Category: What cuts

Information about specific cuts

One Million Climate Jobs Now! Solving the Economic and Environmental Crises – public meeting in Derby on 31st Jan 2011

One Million Climate Jobs Now! Solving the Economic and Environmental Crises – public meeting
Time/Date: 7:00–8:30 pm on Monday 31st January 2011.
Venue: Friends Meeting House, St Helen’s Street, Derby DE1 3GY.

Download leaflet: one million climate jobs now – joint NUT Derby Climate Coalition meeting

Speakers:
Suzanne Jeffrey: N.U.T.
Chandra Morbey: Rail Engineer in Derby

Suzanne Jeffrey is Chair of the National ‘Campaign against Climate
Change’ Trade Union group which has produced the best-selling
pamphlet ‘One million climate jobs’. This makes the case for the
creation of employment in renewable energy, refitting buildings,
public transport, industry and education.

Chandra Morbey will look at the potential for railways upon jobs
and the environment.

All welcome.

SAVE SHERWOOD FOREST – public meeting at ICC/YMCA Thursday 27th Jan 2011

SAVE SHERWOOD FOREST

What can we do to ensure that Sherwood Forest is not privatised, in a mad rush
to shore up the Government’s coffers, and then denied to us forever? …we need to act fast.

Update: Private Eye in ‘Forest Chumps’ article explain how a piece of land sold at £60,000 to a private concern attracted an initial government grant of £55,000, and can take even more after: http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=hp_sauce&issue=1280

PUBLIC MEETING: 7:30 – 9:00pm, THURSDAY 27 January
International Community Centre61b Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG1 3FN

Update: we are delighted to add Paddy Tipping to the original list of speakers.

Speakers include:

  • Andrea Oates – Notts Save Our Services
  • Kaye Brennan – Woodland Trust
  • Peter Robinson – Climate Alliance
  • Paddy Tipping — Ramblers, Vice President

Let us know if you are coming please by sending a message to info [at] hiye.org.uk

Download poster for the meeting:

More Council spending cuts oin ITV (from last Dec 2010) : http://www.itv.com/news/council-spending-cut67122/

Background info: https://nottssos.org.uk/2011/01/08/forests-and-allotments-selling-em-off-or-raising-prices-in-nottingham-and-notts/

Notts SOS conference and EMA protests – reports from Saturday 15th January 2011

Combating the Cuts: planning for action! – conference held yesterday

Yesterday Notts SOS held it’s first conference in the Dunkirk and Old Lenton community centre.

Over 70 people were present during the day to discuss cuts and plan anti-cuts activity from now on in 7 sub-groups: Trades Unions, Local Government, Health/NHS, Education, Environment, Benefits/Pensions and Local Communities. A plenary session in the afternoon allowed space for participants to feedback from the groups and to discuss general points about the way forward for the Nottingham and Notts anti-cuts campaigning. A card was signed to be sent to Edward Woollard, the 18 year old student who was recently jailed after the Millbank demonstration. Food and refreshments were provided by Veggies.

A full report from the conference will come soon, but be assured there is lot to get involved with. Get in touch! Notts SOS meets next on Monday 24th January and there will be several events between now and then. So watch this space! In the meantime look at a couple of photos from the gathering:
http://www.nottstuc.org/2011/01/pics-from-yesterdays-notts-sos.html

Loads more photos on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/5umej6x

Nottingham Protests against the scrapping of Educational Support Allowance

On the same day students took to the streets again in Nottingham with a demonstration in the Market Square against the scrapping of EMA. For details see:

Nttm Students another Protest Against Scrapping EMA: http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/887

Notts students protest EMA cuts http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/888

More is planned, especially leading up to the demonstrations in Manchester and London on 29th Jan.

Also on the same day in Manchester, the first day of the Network X gathering went ahead, continuing today. Students from Nottingham participated.

Fight for Nottingham City libraries facing service, books and staff cuts.

