Standing Against Council Cuts

10 years of cuts to services have left the Black Country close to breaking point. Year after year, Labour councillors in Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Dudley have passed on millions of pounds in Tory cuts, axing thousands of jobs in the process.

Labour councillors in Sandwell have carried out more than £70m in cuts, axing over 1000 jobs in the process.

As well as the closure of the borough’s only full-time arts venue, The Public, libraries are now running on a skeleton staff reliant on volunteers. The bins have been outsourced to Serco, leading to problems for residents and the workforce alike. And now Sandwell Leisure Trust are trying to fire and rehire leisure centre staff on worse terms and conditions.

Meanwhile in Wolverhampton we have seen nothing but budget cuts and tax rises year after year, and looking at what the Labour-run council have planned for the next few years nothing is going to change soon. A further £15 million of cuts is planned for 2021/22 and by 2024 an additional £30m will be added to that figure.

It’s clear that the UK isn’t broke. Last year, big businesses in the UK have increased their reserves by £118bn. Serco have pocketed £37bn of government money to run a test and trace scheme that isn’t fit for purpose.

Instead of bailouts for the super-rich, this money should be spent on confronting the problems facing Sandwell and elsewhere. Investment in genuinely affordable housing, services for young people and decently paid jobs to combat unemployment.

A council that stood up to central government and built a campaign to demand the necessary funding could force yet another U-turn on the Tories. Labour won’t fight for these things – we need socialist candidates who will!

That's why Socialist Party members across the country are standing in this May's elections as part of the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition. We'll be campaigning for councils to set no-cuts budgets based on the needs of their towns and cities, and demand the kind of money that's been thrown at big businesses on the back of the pandemic is instead used to fund jobs, homes and services.

In The Black Country, your TUSC candidates will be:

Sandwell

Cradley Heath and Old Hill – Cammilla Mngaza

Oldbury – Richard Gingell

Wednesbury North – Gareth Knox

Dudley

St Thomas - Nicola Fisher

Wolverhampton

Oxley - Joshua Allerton

Come and find out more at the Black Country TUSC Public Zoom Meeting – 7pm Monday 3^rd May

Meeting ID: 883 6533 2400

This post promoted by Nick Hart at 59 Stanmore Road Birmingham B16 9SU on behalf of Sandwell and Dudley TUSC candidates and Joshua Allerton at 84 Blackburn Avenue Wolverhampton WV6 9LQ on behalf of himself.