Supporters of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) in Newcastle launched a campaign to fight the latest round of council cuts. We got a huge amount of support from local communities. Despite this all Labour councillors in the city voted in favour of the cuts on 3 March 2021, with the deputy leader of the council contemptuously rubbishing our petition.
In December 2020, Newcastle Labour council outlined their budget for 2021/2023 which included a massive £40 million cut to local services. Bringing the total cuts since 2010 in Newcastle to a shocking £345 million. Not one Labour councillor has voted against the cuts in all of this time.
The new round of cuts included:
- £400,000 to free school meals
- £2m to the public health budget
- £13.2m cut to services for the elderly, disabled and people with mental health conditions
- £6.4m cut to children services
- £100,000 cut to libraries
- 15 council workers being made redundant
Our goal as an organisation was to raise awareness and demand that all councillors vote against the proposed cuts that will prove disastrous for the local communities. The North East of England has been pummeled by the last decade of austerity and FRFI has played an integral role over the past 10 years of opposing these cuts and raising awareness in working class areas; making sure the cuts aren’t passed under the table.
We focused on our work in the East and West Ends of Newcastle. The feedback we received from the working class communities over the course of the campaign was enlightening, helpful and inspiring, with the general consensus that of frustration and anger. No surprise as parents in these areas are struggling to put food on the table with 1.4 million children claiming free school meals this January, with the highest proportion (23.5%) in the North-East. The importance of community engagement is clear and needs to be even more prevalent. However, there has been no resistance to these cuts from trade unions, despite the job losses; or from other so-called socialist organisations who are wedded to Labour. If FRFI had not have taken this issue up, there would have been no organised resistance.
In just a few weeks we got hundreds of signatures against the cuts, as well as press coverage and submitted our petition to the council on 3 March when they voted on their budget. Labour unanimously voted in favour of the £40m cuts, which meant they were passed. This was on the same night that these same councillors gifted Newcastle City Council CEO, Pat Richie a £5,000 pay rise, adding to her already bloated salary of £188,948. How this is allowed to happen whilst parents are struggling to put food on the table is disgusting and shows that the ‘democratic process’ is a stitch up.
Labour councillors justified their support for the cuts by claiming their hands were tied. Like an automated message; the excuses used were ones we’ve heard time and time again. There is no respite in these politicians for the working class. Our demands can only be won with sustained community campaigning in direct opposition to the Labour council.
Harvey McFarlane
