The bottom line is that services need to be adequately funded and need trained people to run them. What we will have is a mass collapse of the structures that keep our society functioning".

The Tory/LibDem Coalition Government plans were backed today by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg who said the 'Big Society' was the "same as liberalism" , doubtless compounding the feelings of frustration within his own party which surfaced last week over tuition fees.

Chairman of Sedgemoor District Labour Party , Cllr Brian Smedley, said "Most Libdem voters didn't vote for tuition fees and they didn't vote for this. Waking up in bed with the Tories is causing some pretty bad hangovers!"

"What we've seen so far with the student protests has just been a starter for 10 for the ConDem Coalition. The next front will be opened by the Trades Unions as the cuts hit the workplace and front line services and by the May elections next year people will need to decide which side they're on . When the Tories are in Government theres no room for an indecisive centrist party."

Labour and Tories are today neck and neck in the polls at 40% while the Lib Dems have slumped to an all time low of 8%.

Labour party PARTY...17th December

All members and supporters of the Bridgwater Labour Party are welcome to join us for Christmas celebrations at the Labour Club on FRIDAY 17th DECEMBER. There will be food, drink,music,a quiz, a raffle and an egalitarian redistribution of festive jollity.

Ed Milliband urges MPs to vote against Tuition fees

In a statement from the Labour Party in London, new leader Ed Milliband said " Next Thursday, MPs will vote on the Government's plans to treble Tuition Fees.

I hope that as many MPs as possible will vote against these unnecessary, unfair plans. They are cutting money for university teaching by 80%, much more than other services, and are making graduates pay the whole cost of most degrees. Students will be forced to choose the cheapest course, not what’s best for them - and will be paying back debts for 30 years. The plans are bad for universities and not the road we should be going down. The Labour Party will be voting again the plans. Labour would avoid the big cuts in the university teaching grants and share the costs of higher education fairly."

Bridgwater Labour Party Youth & Student officer Brian Smedley said "With the date of the tuition fees vote now known, Labour will campaign more than ever to oppose them. Bridgwater Labour Party is committed to working with Trades Unions , students and all community groups who are willing to fight back against ALL these ConDem cutbacks."

The Government’s plans are not necessary, not fair, and not good for higher education.

Not necessary because the short-term need for deficit reduction does not justify a long term change in Higher Education funding which will be bad for universities and not save any public money. The Coalition have chosen to cut higher education teaching by 80% when other public services are being cut much less.

Not fair because graduates will now have to pay the whole cost of most degrees (simply replacing the cut in funding), instead of sharing the costs with the taxpayer. Graduates will pay much more, and pay for 30 years. Middle income graduates will be hardest hit.

Not good for higher education. England’s world class university system has been built on a public investment and trust in the professional academic leadership of universities. This will be replaced by a market in higher education in which many students will be put off university and forced to choose the cheapest rather than the best course.

Labour says:

• We would not make such a big cut in Higher Education teaching grants, so high fees would not be needed to replace lost income.
• Graduates should share the cost of higher education; by moving towards a graduate tax the highest earning graduates would make a fairer contribution
• We believe that universities should remain public institutions, receiving significant public funding

"THEY SAY CUTBACK-WE SAY FIGHTBACK"

Bridgwater Labour Party members joined a large demonstration in Taunton this weekend organised by Taunton and West Somerset Trades Council to protest against Tory Somerset County Councils plans to cut £43 million pounds from public services and around 1,500 jobs.

The demonstration marched from French weir to County Hall and received considerable support from saturday morning shoppers in the town centre.

At County Hall speakers received applause for their condemnation of the cuts. Unisons Nigel Behan said “This level of cuts will make Somerset as we know it unrecognisable. All areas of spending have come under the axe and there is not a family anywhere that will be unaffected. The people of Somerset are being made to pay for a situation that is not of their making and it is the most vulnerable that will be hit the hardest.”

Mr Behan added that the proposed cuts were also set to have an enormous negative impact on the local economy, with job loss and fear of redundancy dramatically reducing spend on goods and services. “This is very bad news for small businesses” he said. “There is a real fear that this will turn a fragile recovery into another deep recession”.

County Labour group leader Andy Govier (Wellington) said the extent of the cuts were unneccesary and stressed that not all councillors supported them.He said "the cuts would hit the adult social care budget , the special education service, subsidised bus services, bus passes and student transport which would all be axed, as will the library budget, forcing some libraries to close. Community policing will be cut, reducing the number of officers on the streets. 75% of funding for youth services will be withdrawn, as well as all funding for theatres and arts groups. Eight household recycling centres will close and the road repair budget will be so severely reduced that an increase in road deaths and serious injuries will be inevitable."

Other speakers stressed their opposition to the cuts, the desire to fightback and the alternatives to the approach taken by Tory leader Ken Maddocks.

Cllr Ross Henley (Lib Dems) pointed out that Somerset had previously been a 4 star authority whilst Mendip District under Cllr Maddocks had been flagged up as a failing council unable to protect public services. He stressed that not all Lib Dems supported the cuts nationally.

However, despite Cllr Henleys welcome support for the campaign, speakers roundly condemned the liberals backing for the Tories. Rob Thompson, a Taunton student, spoke particularly well and pointed the finger of guilt clearly at LibDem MPs such as Tauntons Jeremy Browne saying "He came to our college and promised us that he would not vote for the raising of tuition fees. People believed him . But he lied. No more so called 'tactical voting'!"

Glen Burrows from Bridgwater Trades Council and the RMT union said there was an alternative. "In 1945 this country was on it's knees but out of that the sons and daughters of miners and factory workers and railway workers built a welfare state. Today there is no financial crisis -this is a rich country with billions in unpaid taxes from the rich. This is an ideological attack by the ruling class on ordinary working people and the welfare state. "
She urged people not to accept the cuts but to fight back through the organisations they had built up from their Trades Unions to their local Community groups, from the Creche to the workplace.