We already know about cuts to County Libraries – redundancies, 75% cut in book budget, etc. Protests are organised (Beeston & Chilwell Defend Library Services campaign launched – public meeting 20th January and stalls on 15th & 16th).

Recently, some news has emerged about cuts to City Libraries, which are managed separately from those in the County. Library managers and others of similar rank were called to meetings soon after the New Year, to be told the news. Opening hours across nearly all City libraries (excluding the main library at Angel Row) are to be cut by 10%, with a consequent reduction in staff. Management claims that there will be no actual redundancies amongst library assistants (the lowest paid), but that unfilled vacancies, voluntary early retirement and reductions in hours (voluntary??) will fill the gap. However, there will be redundancies amongst librarians, senior library managers and library managers, who have received “At Risk” letters. Currently, nearly all libraries have a manager, one grade up from a library assistant and theoretically responsible for the day-to-day running of the library; in future, library managers will be managing more than one library. Libraries already operating part time hours will be open even shorter times, leading to the possibility of borrowers never finding them open and giving up on using them; then there will be “no public demand” for those libraries.

There will be no cuts at senior management level. Perhaps this is because nobody knows what they do.

The City book budget will be cut by 25%. As managers have, for years, engaged in a campaign to throw away perfectly good books bought by public money, this could mean a severe depletion of stock, especially of books with less mass-market appeal.

Library managers at the meeting were told to cascade this information to their staff. So library assistants will or will not have learned about it depending on whether or not their managers attended the meeting, and whether or not they have shared a shift with their library manager. Senior managers have also started touring community libraries to talk individually with library assistants. Cuts will be implemented before April.

It had previously been known that, later this year, Carlton Road library will join Top Valley, Bestwood, Wilford and Beechdale in being shut. Senior management will not guarantee the existence of any library, and expect to make further cuts beyond those described, in the future. Also of concern is the introduction of charging for computer usage in libraries, which, of course, will hit the poorest (including asylum seekers trying to keep in touch with families or support their cases) hardest.

But all is not gloom. According to reports, Loxley House (the new City Council admin HQ) was this year treated to a christmas tree costing £5,000.

To get involved with Notts SOS and fight for our libraries and other services: come to our conference on Saturday 15th January.

Nottingham protest against cut to Educational Maintenance Allowance [plus link to Central TV video] – and update about next demo on Saturday 15th.

Nottingham students against fees and cuts inside Vodaphone during EMA protest on 11th Jan 2011
Nottingham students against fees and cuts inside Vodaphone during EMA protest on 11th Jan 2011

Update 13/1/11 – another EMA demonstration is going ahead Saturday – Market Square at 12 noon until 2pm : http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=119710288094364

See inspiring photos from todays protest against the cut to Educational Maintenance Allowance that will affect 16-18 year olds, that can be found on the Nottingham Students Against Fees and Cuts (NSAFC) website: http://nsafc.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/ema-demo/.

The protest was supported by university students and also focused on the increase of fees to £9000 a year due to begin 2012 that was passed in the House of Lords in December.

More photos can be found on Nottingham Indymedia: http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/875

Central TV footage: http://www.itv.com/central-east/student-protests98684/

Also today, the courts jailed Edward Woollard, the 18 year old student who dropped a fire extinguisher from the roof of the Tory HQ, for 32 months for the public order offence of ‘Violent Disorder’: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/471869.html. Many other cases are due from the same day. For their support see Stop the hunt on the Millbank protestors (Facebook) and We need unity – defend the Millbank protestors. Also (support statement immediately after protest): Sign this statement to stand with the Millbank protesters against victimisation!

Clearly if you are going down to the next demo it’s a good idea to have some legal knowledge. If you don’t have local legal support on your coach, the ‘Bust Card’ of the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group in London is a very good resource worth taking with you. LDMG are very experienced with police repression, coming as they did out of the anti-Poll Tax ‘Trafalgar Square Defence Campaign’, whose http://www.ldmg.org.uk/ members of have recently supported the anti-fees demos and occupations.

