Marchers protest against the cuts (From Oxford Mail)
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Marchers protest against the cuts
10:20am Tuesday 3rd May 2011 in Oxford By Rhianne Pope
Marchers protest against the cuts
PROTESTERS took to the streets of Oxford yesterday in a mass May Day demonstration against Government and council cuts.
Hundreds of people marched from Manzil Way in East Oxford to Broad Street, where trade unionists and others took to the stage to speak.
The demonstration comes as Oxfordshire County Council announced it will re-examine its controversial cuts to youth services and home care support workers.
Oxford and District Trades Union Council president Gawain Little said: “If people think one demo will make this government change its mind, then they are dreaming.
“But if enough people make their voices heard, eventually they have to listen, or else they cease to be a Government.”
Speakers in Broad Street included Emma Macbeth from Oxford City Unison, Bernard Regan from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and various young people from the Save Our Youth Centres campaign.
Music from the Oxford branch of Love Music Hate Racism then followed.
Among the crowd was 53-year-old Susan Parkinson, a UNISON member from Witney.
She said: “I work for the NHS, at the JR, and I am here to protest against Andrew Lansley’s proposed cuts to the NHS.
“I’m worried the health service will become a postcode lottery.
“GPs should be giving care, not acting as the money men.”
She added: “And as for the university fees, it is absolutely awful. The debt will just be a noose around these young people’s necks.”
Joseph Richards, 79, from Oxford, added: “If the NHS changes go through, they’ll be turning the clock back 60 years.
“At my age, you rely on the NHS and we don’t want to see it in private hands.”
Oxfordshire County Council will re-examine proposed cuts to youth services and home care support workers on Monday, after the decisions were “called in” to scrutiny committees.
Under the plans, agreed by the Conservative-run authority last month, youth work will cease at 22 centres across the county but will continue at seven hubs and six satellite centres.
The council’s 360 home support workers, who provide help to elderly and disabled residents, will all be made redundant.Those requiring the service will have to pay for private help using their personal budgets.
Labour county councillor Richard Stevens said: “The Labour group called in these decisions and there will now be a special meeting on Monday.
“One of the key issues with youth services is how the council is going to meet its statutory duty to secure access to youth services for 13- to 19-year-olds.”
Comments(4)
Zaxharias Ziegla
says...
3:40pm Tue 3 May 11
Unfortunately, £650m is only a fraction of what our government doles out in foreign aid every year to some of the world's most violent, feckless, ignorant, unenterprising people on earth, many of whom seem to return our generosity with hate (Kim Howells former Labour foreign affairs minister says Labour were TOO PC prior to 7/7).
On top of foreign aid to various parts of the world - mostly Africa - there's the subvention of millions of people from these areas living in Britain that we supply with the full range of our education, heath and social services.
But , perhaps, £650m for Pakistan, with Bin Liner as non-paying guest, does rather take the all-time poppadum!
Zaxharias Ziegla
says...
3:42pm Tue 3 May 11
Unfortunately, £650m is only a fraction of what our government doles out in foreign aid every year to some of the world's most violent, feckless, ignorant, unenterprising people on earth, many of whom seem to return our generosity with hate (Kim Howells former Labour foreign affairs minister says Labour were TOO PC prior to 7/7).
On top of foreign aid to various parts of the world - mostly Africa - there's the subvention of millions of people from these areas living in Britain that we supply with the full range of our education, heath and social services.
But , perhaps, £650m for Pakistan, with Bin Liner as non-paying guest, does rather take the all-time poppadum!
Mr Peter Mcvay
says...
4:45pm Tue 3 May 11
Zaxharias Ziegla wrote:Who is to say that he was a "non-paying guest?" The Pakistan secret police know if you have had as much as a sip of Shandy, yet they didn't know about a large, not so secret compound next to a military academy.
Spoken like a true Brit JC.
Unfortunately, £650m is only a fraction of what our government doles out in foreign aid every year to some of the world's most violent, feckless, ignorant, unenterprising people on earth, many of whom seem to return our generosity with hate (Kim Howells former Labour foreign affairs minister says Labour were TOO PC prior to 7/7).
On top of foreign aid to various parts of the world - mostly Africa - there's the subvention of millions of people from these areas living in Britain that we supply with the full range of our education, heath and social services.
But , perhaps, £650m for Pakistan, with Bin Liner as non-paying guest, does rather take the all-time poppadum!
Joe Cooke says...
10:43am Tue 3 May 11