Labour stand up for Bury as budget confirms savage ConDem cuts.

Young Bury South Executive Member Eamonn O’Brien writes about last week’s budget; what it means for younger people and what it says about the ConDems

Many of the cuts announced by the Tory-led Bury Council came as no surprise to most people in Bury.

We know that it is in their nature to dismantle vital public services and openly attempt to privatise whatever they can. Just consider the recent “Easy Council” proposals and this recent article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12619329.

However some of the cuts show an even greater contempt for the people of Bury and especially its young people. About 2 years ago the young people of Bury as well as their supporters were protesting against cuts of £200,000 to the youth service; now they are having to deal with over £900,000 worth of cuts and the complete destruction of a universal youth service in Bury.

Whilst the broader cuts are unpopular, unnecessary and unfair, this attack on Bury’s youth is astounding. At a time when the National Tory-led Coalition is pulling the rug from under young people by abolishing EMA, the Future Jobs Fund and trebling tuition fees, the Tories in Bury are further attacking those who hold no blame whatsoever for the economic crisis, by, for instance, planning to close 4 out of 5 youth centres.

It was on these issues that I joined fellow young people to protest outside Bury Town Hall on budget night. For a cold and wet night the turnout was impressive and we certainly made out voices heard. It was also comforting to see various other groups coming together such as Unions, Labour Party members and the Bury Action Group to show our anger outside the Town Hall.

Once inside the meeting began to become contentious soon after the budget was announced. Mike Connelly, leader of the Labour group, led the attack on the budget itself and, despite heckling from the Tories opposite, condemned the budget as highly unfair and damaging. As could be expected, the Tories’ only response was that Labour was to blame for the situation, so they were reminded that it was the Coalition’s cuts to local government that were the true cause for these savage cuts.

The most notable thing from the night for me was the passion and authority with which the Labour Councillors spoke. This was highlighted further by the conspicuous silence of the Lib Dem Councillors for much of the meeting. Yet their initial silence was only the beginning of their role in the budget. After the Labour Group announced its amendments, one of which would have saved the Youth Service, the Lib Dems abstained, effectively giving the Tories the ability to reject the amendments.

So why did they do it? While they may deny a local coalition pact, it is interesting to see what happened to their own amendments. These included most but not all of Labour’s, leaving out the saving of the Youth Service.

To me therefore, and I hope many others, we can gather a few things from budget night. It confirmed the Tories are the same old nasty party, pushing a Thatcherite agenda decades after she first became PM and the young people of Bury were born! Meanwhile, it’s clear the local Lib Dems are as weak, ineffectual and unprincipled as their national counterparts.
Only Labour will stand up for the people of Bury, and that’s why we have to take back the Council in May.