Anti-cuts candidates challenge cuts politicians across Scotland

The Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition is to stand in areas across Scotland on May 3rd, the date of the local government election in Scotland.  Our candidates include workers fighting to save the Remploy factories, leading members of public sector unions including Unison, PCS and the EIS, anti-cuts campaigners, socialists, Youth Fight For Jobs activists, disabled rights campaigners and community activists.  

The Scottish local government elections on May 3rd take place at a time of vicious cuts and savage austerity for the majority. Yet the rich have never had it so good. The recent Tory/Lib Dem budget slashed tax for the wealthy and big business while at the same time driving ahead with plans to step-up attacks on public spending and welfare benefits.

Why should ordinary people have to pay for the greed of the rich and the bankers? They’re the ones who created the economic mess, yet we’re being told we have to pay the price to clean it up. We’re facing huge cuts to our jobs, wages, pensions and benefits – while the bankers are pocketing millions in bonuses. We say NO. Make them pay.

Councils in Scotland have seen dramatic cuts in their budgets over the last three years. Billion s have been cut from public spending in Scotland by the ConDem millionaires, shamefully aided by the SNP-led Scottish government. To a man and a woman the ruling parties at a local council level have passed the cuts on to us. That means tens of thousands fewer jobs, huge funding cuts to local projects, privatisation of services and pay cuts for workers as a result of years of wage freezes.

And yet there is an alternative. Instead of imposing the Tory cuts on working class communities’ councillors have the option of standing with the people who elected them.

Devastating cuts

Over the last three years hundreds of millions of pounds have been cut from local government funding in Scotland. 13,000 jobs have been wiped-out this year alone. At the same time corporation tax for big business and income tax for the rich is being slashed. A small fraction of this would reverse the cuts in local government spending in Scotland. In 2009 one bank, RBS received £37 billion from the public purse. Many communities will be asking where is our bail-out for our jobs and services.  

Enough is enough. The Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition (SACC) is standing and supporting candidates in areas across Scotland including Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Midlothian and Renfrewshire among others.

SACC was set-up by trade unionists, community campaigners and socialist organisations to offer an alternative to the failed politicians who are imposing Tory cuts on us. SACC is standing candidates in many areas across Scotland in May.

SACC is standing in 7 of the 8 council wards in Dundee, 12 in Glasgow (9 standing as SACC and 3 as Solidarity), 5 candidates in Renfrewshire, 4 in Edinburgh, 3 in Midlothian, 2 in the Highlands, 1 in Ayrshire, 1 in North Lanarkshire. Solidarity, who are part of the anti-cuts coalition are standing two candidates in South Lanarkshire.   

In addition SACC initiated negotiations in Glasgow to avoid any clashes of socialist and anti-cuts candidates competing in the same wards. As a result all 21 wards in Glasgow will have a socialist/anti-cuts candidate.  

Set needs budgets

SACC candidates will call for councils to refuse to implement the cuts. As an immediate first step councils should set budgets based on the needs of the local community including making no cuts to the current level of spending.  

While this would create over time a shortfall, councils could use their reserves and borrowing powers to avoid inflicting the Tory cuts. At the same time a mass campaign involving the council trade unions and local communities could be mobilised to demand that the government makes up the shortfall.

As the Socialist Party in England and Wales who are standing as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition commented “We are told that doing this – following the example of Poplar in the 1920s or of Liverpool and Lambeth in the 1980s – is ‘impossible’ and will inevitably lead to defeat.

But the real history is different. Poplar council won a campaign to equalise the rates across London and were able to introduce a programme of financial assistance for the poor, equal pay for women and a minimum wage for council workers.

In the 1980s the socialist-led Liverpool City Council forced Thatcher to hand over an extra £60 million to Liverpool.

That was used to build 5,000 council houses plus new leisure centres and nurseries and to create tens of thousands of jobs.

Liverpool’s councillors were only able to be removed and surcharged after the betrayal of Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Co.

Today councillors can no longer be surcharged unless they are found guilty of financial crime for personal gain. But it is still true that any council that refused to carry out cuts or introduce hikes in council tax would – at a certain stage – come into conflict with the legal system.

Trade unionists and anti-cuts campaigners would be able to mobilise tens of thousands in support of such a stand. In these circumstances it would be very difficult for the law to be used against such councils.

However, most councils can prepare themselves before taking this road. By using their reserves and borrowing powers to avoid making cuts, councils could gain time to build a mass movement in their support.”

If elected SACC councillors will

• Oppose all cuts to jobs, council services, workers pay and conditions – we reject the claim that ‘some cuts’ are inevitable to our services.

• Fight for a massive investment programme to build new council housing helping to create jobs and apprenticeships for our young people.
  Vote against all increases in council tax, rent, school meals or service charges to compensate for cuts

• Oppose all privatisation of council jobs and services, including the transfer of council services and housing to ‘social enterprises’ or ‘arms-length’ management organisations, which are first steps to privatisation

• Give full support to trade unionists and local communities who are fighting the cuts

• Argue for councils to set a No cuts budget that meets the needs of the local community.

• At the same time we will work to build a mass campaign to force the ConDem government to pay back the money stolen from local government to bail out the bankers and the rich.

The Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition also believes that by taxing the rich and big business appropriately, billions could be raised for public services. Ending expensive and wasteful private finance schemes in our public services could save hundreds of millions more. Public ownership of the banks and the big companies could release huge resources to invest in the future of the majority – instead of lining the pockets of a tiny elite.

If you think it’s wrong that the rich and big business are seeing their taxes cut while we face savage cuts to our vital public services, jobs and communities then vote for your anti-cuts candidate on May 3rd.

Give us your No 1 vote or the highest possible preference