Protest at Cameron’s PM Direct

Over a hundred workers and activists protested outside David Cameron’s “PM Direct” session at Hove Town Hall on Thursday of last week.

The demo was attended by Brighton & Hove City Council Unison and GMB unions, Brighton and Hove District Trades Council, Brighton Benefits Campaign and SWP members.

There was anger at the cuts Brighton & Hove council has already carried out which include:

• £435,000 from the schools improvement budgets
• £48,000 from the extended schools budget—which enables schools to develop specialities and services outside of the core curriculum
• The axing of the Playbuilder project which builds play areas, Sure Start and the housing delivery grant

The same day as the protest Connexions workers, who work with the city’s young people, were told they face unemployment as a direct result of these cuts.

Alex Knutsen, branch secretary for the Brighton Unison branch, said “The ‘Big Society’ turned out to be the ‘Big Lie’.

“Children and young people are having one of their most valued services taken away—it will not, as the prime minister stated in Birmingham earlier this week, be reinstated when times get better. It will be gone forever.”

When Cameron arrived at the town hall he decided that he would rather not spend any time talking to the public sector workers who had waited to challenge him on cuts.

Instead he took the coward’s way out and sneaked in by the back entrance.