[OccupySheffield] [OccupySheffieldPrivate] ACTION OUTSIDE THETOWN HALL - JAN 6 - in response to the letter from the Leaderof the Council - Julie Dore

[Peter Garbutt]

Hi all
I think Mick has said it all.
Of course no-one wants to have cuts. The Green Party's manifesto at the general election made clear our very well costed alternatives. Alternatives is a word bandied about by SACA, but rarely with any clothes on it.
And of course we have to demonstrate so that the public can learn about the alternatives, so we will be there with ours, tomorrow. If SACA have some, too, that will be great.
But SCC can do nothing against the cuts. As Mick says, and Jean, it would be illegal to refuse to set a budget. The only way action of this kind could be made to work is if enough councils up and down the country decided to do the same, making it impossible for Pickles' department to create enough teams to take them all over. Even then, he'd pick a few, and make examples of them.
This is an action that was called by SACA, an organisation forged in the hope of bringing together many bodies from all sectors of society affected by the cuts, but mired in the factional in-fighting of the Left and, because of that, alienating many of those individuals and organisations previously untouched by that blight. Many members are still wedded to Labour, believing it to be reclaimable; others are SWP members. These and other tensions within the Alliance lead to decisions which occasionally lack focus. 
It's up to us to give that focus.
Peter

From: zapatista2010 at googlemail.com
To: jeanwildgoose at yahoo.co.uk; davidkirkham at live.co.uk; occupysheffield at email-lists.org
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 14:37:58 +0000
Subject: Re: [OccupySheffield] [OccupySheffieldPrivate] ACTION OUTSIDE	THETOWN HALL - JAN 6 - in response to the letter from the	Leaderof the Council - Julie Dore










Jean, David, all
 
>Hi David - am in absolute agreement about our opposition to Govt policy 
but my understanding is that SCC would be acting unlawfully if they do not 
implement cuts as dictated by Central govt which could then move in and take 
over. So we can demonstrate against govt policy but it would seem SCC has it's 
hand tied?
 
As I understand it, the Govt have not said councils 
have to cut services - that would be political suicide - what they have done is 
reduced the budgets the council receives - how the council deals with that is a 
matter for them. What would be an issue if the council refused to set a budget - 
as Labour as opposition did last year when they could have easily overturned the 
Lib Dem proposal then Eric 'Communities' Pickles would simply send a team in to 
set a budget and everything would be slashed as they went - there would also be 
an issue of the council being fined, meaning further extensive cuts in the years 
to come.  
 
So in effect, Jean you are right their hands are 
tied. Politically it would be an issue not to set a budget which would haunt 
them for years to come.  This consultation with the public is a farce - 99% 
of us don't have access to the budgets to which to make an informed judgement 
from - however it does give a 'get of jail free' card to the likes of Dore and 
Lodge - as they can say 'well its what the public wanted?' - at the end of the 
day all the consultation will do is give the racists and bigots in our society a 
platform to rant about their chosen issues. As the council have been already 
been briefing councillors on the budget cuts - the decisions are already made - 
just not made public. 
 
And finally we come to SACA - fighting the cuts - 
but not willing to raise issues with the Labour council or previous government 
who are equally to blame for the problems we face locally. What alternatives are 
they offering - so far they are rattling the drum, saying 'no to the cuts' but 
fail to disclose what they will do differently. They have no alternative, no 
solution. The only active political group in the city with thought out 
alternatives are the Greens and they are marginalised in the SACA movement. 

 
No doubt tomorrow they'll be criticised by the SACA 
speakers for suggesting alternatives - but its a no-brainer. Its important to 
protect services where possible to the most needed or where the services can be 
best provided with the best outcomes but I suggest that Labour will simply prop 
up their pet projects and damn the rest and use the cuts as an excuse. 

 
I agree we should protest about the unfairness of 
it all, but suspect the people making the decisions will not take that into 
account at all.
 
Mick
Green Party member
 
 
 
 

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