Cuts 'will lead to riots in our cities' (UK)

Slashing public spending would send unemployment soaring and lead to violence on the streets of Britain, union leaders warned on Sunday.
Cuts would halt economic recovery and push the number out of work to more than 4million, leading to widespread strikes and the threat of rioting.

TUC leader Brendan Barber said: 'Public spending cuts will provoke a double-quick, double-dip recession.

'Unemployment could well exceed 4million and it would take many years before there was any chance of returning to anything like full employment. That would scar for life a whole generation of young people.

'Last time we suffered slash and burn economics, we had riots in the streets of Liverpool.'

The warning came on the eve of the TUC's annual meeting, where Gordon Brown will look for support for public spending cuts. He will tell the meeting any cutbacks he is planning will be far less painful than anything suggested by the Conservatives.

According to a leaked daft of his speech, he will say: 'Our opponents have one approach to reducing the deficit: slashing jobs and abandoning national pay bargaining.

'We have another - taking tough choices and empowering those who deliver services to innovate and secure greater value for money.'

But the TUC warned that cutting ten per cent of staff would lead to 700,000 workers being laid off. That would send unemployment in some areas soaring to 40 per cent, a TUC study found.

Unison leader Dave Prentis said Labour must 'come forward with policies that resonate with working people'. He also warned: 'You have to learn the lessons of history. We had massive cuts in the 1920s which led to the general strike, and unrest in the 1950s and 1960s in our inner cities because they were neglected.'

SOURCE: metro.co.uk

Amazing, so the Brits will completely loose their minds. Shows the true colors of the citizens, very patriotic?

I hope the rest of the world doesn't take the insane route out of this crisis.



[edit on 13-9-2009 by Tomis_Nexis]

reply to post by Tomis_Nexis


I'm sorry, I don't understand your reaction. Could you elaborate a bit?

I wish I had some inspiring things to say. We arn't doing so well in America either. So many people are angry, so many people are losing hope. It is a sad situation for us all.

I think he is disgusted by the "give us free money or we riot" sort of extortion.

reply to post by Grumble


I think its less a matter of wanting free money and more a desire to not be needlessly fired. People have a right to demand that they not lose their jobs while the bankers and politicians sit pretty.

If it comes to firing a paramedic, banker or lord, they'll always fire the paramedic before the other two. The lower classes have every right to riot in the face of such obvious aristocracy, and its about damn time we started showing them whats what.

It is time for people to wake up and become aware, that they have the collective responsibility to say no to the leaders, and to say no to their economic system, their corporate slavery, the starvation billions endure, the abuses of nature, of planet earth and all war. NO to to everything like. Its time to get angry and firm and let the air carry the vibration of all our NOs. But we should say yes to DISCLOSURE, and to those negotiations that they are keeping behind close doors, to distributing all things, food, agricultural, energy technology, medical to all people and to free them. Yes, to healing mother earth. Yes. We should also give them notice that we expect them to step down as well.

The reason I asked is because I wanted to make sure I counteracted with the appropriate arguments:
It's easier said than done to get people to react against the transparent injustices having a job to get to in the morning, a TV-show to catch, mortgages to pay and so forth. We don't even react to the misfortune of others any more, we can watch people getting stabbed or shot yet we the majority of us act like it was raining.
What makes the OP think people will actually riot or even make a peaceful protest?

Well since it the TUC (UK Unions) threatening the existing and incoming governments with mass strikes, the Rioting is thrown in for good measure, which sadly tends to always happen when strikers go against police.

You only have to go back to the Miners Strike in the 80's to see that, where in one year over 11,000 miners were arrested and an equal number injured. Pitched battles took place such as the Battle of Orgreave in June 1984 where 5 - 6,000 miners met 4 - 8,000 police.

It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what could happen if the TUC pushed for another major strike now, or how quickly that will descend into violence.

Even the Royal Navy Mutinied over a pay cut in 1931.
Invergordon Mutiny

Depending on how this or the next government tackle cutting public spending is how violent or desperate this will become.



Edit for those outside the UK... It's not about keeping people in Jobs or a Free money supply, it about making the right cuts in public spending.

Cutting the databases, the cameras and ID cards (even tho now voluntary) will save billions, cutting out all the PC quangos that rule our lives will save billions, dropping the trident replacement for now will save billions, dropping one of the 2 new super carriers will save billions..

However, the fear is that the government will follow the same path as it always does and cut nurses, doctors, firemen, teachers and all those services... Services that are needed.

