Search

PDF version available for download (PDF help)

date: 18 October 2010

embargo: 00.01hrs Tuesday 19 October 2010

Cuts are a political project based on bad economics, warns TUC

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber will tell a protest rally today (Tuesday), on the eve of the Comprehensive Spending Review, that the Government's cuts programme is a political choice, not an economic necessity, and a deliberate policy that will make Britain 'a more unequal, more squalid and nastier country.'

Instead the emphasis should be on fair tax and policies that promote growth, he will say at the All Together for Public Services rally in Central Hall, Westminster. 'The UK is a hard working country that can generate the tax that can fill the deficit gap, that can create the jobs that a lost generation of young people need, and that can meet the challenges that we face as a society - from moving to a low-carbon economy to eliminating child poverty,' he will add. (Full text of Brendan's speech is below).

The rally - which starts at 12.30pm - brings together a broad coalition of union members, community leaders, campaign groups and users of public services, and is followed by a lobby of MPs inside Parliament from 2.30pm.

Speakers at the rally will include:

• Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, President of the Methodist Conference, Reverend Alison Tomlin and Duncan Shrubsole from Crisis will speak about how the cuts are hitting the poorest and the most vulnerable the hardest.
• Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, who hosted last week's Have I Got News for You? and who recently played Sherlock Holmes in the BBC mini series Sherlock, and Joe Kloska, who appears as a civil servant in Made in Dagenham, will speak about cuts to arts funding and the closure of the UK Film Council.
• Unite Joint General Secretary Tony Woodley will warn of the impact spending cuts will have on private sector jobs, and Dave Prentis, Unison General Secretary and Chair of the TUC's Public Services Liaison Group will talk about the effect on workers in the public sector and the services they provide. Patricia King from the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union will recount her experience of cuts to public sector spending, pay and jobs when the Irish Government began to tackle its deficit, and Dot Gibson from the National Pensioners Convention will speak about the impact of the cuts on older people.
• Tax expert Richard Murphy will set out how a fairer tax system, including the introduction of a Robin Hood Tax on the banks, could help tackle the deficit without the need for huge spending cuts, and Friends of the Earth's Director Andy Atkins will warn that cuts to green projects will hit attempts to build a low-carbon economy and create new jobs.
• Holly Dustin from the End Violence Against Women Campaign will talk about how Government plans to tackle the deficit will hurt women, Alison Lyddon, a physiotherapist, will speak of how the NHS helped her when she suffered a serious injury, Kaytie McFadden from Coventry Youth Council will warn of her fears for what the cuts mean for younger people, and Joe Baden from the Open Book project, an access programme at Goldsmiths University for ex-offenders, will talk about social inequality and the cuts to higher education.

Opening the rally Brendan Barber will say:

'Tomorrow the Government will announce unprecedented cuts in public spending - deeper than any of us can remember. They will bite deep into our social fabric - and hit some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.

'They want us to believe that they have no choice and that this is economic necessity. Yet economic experts across the spectrum warn us that the cuts are too deep and too rapid. The warnings come from the White House, the US Treasury department, Nobel prize winners like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, key members of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, the chief economics commentator on the Financial Times, and yes, even the Mayor of London.

'At worst the cuts will plunge us back into recession. And at best they will condemn us to lost years of high unemployment and growth so weak that the deficit may well stay high.

'This is not economic necessity, but a political choice. Bad economics is serving a political project that has never been put to the British people at an election.

'This event brings together a huge range of people who say that ministers must think again. You will hear from people whose jobs and livelihoods are directly threatened, from those who depend on quality public services, and from those in the private sector whose jobs are as vulnerable to the cuts as anyone working for a local council.

'Above all, you will hear from a new and much broader coalition than that which makes up the Government. A coalition of the concerned, a gathering of those who say that these cuts offend our deep British sense of fairness.

'However you tweak or spin such massive cuts they will inevitably hit the poor and those on middle incomes the hardest. Those at the top who can easily afford to plug any gaps will hardly notice them.

'The truth is that there are alternatives. At every point in the development of its policies, the Government had choices.

'The Government deliberately chose to meet 80 per cent of its target by spending cuts, and not by tax. And that means making Britain a more unequal, more squalid and nastier country, as a deliberate policy.

'Instead we should back fair taxes - because those who did best from the boom should help pay for the bust they created. Whether it's a Robin Hood Tax on the banks, a crackdown on the £25 billion of tax avoidance by the City and the super rich, or measures to close the corporate tax gap, there are positive choices a Government committed to fairness could make.

'Ministers deliberately chose a timetable for deficit reduction that is so tight they probably won't meet it. Because the great myth in this debate is the more that you cut, the quicker you reduce the deficit.

'The biggest contribution to reducing the deficit in any conceivable plan comes from economic growth. It's a hard-working country that can generate the tax that can fill the deficit gap, that can create the jobs that a lost generation of young people need, and that can meet the challenges that we face as a society - from moving to a low-carbon economy to eliminating child poverty.

'Not everyone you will hear from today will agree about everything. There are different priorities, different emphases - but we are all here today because we fear for our country's future if the deep, rapid cuts go ahead.

