Angry demonstration at Islington Town Hall as cuts are voted through
Protesters clash with cops
Published: 18th February, 2011
by TERRY MESSENGER
POLICE were last night (Thursday) forced to hold back protesters in dramatic scenes inside the Town Hall as the council voted to approve a £52million cuts package.
Officers were accused of using excessive force after 60 demonstrators were evicted from the public gallery. One protester was arrested but released shortly after following the intervention of Lib Dem councillor Greg Foxsmith.
And members of the Labour council were forced to retreat to a committee room due to the noise being generated by protesters.
Anti-cuts campaigner Shirley Franklyn, who herself was removed from the gallery, said she was “appalled” by the “heavy handed” treatment by the police.
She added: “Only last week Labour leader Cllr Catherine West was supporting our demonstration against the cuts. Now she is heading a council which wants to suppress opposition to the cuts by bringing in the police.”
Earlier in the evening a protest march was staged by local government trade unions and their supporters from Highbury Fields ending with a rally outside the Town Hall on Upper Street.
More than 200 protesters cheered college lecturers union leader Andy Strouthous who urged the council to pass a “no cuts” budget even if it meant the Coalition taking over the Town Hall.
He said: “If they want a fight let them come down here and we’ll give them a fight.”
Mr Strouthous said the government could only be defeated by making the country “ungovernable.”
At least 700 council staff are set to lose their jobs over the next four years as services such as counselling for rape victims and teenagers needing care as well as domestic help for the elderly face a severe funding squeeze.