LABOUR LEADER CONDEMNS CON-DEM CONTEMPT FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

As the severity of Tory cuts becomes apparent- backed foolhardily by their LibDems stooges the people are starting to fight back! A series of demos and meetings are being organised across the county over the next few weeks. Sedgemoor District Labour party Leader Cllr Kathy Pearce has committed the Labour Group to support the campaigns and is calling for a united stand against the cuts

Kathy says "Join us in opposing the savage cuts proposed by the County Council. Why are the County Council acting in such haste, before any impact has been calculated and when they do not even know the final Government funding arrangements?"

"The scale of the cuts makes a complete mockery of their proposterous decision to impose a 0% increase in their share of the Council Tax, which has only exacerbated an extremely difficult situation. "

"We can only draw the conclusion that the scale of these cuts is being made because of an idealogical contempt of public services."

"Support the Rally on 6th November."

LABOUR FIGHTS THE CUTS

Sedgemoor District Labour Group have spoken out firmly against the Coalition Government’s decision to implement the greatest departmental cut to the Communities and Local Government budget by a whopping 51%, demonstrating an utter contempt for public services and the most vulnerable in our society.In the meantime, Somerset County Council’s announcements of 1500 reduction in jobs and up to 40% cuts in service budgets, even ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, has shown an complete lack of understanding of the impact on front line services locally.

Labour Group leader Cllr Kathy Pearce said "The previous Labour Government’s spending plans were on track to halve this country’s deficit by 2014. We believe that these cuts, being imposed by the Tories and Lib Dems, are being made on ideological grounds rather than necessity and will have a devastating impact on our communities and the economy."

Labour group secretary Cllr Brian Smedley said " I would like to see the Labour group supporting workers and communities taking action to resist these cuts. Groups like Bridgwater Forward and the Trades Council need the full backing of everybody in this fightback against Tories using these cuts as a shield to implementing policies that will take us back to the 1980s. No-one can any longer believe the Lib Dems and no one can trust them to do anything other than to prop up their tory masters".

Somerset NHS workers say NO to privatisation!

Two thousand five hundred of Somerset’s most dedicated NHS professionals, working in the Community Health Service are angry at an attempt to ‘strong-arm’ them into leaving the NHS and becoming a “Social Enterprise”.

Angry Health Visitors, School Nurses, local hospital and other workers across Somerset Community Health Services met in Bridgwater on Wednesday 1^st September, to launch a vital and urgent campaign to persuade the members of the county’s NHS Primary Care Trust to vote to stay within the NHS.

Community Health Services staff, many with twenty or thirty years’ proud and loyal service to the public service ideal, are also appealing for public support.

One Health Visitor at the meeting said: “We are being strong-armed and railroaded. No-one I know wants to be transferred to a private ‘Social Enterprise’ employer. We love the NHS and we want to remain a part of it. We are being told that this must be sorted by the end of September and there is nothing we can do about it. Well, we’ll see about that!”

A School Nurse said: “They are saying that Social Enterprises are good because they are a “not for profit community organisation”. Social Enterprises’ like any other business, could go bust, and would then be taken over by a private health care company.”

A token ‘consultation’ with both staff and members of the public has been rushed through during the peak holiday period, and the PCT are insisting that the final decision must be made at their meeting of 15^th September. Staff are asking for more time for a proper consultation, involving staff AND public, which will end with the final decision being made by a democratic staff ballot.

The key Somerset PCT meeting is being held at Yeovil, headquarters of the Somerset Primary Care Trust, on 15^th September. The campaign is asking for maximum staff and public support at the meeting, which is held at Wynford House, Lufton Way, Yeovil BS22 8HR, starting at 10.00am. Members of the public are invited to put questions to the PCT at the start of the meeting.

A staff petition is being circulated, which states: “We, the undersigned, are extremely proud to work for the NHS in Somerset. We cherish our reputation as having one of the top Primary Care Trusts in the country, and of delivering high quality services to our local population. We want to continue to work with you to transform our local health service from ‘good’ to ‘great.’ We are proud to work for the best ‘not for profit’ organisation, based in the heart of our local community. That organisation is called the NHS and we want to stay in it! Please hear our voices!”

The press release above was put out by Bridgwater Trades Union Council immediatly after the meeting To get involved with the campaign and to send messages of support, people are advised to contact:BRIDGWATER TRADES UNION COUNCIL Secretary: Dave Chapple, 1 Blake Place, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 5AU Tel. 01278 450562 davechapple@btinternet.com

SEDGEMOOR LABOUR GROUP BACKS TUC CAMPAIGN

Members of Sedgemoor District Labour Group have joined the Bridgwater Trades Council in expressing strong opposition to the government's privatisation agenda for the NHS, which could see vital services provided by Health Visitors, School Nurses and other hospital workers being transferred to a Social Enterprise employer.

Kathy Pearce, Leader of the Sedgemoor District Labour Group, stated that she shared health workers' fears that if the Social Enterprise does not make a profit, then it would be sold off to the private health care providers who have a history of pricing systems which disadvantage the elderly and vulnerable. Health workers are also at risk of losing their rights after 3 years if this proposal goes ahead.

"We are extremely worried at the speed of the proposed change and the poor quality of consultation over the holiday period, which is allowing this to go through largely unnoticed by members of the public. The NHS is the cornerstone of our society, providing equality of access to all, regardless of income. We cannot afford to let this slip through our hands."

"I urge anyone concerned about these proposals to write or make contact with the Primary Care Trust Headquarters at Wynford House, Lufton Way, Yeovil BS22 8HR, or to attend the meeting there on 15th September at 10am."