'What ministers plan is not inevitable. It's their political choice and it's our democratic duty to wage the strongest political campaign of our lifetimes for a change of course. And it starts today.'

• Actor Joe Kloska said: 'I am strongly supporting the TUC rally because we have to unite together to challenge the pernicious logic of this Government and to defeat the cuts. These cuts will damage all of us, and while I realise the arts are not a matter of life and death, I believe they are important in peoples' lives. They empower us and liberate our imaginations, they promote unity, and they challenge us to explore our human natures and the world around us. We have a fantastic, vibrant and diverse culture in Britain and we should be very proud of it. We demand that any Government gives it financial support.'
• Actor Benedict Cumberbatch said: 'War Horse is a great example of the value of subsidised theatre. It opened at the National in 2007 and went on to become one of the most successful productions in the theatre's history. The idea of a play based on the wanderings of a horse in the first world war would not scream 'smash hit' to a private investor, but now it is a West End hit and being made into a massive children's film directed by Steven Spielberg, which I am lucky enough to be a part of. All this has been possible only because of the subsidy the theatre receives.'
• Co-ordinator of the Open Book project at Goldsmiths University Joe Baden said: 'I'm attending the rally today because I see higher education as having the potential to become the greatest vehicle for achieving social equality in this country. I'm concerned that the cuts this Government is making will return us to the days when the higher education system was one of the most effective tools for maintaining privilege.'
• Tax Research UK Director Richard Murphy said:'Before any cuts are made in spending the Government has a duty to collect that tax that's owing to it. HM Revenue and Customs estimate there's almost £70 billion of unpaid tax in the economy. I think it's more like £120 billion. It's easy to imagine at least £20 billion of this being recovered each year but the Government is intent on cutting spending at HMRC instead. Theirs is the economics of the mad house - cutting spending when there is no need to do so.'
• Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins said: 'Friends of the Earth believes that a healthy environment and peoples' wellbeing go hand in hand - and investing in a green recovery can help prevent savage spending cuts that will hit poorest households hardest. Green investment is needed to unlock the massive jobs potential of new industries and slash energy waste - saving businesses, local authorities and taxpayers billions of pounds a year. Without strong Government support the UK will miss the opportunity to develop a thriving low-carbon economy - along with the new jobs, industries and tax revenue we so desperately need.'
• End Violence Against Women Coalition Director Holly Dustin said: 'It is vital that we challenge funding cuts to frontline services such as rape crisis centres and specialist domestic violence projects which provide a lifeline to women at a time when they need it most. The cuts are threatening an already fragile sector. Women's wellbeing and safety is not a luxury that can only be afforded when times are good. It is a basic human right at all times.'
• Kaytie McFadden from Coventry Youth Council said: 'The cuts will affect young people massively and will result in a huge change in all our lives. My fear is that the cuts will mean that young people in future will only be able to access sub-standard services because it's simply not possible to run things to the same efficiency and with the same levels of support with little or no money. Worse still I fear that some of the services will disappear entirely, leaving young people with either little or no support.'
• Crisis Director of Policy and External Affairs Duncan Shrubsole said: 'Why are those who rely on benefits being made to pay for the mistakes of the bankers? The Government pledged that the poor and vulnerable would be protected from the spending cuts. Yet in the cuts to housing benefit announced in June's budget we have already seen nearly a million of the poorest households will lose an average of £624 a year - leaving them facing serious hardship and potentially homelessness, with further cuts on the way. We must still invest in the long-term solutions to social problems, such as building significantly more social housing and having the right services to help the most vulnerable rebuild their lives.'
• Reverend Alison Tomlin, President of the Methodist Conference, said: 'We will be judging the Government on how it chooses to treat the most vulnerable people in our society. The decisions made in the Comprehensive Spending Review will show us where its priorities lie. The initial signs are not promising and we fear most for those projects that serve the needs of our local communities. On Wednesday we will find out what 'Big Society' really means.'
• Physiotherapist Alison Lyddon suffered a serious neck injury while cycling and will speak about the services she received - and continues to receive - to help her recover: 'As I have experienced the resources of the NHS - notably its staff and their expertise - I have realised afresh their role in patient care. Without them I would not be here standing, walking, and even working towards running again.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- At 11.30am, before the rally takes place, Brendan Barber and around a dozen leaders of the UK's public sector unions will hold up big red numbers outside the Treasury showing the £19 billion of tax that the UK's banks will avoid paying on their profits because they can carry forward losses from the recession, despite being bailed out by the taxpayer. The TUC believes this lost tax revenue could make a major contribution to closing the deficit. Further information about the TUC report on taxing banks can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-18679-f0.cfm

- The All Together for Public Services rally is one of the first events of this major TUC campaign which was launched in Manchester last month. Using an ongoing programme of events over the coming months, the campaign aims to build a broad-based, grassroots coalition of employees, union members, service users and communities, working together to challenge the cuts and expose the devastation they will cause. This will mean many local events over the coming months and a major national demonstration in London next March.

- For further details check out the All Together for Public Services campaign website www.tuc.org.uk/alltogether

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk

Press release (2,400 words) issued 19 Oct 2010