Reject Butcher Bore’s Budget – City Budget Day Noisy Protest
Tuesday March 4th
12.30 -2.00 pm
Victoria Square
Birmingham
Leaflets are available from Unison Local Government, Godfrey Webster or email BirminghamAgainstTheCuts@Gmail.com
The proposed city council budget for 2014-2015 is a disaster for the people of Birmingham. Cuts of £86 million or 9% of the controllable budget will see children’s homes shut, leisure services privatised, adult care packages downgraded and privatised. Cuts to district budgets are 30% this year rising to 50% next, meaning libraries, neighbourhood offices, leisure and play centres face decimation. Cuts to the grant to Centro will see less mobile people forced to pay extra for ring and ride. Around another 1000 jobs will be lost, with many expected to carry on working unpaid as volunteers.
This is just a taster of what is to come if the government’s future spending plans are allowed to happen. Free local services will be a thing of the past. Those who cannot afford to pay will have to beg for charity as in the nineteenth century.
BATC says it doesn’t have to be like this. Britain is still one of the richest countries in the world but the rich are taking a larger and larger share of national income. They see local government as just a potential market for their corporations (eg Capita), with services that can’t make a profit thrown to the wall. The Labour council should not be carrying out this process, but should be leading a nationwide fight to prevent it.
Birmingham Against The Cuts 
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I don’t think it is fair or helpful to label Bore a ‘butcher’, but even if the cuts are being driven by national government (my belief) we still need to make our voices heard and prevent public services being privatised and sub-contracted.
I agree that cuts are driven by the coalition government. However the Labour Party of which Albert Bore is a leading member is committed to the same economic policy of austerity with cuts in benefits and services. Albert’s claim to be protecting the vulnerable is also hollow. Birmingham is one of a minority of councils forcing those on job seekers allowance to pay council tax. Unlike other councils it has also refused to reclassify homes to avoid the bedroom tax or to guarantee that no evictions will take place. The cuts to ring and ride clearly discriminate against disabled people. Birmingham is in the forefront of privatising adult care and children’s services.
It might be more appropriate to label Bore an undertaker, laying to rest the body, Birmingham city council, in a timely tasteful and hygienic fashion, but it doesn’t alliterate so well.
Reblogged this on Exploring life on the breadline. and commented:
We’ll be live blogging from this event on Tuesday 4th March! Make sure you follow our lifestream to keep up to date -https://new.livestream.com/accounts/7423512/cutsbrum