FOR REAL RESISTANCE TO AUSTERITY!

THURSDAY 20^th February

Socialist Party Public Meeting:

Brighton and Hove Council Budget 2014:

NO CUTS! NO COUNCIL TAX RISE TO PAY FOR CUTS! FOR REAL RESISTANCE TO AUSTERITY!

Brighton and Hove’s Green administration intend following up last year’s attack on the city’s bin workers’ wages with further cuts in the council’s 2014-15 budget. If successful, this would mean that this administration, elected on a mandate to ‘resist austerity’, has cut £50 million from jobs and services in the city in three years.

Primary responsibility for cuts in local government services lies with the Con-Dem government’s austerity programme. The proposal by the Greens to increase council tax by 4.75%, however, is no defence in the face of this attack.

This tax increase would raise £2.75 million more than December's draft budget. But that budget proposed £22.56 million in spending cuts threatening the jobs of 100-150 council workers.

The Socialist Party calls for second question in the referendum: asking the electorate in Brighton if they would rather the council defied the government and refused to implement the cuts, instead of choosing between tax increases and slightly smaller cuts or cuts alone.

All Welcome 8.PM Phoenix Centre