Protesters’ fury as £7m budget cuts go through

Published: 31 July, 2010
by RÓISÍN GADELRAB

THERE were spirited scenes in the council chamber on Tuesday night as Labour voted through an unpopular budget of cuts to a heckling chorus.

Members of IHOOPS (Islington: Hands Off Our Public Services) – who want the ruling Labour Party to vote against government-imposed £7million cuts – protested outside the Town Hall before filling the viewing gallery and shouting down from the balcony.

As tensions mounted, and all sides joined a rowdy, incomprehensible slanging match, Islington NUT president Alasdair Smith was ordered to leave the council chamber.

Labour say they have been forced to make cuts after the government ordered the council to find £7million of savings this year.

The council is proposing to axe up to 60 posts, slash tenants compact/community safety funding (cash that tenants’ associations bid for annually) from £2million to £500,000, do away with hanging baskets, and reduce the function of the Green Living Centre. 

Nearly £3million is to be cut from children’s services, charges for council services are being hiked by at least 10 per cent and plans to remove the Highbury Corner roundabout shelved.

The budget also included a subsidised swim for £1 scheme for children and pensioners and cash for a new citizens advice bureau.

Making a plea on behalf of IHOOPS, Mr Smith said: “The cuts this government are implementing are a disgrace, the worst since the second world war. Vote against this motion.”

Council leader Catherine West said: “The last 10 years are going to be looked back on as the golden years of the Labour government. We’re held hostage by the national situation this borough faces.”

But Liberal Democrat councillor Ursula Woolley questioned the wisdom of spending on Islington’s Fairness Commission in such times, asking: “How much does it cost to tell us there’s more inequality in London than in Scandinavia? Quite a lot.”

She ridiculed Labour’s £10,000 cut to the communications budget, asking why councillors’ salaries were not being slashed.

Cllr George Allan criticised Labour’s “deep-seated contempt for green living” for cutting the sustainability budget, adding: “They are not held hostage by the government but by the folly of their own government.”

Labour’s Phil Kelly said it was rich of the Lib Dems to complain about the national deficit, adding: “I cannot recall the Liberals turning down any support for Islington from the last government on the grounds that it was creating a structural deficit.”

He added: “We know the Liberals are part of a government that will wield the axe again and again with indecent enthusiasm – amputation without anaesthetic. We will do our best to defend the people in this borough. 

“The party of Lloyd George is attacking pensions, the party of Keynes has forgotten that spending is an essential part of staving off recession, the party of Beveridge is cheering as the Tories dismantle the welfare state.”

Deputy leader Richard Greening said: “The Labour and Lib Dem parties had a commitment to reduce (the deficit) gradually and only one party proposed to reduce it straight away, the Tories...What a shame the Liberal party has chosen to cut a deal with the Tories instead of honouring one of their most important election pledges… 

“Eric Pickles said we can save money by cutting jobs. I’d like to think, even after 10 years of Lib Dems, that there are no non-jobs... We will campaign against what the government is doing to us.”

Former finance chief Lib Dem John Gilbert asked: “Is it fair to pay for free school meals for primary school children of millionaires while we have heard about cuts to support services?”

He added: “Let’s stop this blame game, grow up and take responsibility for dealing with the situation because when it comes to the next election the electorate will hold you to account for what you’ve done.”

The budget was passed by a Labour majority.

After the meeting Paul Brandon of IHOOPS said: “We were hoping there was going to be some sort of resistance which will send a message to the government. I’m disappointed that didn’t happen.”