Don’t ‘Con-Dem’ us to austerity - there is a Better Way
Thousands from the North East will be supporting the forthcoming Yorkshire and Humber TUC’s ‘Better Way’ demonstration against the coalition government’s austerity measures, taking place this weekend in York on Saturday 8th March - at the same time the Liberal Democrats are set to visit the city for their national Spring Conference.
The event will bring together a wide range of trade unions, anti-cuts groups, health and environmental campaigners, people with disabilities and students. They will be calling for a better way forward than the government’s current austerity policies. Participants will be calling for Jobs and fair pay, tax justice, industrial growth, protection of our NHS, public services and social security and a future for young people.
People will begin assembling at 11am at Clifford’s Tower, Tower Street in York, where there will also be a collection of dried and packet food to donate to local food banks. The march will depart at 11.30am and will take protesters past the Barbican Centre where the Lib Dem conference is taking place and into the city centre before returning for a rally at Clifford’s Tower at 12.30pm. The event also takes place on International Women’s Day and this is reflected in the excellent all-female line-up of speakers, who will outline opposition to current government policy, as well as highlighting why and how austerity is hitting women and northern regions particularly hard.
The Coalition government’s austerity policies have driven down living standards, slashed public services, reduced economic recovery, increased personal and national debt and plunged huge numbers of people into poverty. The Liberal Democrats have gone along with a right-wing Conservative agenda, backed privatisation after privatisation, from Royal Mail to within the NHS, and have broken a solemn promise to young people when they trebled tuition fees.
Ministers claim ‘we’re all in this together’ but Coalition MPs have voted through income tax cuts for the richest earners, have cut most to councils in poorer areas and demonised people in need of social security. There is most definitely a better way than austerity which involves investing in industries of the future, cutting tax-avoidance, ensuring people have enough money to spend on the high street, while supporting those in need of support over those who don’t need it.
This demonstration for a Better Way will be a chance to show an alternative – and viable - path forward. We want people to join us and tell the Lib Dem MPs just what we think about what this Coalition government is doing.
Beth Farhat
Northern TUC Regional Secretary
Stay Updated
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox