Campaigners against the Government's huge public sector cuts programme are to stage a street protest outside the Connexions office on Bradshawgate in Leigh on Saturday 12th February at 11.00am -1.00pm to highlight the devastating impact of the cuts on local people.
The organisers are hoping that the action and follow-up meeting at Leigh Labour Club on Friday 18th February (7.30pm start) will not only help to raise public awareness concerning the cuts issue, but also lead to the launch of a Leigh based campaign group linked to the growing Wigan Borough, Greater Manchester and national fight to fight to defend public services and the welfare state supported by the trades unions.
Saturday's street protest will be focussing on the effects of the Government's cutbacks on the local Connexions services, which provides career and other advice to local young people in addition to the potential closure of local libraries, hospitals, and job centres. It will also be pointing out the effect of cuts in housing and transport subsidies which will see local Council house rents rising markedly over the next few years, housing benefit to low-income families cut, huge rises in bus and train fares and the axing of many if not all 'unprofitable' routes, all which will lead to the social exclusion and isolation of already disadvantaged communities.
A spokesperson for the Wigan Borough People Against Cuts group who are co-sponsoring Saturday's protest and follow up meeting on the 18th said:
"Ordinary folk can either sit back and do nothing about these massive attacks on our public services, the welfare state, and on our jobs and living standards, which will see us lose everything our great grandparents, grandparents and parents have fought and achieved over the last 80 years, or they can mount a fight back and stop it.
"This Government does not have a mandate for what is doing. Indeed, not a single person voted for the Coalition's programme, and yet they intend to make ordinary people foot the bill for the reckless speculation of the Banks and £billions in losses they ran up. They prefer to do this rather than make the Banks and the most well off people in our society who are getting richer by the minute, and who the current Government represents, foot the bill through paying their fare share of taxes.
"Ordinary people need to come together and bring their own collective strength to bear as they have done in Tunisia recently and are currently doing in Egypt currently to break this un-mandated and illegitimate Government. If we don't then some people have said we will see Britain return to the social conditions and mass unemployment of the 1930s, but the fact of the matter is it will be even worse than that, as even in the Great Depression for example we had many of the public libraries which are currently facing the axe.
Issued by Stephen Hall on behalf of People Against Cuts
E-mail: peopleagainstcuts@
Tel: 07724 139 278
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