The coalition government is taking no time in pushing through its right wing agenda, huge public service cuts alongside privatisation under the guise of the ‘big society’. Services in Brighton will be no exception as the welfare state is pulled apart in the name of deficit reduction while this cabinet of millionaires and their friends in big business reap the rewards.
Already over 100 university jobs have gone and now hundreds more in the council and health service are under threat. In a town that has already lost many jobs through the recession in the private sector these losses will be felt by services users and workers alike.
All those who are willing to stand against these cuts must work together to build resistance to the Tories, backing unions that take strike action and building demonstrations and support amongst the public. The formation of the Brighton Stop the Cuts Campaign with the Trades Council at the centre which includes unions, campaigns, voluntary groups and the Green and Labour and socialist parties is a move that Brighton TUSC fully supports and pressure must be put on our council to resist the cuts.
It is vital that while opposing the cuts we continue to raise the need for a new party of the working class, because without one we still fight with one hand tied behind our back. The Labour Party has not changed in opposition, it’s still undemocratic, warmongering and desperate for big business approval. Labour councils up and down the country are voting through cuts and the candidates for the leadership merely argue about the timing of public sector cuts.
This is why before the general election leading trade unionists and socialist organisations got together to form the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition with the aim of building an organisation that will give the working class a political voice again.
While uniting to fight the Tories we must set our sights higher than putting New Labour back in government. The Labour Party over the 13 years it was in power from 1997 failed to reverse the Tories anti-union laws and privatisation, in fact it carried on the pro-big business agenda of the Thatcher era. We can expect no better next time as Labour barely even talks left in opposition so we certainly can’t rely on it once in power.
To stop and reverse Tory polices the unions and workers need a political voice free from big business influence and the snouts in the trough corruption of the MPs of all parties.
To help make that happen get in touch with Brighton TUSC, raise the idea of a new party in your union branch or workplace and join the fight against cuts.
