"£40 million" said Steve North from Salford Against The Cuts addressing around 200 protestors outside Salford town hall today "£40 million. At the moment these are just numbers on a page and it's hard to comprehend. But as these figures become real job losses and real cuts to services that will impact upon people, the anger will grow…and these protests will grow.
"Already we've seen kids protesting about the closure of Ordsall Library and people protesting yesterday at Cadishead Library" he added "This is just the start."
Other speakers from trade unions and the anti-cuts movement lined up to underline his points, spreading criticism at both the Labour Council and the ConDem Government that has imposed the cuts.
"This is about privatising services" said UNISON rep Ameen Hadi "The Council doesn't even realise it but that's what it is about. The councillors say that they can't do anything about it but they need to join with us. You can do something about it – look at Libya. It does work. And the unions need to take the lead,"
Ex Agecroft miner, Paul Kelly, spoke passionately about the affect that strike had on Salford people and the decimation of the coal industry. He had been into the morning session of the Council meeting and was appalled… "They're all squealing like pigs in there" he said "The Tories are laughing. There's only the people of Salford themselves who can stop these cuts."
Later in the day, Salford Council officially ratified £40million of cuts – with the Tories voting against the budget, Labour voting for it and the Lib Dems abstaining.
See Salford Council Cuts Panto Here
See here for full details of the cuts
And Salford Star John Merry interview on the cuts here
Photos by Gareth Lyons and Albert Spiby
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