Notts Cuts Watch #12 and Diary Dates for weeks beginning 10th & 17th Jan 2011

New year, new cuts. After an unplanned two week break, Notts Cuts Watch is back with a rundown of the cuts and resistance in Nottinghamshire since Christmas. Read Notts Cuts Watch #12 (covering last week Jan 3th-9th 2011): http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/859

Here are forthcoming events this week and next – follow links for details:

Monday 10th Jan – the first Notts SOS meeting of the year, at the ICC/YMCA. All welcome. Full venue details.

Tuesday 11th Jan – Nottingham protest against the cut of Educational Support Allowance.

Tuesday 11th Jan – Anarchists Against the Cuts meeting.

Saturday 15th Jan – COMBATING THE CUTS: PLANNING FOR ACTION! – come to the first Notts SOS conference & get involved!

Tuesday 18th January – Mansfield Notts SOS group next meets at 7pm on Tuesday 18th January at the Gas Club, off Lime Tree Place (At the bottom of Ratcliffe Gate). Mansfield Group of Notts SOS are planning a demonstration against the cuts in Mansfield in Mid February – more information soon. Come along if you want to help organise and build for a demo in Mansfield to fight the cuts.

Thursday 20th Jan – Beeston & Chilwell Defend Library Services meeting.

Thursday 20th Jan – Save Gedling School – Phoenix pub at 6.30. The fight to save Gedling school continues.

Thursday 20th Jan – Racism, Cuts and the Right – Nottingham Unity meeting.

Forests and allotments – selling ’em off or raising prices in Nottingham and Notts

National Forests, including Sherwood Forest in Notts and allotments across Nottingham City are one very vunerable focus of national government and local authority plans to ‘reduce the deficit’ by either privatising assets or making us pay vastly more to use them.

Last week it was highlighted in the press that Sherwood Forest in Notts is to be included in the sell off of Forestry Commission land as part of the forthcoming Public Bodies Bill – there have been previous reports but the Bill is due in parliament within the next few weeks. National campaigning exists http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/content/save-our-forests-campaign and especially in Gloucestershire about the Forest of Dean seel off, but a vibrant local campaign will be needed here to stop Sherwood Forest being sold off. A national protest rally was held earlier in the month with more than 3,000 people and a petition of over 110,000 pledging to defend “the people’s” trees from what is likely to be a corporate land grab:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/03/forest-of-dean-protesters-woodland. What more can be done here in Nottingham and Notts?

Furthermore Nottingham City Council is holding a consultation of changes to allotment tenancies, rent levels and plot allocation. They claim that the review “aims to encourage more people to get involved with growing food in Nottingham.” In fact, the changes would involve the trebling of rents for allotments in Nottingham. More details on Nottingham Indymedia: http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/854
 and http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/889

Save Our Forests Campaign – want to get involved?

The government is planning a massive sell off of our national forests. They could be auctioned and fenced off, run down, logged or turned into golf courses and holiday villages.

We can’t let that happen. We need to stop these plans now. National treasures like The Forest of Dean, Sherwood Forest and The New Forest could be sold off. Once they are gone, they will be lost forever.

There has been significant media coverage of the risks to the public forests and a huge “Save Our Forests” petition at www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests has attracted nearly 130,000 signatures and is growing all the time – please sign it.

Local campaigns have also been set up to fight the sell off in Cannock Chase and the Forest of Dean; but there isn’t much time. The Public Bodies Bill, the legislation that will enable this to happen, is due in parliament in the coming weeks.

Please contact us if you want to get involved in a Save Sherwood Forest Campaign and let us have your ideas about what we can do. You can also visit the Facebook group site: Save Sherwood Forest !!! ( FoSF ). Also on Facebook: What is the issue about the forest sell off — what is happening and why does it matter? And who cares?

