CUTS BUDGET AGREED AS POLICE LOCK TOWN HALL DOORS

(Pic: Empty public gallery at the Town Hall last night)

Tuesday March 1, 2011

By RICHARD OSLEY

LABOUR councillors agreed the cuts budget that users of play centres, old people's clubs and libraries had been dreading last night behind closed doors.

Camden Mayor Jonathan Simpson said the shutters had to stay shut on the advice of the police as up to 1,000 protesters gathered in Judd Street, King's Cross. Less than 20 people were admitted to the public benches.

In a running push and shove surge with a line of police outside, demonstrators were repeatedly foiled in their attempts to get inside. The worst exchanges saw some protesters try and kick their way into the adjoining Camden Centre.

Campaigners later sat down for more than an hour in Euston Road in protest, blocking traffic in one of London's busiest roads. Heckling saw the meeting adjourned twice with members retreating to the Mayor's parlour.

Liberal Democrats argued a package of cuts could have been staved off for a year, allowing places to find new sources of income. Conservatives went further by claiming a range of threatened services could be protected for the future with more outsourcing and shared services. But Labour chiefs said demands to cut £100 million out of the council budget from Whitehall had turned those ideas into 'fantasy amendments' and had left them with no choice but to make some of the deepest cuts in Camden's history.

More follows: see Thursday's Camden New Journal for the full story.

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