Local Councils

Local councils and local services

Reinstate Lambeth councillors!

The right-wing Labour council group in Lambeth, south London, has suspended four councillors from the Labour whip for defying orders to vote against a Green motion (in January) for a ceasefire in Gaza. The suspension came on 26 February — after the whole Labour leadership had come out for an immediate ceasefire (21 February) and long after London Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and several Labour councils had made that call. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for one of the Lambeth constituencies, has condemned the suspensions. Sonia Winifred, suspended for three months, has resigned from her council seat...

Stopping the cuts in Nottingham

On Saturday morning, February 24, an emergency protest in Nottingham denounced the imposition of commissioners to run the city council. The move for commissioners, three months after the council’s Chief Finance Officer declared the council unable to balance its budget (“section 114”) on 29 November, and a year after an external Interim Advisory Board gained “powers of direction” over the council, may show concern in government that a growing campaign in Nottingham has the potential to mobilise many people in the city against cuts. One councillor has already said she will vote against the cuts...

More action in Northern Ireland pay fight

An estimated 150,000 workers took part in 24 hours strike in the North of Ireland on 18 January, including nurses, teachers, bus drivers, carers, cleaners and civil servants from 16 unions. Their core demand was aimed at the British government: to release the £0.6m for public sector pay uplifts which it is holding back as a gambit to pressure the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its boycott of Stormont. The party collapsed the Northern Ireland power-sharing regime in February 2022 in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol. Around 10,000 joined a rally in Belfast, with...

Getting moving against the cuts

On Thursday 18 January, more than 50 people met on a cold night to discuss how we fight the horrendous cuts In Nottingham

Fight council cuts, not just section 114

On 29 November Nottingham’s Labour council issued a “section 114” notice, meaning that it is legally barred from any spending beyond the already-contracted-for and work the council has to do by law. The council’s (unelected) chief finance officer issued the notice, as he is obliged to do by law if he assesses that the council cannot balance its budget. The council is now legally obliged to come up with budget-balancing moves within 14 days. That makes 12 councils since 2018 to do section 114. There were only two in the previous 18 years. There is talk of many more soon. Council leaders...

Building wealth on cuts?

Discussion at The World Transformed (TWT) festival that took place alongside Labour Party conference (7-10 October) reinforced how disoriented much of the left is on local government. The TWT session on “ecosocialism” — really more about local community organising — featured a speaker from “Cooperation Hull”, a group of activists who have organised meetings they call “People’s Assemblies” in the town and are now planning to stand in local elections there. Some of the organising Cooperation Hull has done sounded interesting and even impressive, but what their speaker said begged many questions...

Gove sends in Commissioners to raid Birmingham

On 19 September, the ironically titled Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, announced he would be sending in commissioners to take over the running of Birmingham city council. The commissioners will very likely oversee the plundering of Birmingham, with the sale of council assets such as landmark buildings, jobs cuts, and funding cuts that will massively impact the charity sector. Two observations. One, for years the argument from the Labour Right and the official Left has been that Labour councils shouldn't actually resist implementing austerity (as with Lambeth and Liverpool councils in the...

Labour, democracy, and Rosebank

Activists from Workers' Liberty and supporters of Solidarity will be at Labour Party conference and women's conference, 7-11 October in Liverpool. We'll be there to help the efforts of Free Our Unions, the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, India Labour Solidarity, and other campaigns; to sell literature, seek discussions and contacts. There will be demonstrations for the NHS and for abortion rights on Saturday, for free education on Sunday. And agitation for a block on new North Sea oil and gas fields, following the Tories' decision to "max out" licences in...

Regrouping on council pay

The April 2023 pay round in England and Wales local government is not yet settled. No increase has been paid, but the three unions are failing to coordinate. This makes the case for one workplace one union, as Workers’ Liberty has fought for. Immediately we need to build unity on the ground across all three unions. After a ballot between 23 May and 4 July, Unison, the largest of the three unions, decided to take no action. 75% voted for industrial action to improve an offer of £1,925 (£2,352 for London members), but the ballot fell short of the Tory 50% turnout threshold in the overwhelming...

Unison schools strike in Scotland 26-28 September

Unison members in Scottish schools will strike 26-28 September, despite the GMB and Unite pulling out of what was to be a joint strike by the three unions. 21,000 Unison members working in 24 of Scotland 32 local authorities will strike. GMB members in ten local authorities and Unite members in eleven local authorities had been due to strike. Although the strike is for a pay rise for all council staff, it specifically targets schools and early years centres. Unison members on strike are school cleaners, kitchen staff, admin. workers and support staff. All three unions had rejected an offer by...

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