Lambeth Save our Services, public meeting

After the lobby of Lambeth Labour (see below), about 80 people gathered at the Lambeth SOS public meeting to discuss fighting the cuts in the borough.

Fighting the cuts
A speaker from South Bank University report in the struggle against education cuts and the hike in tuition fees. He also spoke about how the university management had banned all anti-cuts activity at the university and threatened any societies who supported the protests with having their accounts frozen (for the second time).

A speaker from The Pensioners Action Group spoke about the attacks on pensions and benefit and how the Con-Dems were trying to destroy the idea of universal benefits.



Campaigning priorities
The meeting then broke down into four workshops: education, welfare and benefits, housing and NHS. The workshops came up with action points to campaign on in the coming months to add to the Lambeth SOS statement (see below). Some of the ideas included having a roadshow around the borough of housing workers to meet tenants and to fight evictions from homes by pickets.

At the end speakers outlined the attacks on the workers in Lambeth Housing and the coming ballot on industrial action. Also workers from the One O Clock clubs spoke about their victory over the summer when they stopped the council cutting their service.

Everyone present was urged to join Lambeth SOS and join the fight against the cuts in the borough.

To join email LambethSaveOurServices@gmail.com

Statement adopted by Fighting the Con-Dem Cuts in Lambeth meeting

This Tory-Lib Dem government has unleashed the biggest attack on the

welfare state, working people’s living standards and even our right

to continue to live in our communities – “since the Second World

War”. Shamefully, Lambeth Labour Council is set to pass on these

cuts – of £40 million, one-sixth of its 2011-12 budget – rather

than defend the working people it was elected to represent.

Far from being “all in this together”, banks, big business and the

rich are benefiting from bailouts and profits, bonuses and tax

breaks, despite causing this crisis in the first place. These cuts

are a declaration of war and we will fight back.

This meeting of Lambeth Save Our Services commits ourselves to

resisting every single cut to services, jobs, pay, benefits and

pensions and every single rise in rents, tuition fees and taxes for

working class people.

We support the students opposing tuition fee rises, the firefighters,

tube workers, teachers and housing officers resisting cuts. We call

on Lambeth Labour Party to pass a no cuts budget and mobilise to

fight the government for more money.

We pledge ourselves to make the TUC demo on 29 March 2011 the largest

for years. We will organise solidarity with all struggles against

cuts and help co-ordinate demos, protests and strikes. We will build

for a conference of all anti-cuts groups in South London in early

2011 and attend national gatherings against the cuts.