Sleep-outs and Deadly Council Budgets

Here in Leicester Mothers Day descended upon us with sub-zero

temperatures and a dusting of snow. For those who can afford to heat

their homes such biting weather can be kept at bay, but for increasing

numbers of people this is simply not possible.

Rent rises combined with the incoming brutal bedroom tax,

heaped on top of cuts to public services, pay freezes, and a blizzard

of attacks on the working class, now means that such icy weather is the

harbinger of personal tragedy — with the cold providing the final straw

to break many peoples backs.

Members of homeless action group Streetlife

know better than most the personal devastation caused by the chilling

winds of such political change. Providing a beacon of inspiration, they

are standing firm in opposition to such attacks. This is why they spent

last night enduring the cold to draw public attention to the Leicester

City Council's brutal onslaught on the entire working class and on homeless service provision in particular: with sickening proposals afoot that will see the homelessness budget slashed by a third over the next two years.

The night-long protest held on the steps of the Town Hall meant a

sleepless night for many (something that the homeless are all too

familiar with), but showed the raw grit and determination of the people

of Leicester to oppose the Labour Council's cowardly and totally

unnecessary decision to implement the Con-Dem's cuts. Vibrant

discussions went on into the early hours of the morning, with hearts

warmed by the knowledge that we were making a stand against a bankrupt

Council whose policies are literally killing people.

The bustle and good humour of the sleep-out made it a night to

remember, with new friendships forged amid vigorous discussions with

passers-by, merry drunks, and supporters alike. But such protests are

not going away any time soon, and the sleep-out has simply served to

bolster Streetlife's morale, and swelled their numbers for future

actions.

People are dying because of a crisis caused by the rich. The Labour

Party should stand with the working class and refuse to make the poorest

and most vulnerable in society pay with their lives but of course this

is not going to happen. So while the Labour Party may, at a push, make

piecemeal 'adjustments' to their deadly budgets, they are clearly no

longer a Party of the working class, and are quite intent on serving

their 'new' ruling class masters well.

Individual Labour Councillors with any backbone would do well to

publicly oppose their Party's ridiculous kow-towing to political elites,

but sadly they face expulsion from a Party that brooks no dissent. Yet

as examples from Southampton, Hull, and now Warrington

demonstrate, there are Labour Councillors who are willing to stand for

what is right: and when expunged from Labour, they have quickly linked

up to other groups opposing the cuts. The Socialist Party is aiming to

build the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) to bring together all who are prepared to stand up to the main parties of cuts, including Labour.