On Saturday 25 October Parents Against Cuts and supporters of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) in Newcastle gathered outside the councillor surgery of Labour Council Leader Nick Forbes for a lively protest against cuts to Sure Start and family services.
For more information about the cuts to Sure Start in Newcastle and the Parents Against Cuts campaign click here.
The protest took place during a week in which the campaign had received significant national and local media attention and had forced limited concessions from the council in the form of a Cabinet proposal to reduce the planned cuts by £385,000. The campaign is quite clear that this is not good enough. So with Halloween just a week away, protesters – decked-out in spooky fancy-dress and led by ‘Ghosts of Labour’s Past’ – arrived at the Council Leader’s Westgate surgery armed with sound-system, banners and placards; sending a very clear message to ‘Slasher Forbes’ and his Labour ‘Council-of-Cuts’ – the message that concessions or no concessions the campaign’s central demand remains the same:
No cuts to Sure Start – No cuts at all! Early-years provision for everyone!
A ‘Ghost of Labour’s Past’: the Ghost of Regular Bin Collection
Having already cut his city centre surgeries, this was one meeting where local people could have expected to speak to the man behind the cuts. In fact it was a meeting for which Forbes failed to even show-up for, instead sending local councillor and ex-Labour Mayor Geoff O’Brien whose tired claims that Labour councils have no choice but to implement cuts were soon drowned out with chants of “no more crocodile tears”. Items such as books, paddling pools, bags of rubbish and bedding were piled at the entrance of the surgery to represent the Labour council’s ‘History of Horrors’ which includes cuts to libraries, swimming pools, bin collections and street cleaning as well as their unlawful implementation of the bedroom tax.
Newcastle Labour Council – no more crocodile tears!
No cuts to Sure Start – No cuts at all!
We demand early-years provision for all!
Nick ‘Slasher’ Forbes & his Labour Council’s ‘history of horrors’
Local media coverage of the protest:
For the Chronicle article click here.
For the ITV Tyne Tees video coverage click here.
For more upcoming North East events click here.
For reports of other recent events in the North East click here.
For more information about Parents Against Cuts go to the Facebook page:
click here.
