{"id":3810,"date":"2012-08-28T10:26:28","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T10:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=3810"},"modified":"2021-03-07T19:54:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T19:54:29","slug":"councillor-adopts-principled-stance-against-the-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/28\/councillor-adopts-principled-stance-against-the-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillor Adopts Principled Stance Against The Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TO: Elaine Kerr, Senior Admin Officer, Walsall Voluntary Action.<\/p>\n<p>FROM: Councillor Pete Smith.<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3810_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3810_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3810_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3810_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3810_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3810_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Pete Smith stood for and was elected as the Democratic Labour candidate in the Blakenall Ward of Walsall Metropolitan Burgh Council in the May local elections. Walsall Democratic Labour stood as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coaltion.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3810_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3810_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>RE: Council Spending Priority email\/attachments.<\/p>\n<p>Dear Elaine,<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Council&#8217;s budgets and attempts to engage the wider community in helping to decide where the axe should fall on Council services.<\/p>\n<p>With due respect, those\u00a0who care\u00a0about public services would be well advised to keep out of this exercise\u00a0<strong>in my opinion<\/strong>..why should they be so na\u00efve as to (even through the indirect way of answering simple questions) play a part in helping to provide \u00a3millions of cuts in services alongside a Council tax freeze at best (highly unlikely in 2013\/14 and beyond) or more likely a significant\u00a0rise in Council tax?<\/p>\n<p>Are we seriously\u00a0asking the people to legitimise a process whereby they and their fellow citizens\u00a0will pay more and receive less services, year by\u00a0year?\u00a0With respect, count me out. We are\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0all in this together.<\/p>\n<p>My position as a Councillor who fought AND WON\u00a0the last local election clearly committed to fighting the cuts (being imposed by Conservative, Liberal and\u00a0Labour Councillors all over the country)\u00a0is as follows and I would encourage as many people as possible to take a similar position,\u00a0led, hopefully,\u00a0by Walsall Councillors.<\/p>\n<p>The citizens and workers of Walsall Borough, led by their Councillors should:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Oppose all cuts<\/strong>\u00a0to council jobs, services, pay and conditions &#8211; rejecting the claim that &#8216;some cuts&#8217; are necessary to our overall services.<\/li>\n<li>Reject increases in council tax and increases in service charges\u00a0<\/strong>to compensate for government cuts.<\/li>\n<li>At each and every opportunity,\u00a0<strong>campaign and vote against the privatisation of council jobs and services<\/strong>, or the transfer of council services to &#8216;social enterprises&#8217; or &#8216;arms-length&#8217; management organisations, which are first steps to privatisation.<\/li>\n<li>Use all the legal powers available to Councils, including powers to refer local NHS decisions, initiate referenda and organise public commissions and consultations, to oppose both the cuts and government polices which centrally impose the transfer of public services to private bodies.<\/li>\n<li>When faced with government cuts to Council funding,\u00a0call on Councillors to\u00a0<strong>refuse to implement the cuts<\/strong>. Councils should, in the first instance, use their reserves and prudential borrowing powers to avoid passing on the cuts, whilst simultaneously campaigning alongside workers, residents and service users to build up a mass, popular\u00a0public opposition to the cuts.<\/li>\n<li>Argue that the best way to mobilise the mass public\u00a0campaign that is necessary to defeat the cuts, is to set a budget that meets the\u00a0<strong>needs of the local community<\/strong>\u00a0and demands that the government makes up the shortfall.<\/li>\n<li>Call on all Councillors to stand up and be counted and oppose these cuts.\u00a0<strong>Call on every Councillor to refuse to implement Government imposed cuts<\/strong>and present the bill for meeting the funding gap back to the government even if this results in the Government &#8220;doing its own dirty work&#8221; by imposing the cuts themselves in Walsall. Today, Councillors can no longer be surcharged unless they are found guilty of financial crime for personal gain. Such a stand could shake this Coalition\u00a0into a re-think if carried out by Councils across the country, especially Labour run Councils who\u00a0are presently shedding &#8220;crocodile tears&#8221; before wielding the axe with as much force as Conservative\/Liberal led Councils.\u00a0The few\u00a0Labour Councillors, across the country\u00a0who\u00a0have voted\u00a0against cuts proposed by a Labour controlled Council faced suspension or expulsion from the Party.<\/li>\n<li>Above all, the most important aspect of all this is to mobilise as many sections of the community as possible\u00a0to join a mass peaceful and lawful campaign to demand that their elected representatives stand up to the massive and hugely unfair cuts rather than aid and abet their implementation, which is unfortunately what Conservative, Liberal and Labour Councillors are doing all across the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At least you now know where I stand on the budget and the cuts. 57 of the present 60 Walsall Councillors belong to one of the 3 main Party Groups and therefore will behave and vote as directed by their Party bosses in London (that means implementing the cuts if in control of the Council). Only a mass popular, public, legal and peaceful campaign engaging hundreds, even\u00a0thousands of local citizens, might, just might, bring a change of mind.\u00a0I would hope the Voluntary Sector would\u00a0also be very much part of such a public campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you and best wishes,<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Pete Smith<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Labour<\/p>\n<p>Blakenall Ward<\/p>\n<p>Walsall MBC.<\/p>\n<p>Also see <strong>Fighting the Cuts &#8211; Beyond October 1st<\/strong> on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/21\/fighting-the-cuts-beyond-october-1st\/\">Fighting the Cuts \u2013 Beyond October 1st<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><h3><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3810_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3810_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3810_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/h3><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_3810_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3810_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3810_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3810_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Pete Smith stood for and was elected as the Democratic Labour candidate in the Blakenall Ward of Walsall Metropolitan Burgh Council in the May local elections. Walsall Democratic Labour stood as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coaltion.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_3810_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3810_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3810_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_3810_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3810_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3810_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3810_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3810_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3810_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_3810_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_3810_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3810_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_3810_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3810_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TO: Elaine Kerr, Senior Admin Officer, Walsall Voluntary Action. FROM: Councillor Pete Smith.[1]Pete Smith stood for and was elected as the Democratic Labour candidate in the Blakenall Ward of Walsall Metropolitan Burgh Council in the May local elections. Walsall Democratic Labour stood as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coaltion. RE: Council Spending Priority&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843,1852,1855,1846,1856,1854,910],"tags":[8941],"class_list":["post-3810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-capitalists-organise","category-how-communists-organise","category-exploitation-and-emancipation","category-british-imperialism","category-economic-struggles","category-the-left-crisis","category-trade-unionism","tag-author-pete-smith"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":6794,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3810"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18303,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions\/18303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}