Come to the public meeting to hear Hannah Sell, Deputy General Secretary of the Socialist Party, speak about the Liverpool struggle in the 1980s and the lessons for today.
8.15pm Thursday 24 June, Phoenix Community Centre, Phoenix Place, Brighton
When faced with central government funding cuts the 47 Socialist Liverpool Labour councillors opted to refuse to put the cuts onto the shoulders of ordinary working people and poor. Instead they sent a budget to government which represented the needs of ordinary people.
As a result of a mass campaign in support of the Liverpool council policy, with 20,000 demonstrating in support of the council's stand in December 1983, the government caved in and allowed the extra funding to go to Liverpool. With it the council built 5,000 council houses, built nursery schools, parks, community leisure centres and created thousands of jobs, all at a time when Thatcher and the Tory government were undertaking a massive attacks on the lives of millions of working class people right across the country in the interests of capitalism.
Liverpool's 47 socialist councillors adopted the slogan of "Better to break the law than to break the poor". They were the only council who succeeded in extracting extra funding from the then Tory government. They relied on the labour movement to support them in their campaign and were a crucial part of this victory.
A similar situation faces local councils today. Massive cuts - even worse than Thatcher's according to Nick Clegg! - are on their way. The local council has a choice; take the "Liverpool road" and resist the cuts, opting for a needs budget instead of a cuts budget. Or make the cuts and devastate the lives of thousands of workers, youth, unemployed, pensioners and all who rely on public services in Brighton.
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For an online background to the struggle in Liverpool check out http://www.liverpool47.org/ or pick up a copy of the book Liverpool: A City That Dared To Fight from our bookshop.
