| From Unity, 22 May 2010 |
Social services come firstby Lynda WalkerThe new British Government have started as they mean to go on, with the announcement of £6 billion cuts in the social services. For Northern Ireland workers who rely heavily on the civil service for employment this will have a major knock-on effect regarding jobs. The public services will of course also be affected.As we wait to see who will be the first to get the hatchet, we can sit back happily knowing that the “top civil servants” will almost certainly welcome the cuts—the same top civil servants who made formal protests over Labour spending. They almost certainly did not protest over the spending that would go on the Trident nuclear submarine, estimated to be between £60 and £76 billion over the next twenty years. Think of the services that could be paid for out of that money! With the UK facing its biggest economic crisis in decades, there is no case for wasting £76 billion on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. Opinion polls show that a majority of the population wants Britain to rid itself of nuclear weapons, which have been described by retired generals as “useless.” There is a campaign against nuclear weapons (CND), with demonstrations on a regular basis, but, with the exception of the Morning Star, people would hardly know that they exist. In Glasgow last Saturday CND held a rally to stop the replacement of Trident, calling on the new government to delay the so-called initial gate, the decision to go ahead with Trident’s design stage, due to be taken in July. What will our own MPs do in the face of public cuts and job losses in Northern Ireland? We are reliably informed that Jim Shannon for the DUP has sought permission to use the “haemly tongue” (the questionable Ulster Scots) in his maiden speech as Strangford MP. How to say “No cuts” in any language is the issue. In the meantime, the effects of the Lisbon Treaty and the EU rescue plans continue to dominate world news. In Greece 100,000 communists rallied against the imposed pay cuts and tax rises, conditions that were imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for the £100 billion loan to Greece. The three-year loan is hitting other EU members also—but mostly it is hitting the ordinary working class, who are facing the job losses alongside social services. In the Republic, a few more million are being looked for to pay for the crisis, and in the meantime 785 job losses at places like Pfizer Drug Company are announced. A bit of cheerful news is the £275 million worth of funding that was available at the ninth Inter/Trade Ireland Venture Capital Conference. This annual event held at Belfast Waterfront on Wednesday brought together “investors with entrepreneurs seeking finance.” According to reports, the event was a “showcase of equity capital available for venture capital funds, private investors and business networks that have funds to invest in early stage, high potential companies.” This alongside the Bank of Ireland’s launch of the first Enterprise Week, “lifting the spirit of entrepreneurship,” will “nae dooet” lift people’s confidence. |
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