More background info from Climate Alliance…

Public Bodies Bill
The Public Bodies bill, of which the ‘modernisation of forestry legislation’ is a part of, is going through the House of Lords at the moment and will then move to the Commons. So anyone who is in contact with their MP or wants to be on this issue, has time to call or write to your MP and raise your concerns/opposition/request for amendments to the bill. The link below takes you to the status of the bill & a short explanation of it, plus you can sign up to email updates which alert you whenever there’s progress/activity on the bill.
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/publicbodieshl.html

Natural Environment White paper
This white paper is still open to to grassroots consultation, responses can be submitted until the end of January.
http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/environment/natural/whitepaper/

Parliament briefing updated 23rd Nov 2010: The Forestry Commission and the sale of public forests in England
http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/SNSC-05734.pdfThis document provides historical & current background info on the sale of the public forest estate, plus a number of other links to info sources.

Forestry in England: A new strategic approach (apparently!)
http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/news/2010/10/29/forestry/
Letter to MPs from DEFRA to clarify position on public forest sale.

Forestry commission: Modernising forestry legislation
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7T9B67
The Forestry Commission’s position on the government proposals

More general comment & analysis

London School of Economics – Detrimental consequences of sell-off:
http://tiny.cc/ybm2g

Jonathon Porritt blog:
http://www.jonathonporritt.com/pages/2010/11/forests_on_the_front_line.html

Tax Breaks on forestry investment:

http://www.moneyobserver.com/issue/features/pros-and-cons-forestry-investing

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2011/01/07/forestry-commission-sale-is-a-massive-tax-planning-bonanza-for-the-rich/

http://www.stepjournal.org/journal_archive/2010/step_journal_april_2010/top_tips.aspx

“It takes the biscuit” – local action against VAT increase on 3rd Jan 2011

A digestive biscuitOn Monday 3rd January 2011 a group of activists gave out biscuits and leaflets in Nottingham and launched a website Takes the biscuit saying,

VAT
Value Added Tax (VAT) is a particularly unfair form of taxation. Poor people pay more as a percentage of their income than the rich.

VAT Increase
On Tuesday January 4th, the VAT rate goes up to 20%. This is part of the coalition government’s “deficit reduction” plans and was announced in George Osborne’s “emergency budget.”

Broken Promises
Nobody voted for an increase in VAT. During campaigning before the General Election, David Cameron said, “We have absolutely no plans to raise VAT.” The LibDems actively campaigned against a VAT increase, accusing the Tories of hiding a secret “VAT Bombshell.”

The Cuts
“The cuts” are a way of making ordinary people pay for the economic crisis caused by the bankers. When the banks got into difficulty, the British state stepped in to prop them up, but at huge cost. In order to make up this money, the government is now attempting to pass this cost onto ordinary people by cutting services, laying-off staff, increasing charges, inflating tuition fees and raising VAT.

Not Necessary
We believe that these cuts are unnecessary an attack on our communities. In fact some leading mainstream economists agree including the Guardian’s Larry Elliott and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz who have both warned that the severity of cuts being pushed by the coalition could kill off the economic recovery and push us back into a recession.

Government of Millionaires
The current government is made up of millionaires and public schoolboys who don’t understand the lives of ordinary people. When the new cabinet was announced in May, it emerged that 18 of the 23 full-time cabinet members were millionaires.

The Chancellor George Osborne is a prime example. Born Gideon Oliver Osborne, he is a former public schoolboy, attended Oxford, stands to inherit the Baronetcy of Osborne and is worth an estimated £4million.

Fighting Back
We have seen groups emerging across the country to resist the cuts. In Nottingham, Notts Save Our Services has been launched to try and coordinate local campaigns. By linking up the cuts against different cuts (to education, health, welfare, social care and much more) we can put more pressure on the government than we could working separately. The campaign to reduce (and perhaps ultimately abolish) VAT is another strand of this campaign.

Biscuits
The biscuit theme was intended as a way of making a fairly boring issue (VAT) at least vaguely interesting.

We chose biscuits because of the bizarre laws which mean that biscuits are subject to VAT, but cakes are not. In a relatively well-known case, McVities went to court in order to prove that Jaffa Cakes were indeed cakes and hence exempt.

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