Merseyside Right to Work was established in May of this year to give the local region a campaigning united group against the cuts which we knew were going to come with the election of the coalition government. Merseyside Right to Work has organised demonstrations outside Liverpool Town Hall on the day of the budget and public spending review announcements, and took 70 people to the Tory Party conference demonstration in Birmingham in October. Merseyside Right to Work works with and supports other anti cuts groups whilst also making links between the different struggles that everyone are facing.

Monday 7 February 2011

Anti cuts demo and rally 5th Feb 2011, Liverpool


Despite heavy rain and high winds around 800 people marched through the streets of Liverpool on Saturday 5th February to oppose the governments proposed cuts. They marched to the Anglican Cathedral for a rally which attracted over 1500 people. 

The rally was opened by The Socialist Singers with a mixture of traditional songs of resistance such as ‘Freedom’ and modern topical arrangements such as ‘Fat Cat’ (sung to the theme tune of TV show Top Cat).

The speakers included representatives from the trade union movement, an FE student and Tony Benn.  All of them deplored the tactics and policies of the ConDem government and Gail Cartmel, Assistant General Secretary of Unite, described how Cameron was completing the unfinished business of the last Tory government, which is to shrink the state and public sector. 

Chris Baugh, Assistant General Secretary of PCS, said that workers are not prepared to pay for the economic crisis which was caused by ‘high octane free market capitalism’ and described the cuts as the ‘biggest attack on the social gains fought for and won by the working class’.  He received a standing ovation as he concluded that this is now an opportunity to talk about what kind of society we want to live in and that another world is possible.

Student Lizzie O’ Rourke asked if we live in a democracy or an elected dictatorship and declared that this government doesn’t want working class kids to have the same opportunities as their kids.  She spoke of the fundamental human right to education and asked ‘how dare they take that away from us’.  She concluded, to a standing ovation, that the government want the working class back in their place and believing as her grandparents’ generation did that ‘University is not for the likes of us.’


North West secretary of the NUT, Avis Gilmore, made reference to the struggle in Egypt as she said that Cameron had told Mubarak to listen to the Egyptian people, but she asked, ‘Will he listen to his own people?’

Tony Benn concluded with a rallying call that “All progress has been made throughout our history by people doing exactly what you’re doing today, demonstrating.”  He also acknowledged the continuation of Liverpool’s history of political and social activism following the council’s decision this week to withdraw from the government’s ‘Big Society’ scheme.




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