Which is an especially bitter pill when the government has poured tens of billions into the banks, money that just sits in their reserves.

[edit on 14-9-2009 by thoughtsfull]

reply to post by D.E.M.


your 100 percent right.

British Government does not have it public in mind anymore than we have the British government.

But i think things could turn nasty pretty soon if cuts happen, however us British are resilient.

Originally posted by D.E.M.
reply to post by Grumble

 

I think its less a matter of wanting free money and more a desire to not be needlessly fired. People have a right to demand that they not lose their jobs while the bankers and politicians sit pretty.

If it comes to firing a paramedic, banker or lord, they'll always fire the paramedic before the other two. The lower classes have every right to riot in the face of such obvious aristocracy, and its about damn time we started showing them whats what.

yes, but the ones the people are angry at are sitting pretty, out of their reach behind guarded gates!! riots will only cause destruction of their own world, so they burn their nieghbors cars, the neighborhood store, fine and dandy..... except now, what will you buy your groceries now, and who will you bum the ride to the store with now? your neighbors car just got torched!!


but still, it's coming to a city near all of us I think....

a better way to go would for all the ticked off people just stop. stop going to work, stop earning the money, stop spending the money, for about a week or so.....let the happy ones pick up the slack for awhile.

I think gordon browns govt. has to spend its way
out of trouble.ie large infrastructure projects and export r&d.
let the future worry about itself.people who riot, are part of the problem,
not the solution.restructure large enterprises ,go in new directions,set the
pace,and then everyone else will wake up too.

reply to post by dawnstar


Hi Dawnstar

I actually think this will be double edged, the TUC strikes will be a repeat of the miners strikes of the 80's..Except on a larger scale.

So while ten of thousands of police are managing that, the inner city areas will return to racial riots and violence as they did in the 80's

And like the 80's we have the threat of an external bombing campaign on our hands.

But this time around it is bigger and we have Piggy flu to contend with.

Pandoras box has been opened again.

reply to post by radarloveguy



That would be my approach, build the infrastructure to create tomorrows wealth, train the youth for tomorrows jobs... without the principle of future wealth how else will we repay the loans we have borrowed.

Sadly it appears to me all the money that is being printed is not being invested in the country and we are printing money to just stand still.

reply to post by thoughtsfull

But, I didn't say stike, I said just stop...
don't go to work, don't go to the picket line, just stay home, relax....for about a week...thus, no violence. but I don't know what it's like in Europe, but here, it seems that all those unhappy folks out there come from all walks of life. if they all stopped, well, we could possibly have enough people to effectively shut the economy down. and well, if the ptb want violence, if we all stay in our homes, they'll have to come hunt us all down.

Originally posted by Tomis_Nexis
Amazing, so the Brits will completely loose their minds. Shows the true colors of the citizens, very patriotic?

I hope the rest of the world doesn't take the insane route out of this crisis.

Pretty stupid comment IMO.

Did you see any Brits rioting over this yet? No. Why? COZ IT DIDN'T HAPPEN YET. Its a PROPOSAL.

Also, isn't there people in your own country shooting each other over a proposed healthcare reform?

Me thinks you should look in the mirror and see your own "Patriotic" neighbors before insulting the character of people in a country you probably know nothing about.

Originally posted by dawnstar

Originally posted by D.E.M.
reply to post by Grumble

 

I think its less a matter of wanting free money and more a desire to not be needlessly fired. People have a right to demand that they not lose their jobs while the bankers and politicians sit pretty.

If it comes to firing a paramedic, banker or lord, they'll always fire the paramedic before the other two. The lower classes have every right to riot in the face of such obvious aristocracy, and its about damn time we started showing them whats what.

yes, but the ones the people are angry at are sitting pretty, out of their reach behind guarded gates!! riots will only cause destruction of their own world, so they burn their nieghbors cars, the neighborhood store, fine and dandy..... except now, what will you buy your groceries now, and who will you bum the ride to the store with now? your neighbors car just got torched!!


but still, it's coming to a city near all of us I think....

a better way to go would for all the ticked off people just stop. stop going to work, stop earning the money, stop spending the money, for about a week or so.....let the happy ones pick up the slack for awhile.

Quoted so everyone can read it again, they are manipulating us to riot, us rioting is their goal, that's why they program us with "Cuts 'will lead to riots in our cities'" they state it as fact so that when there are cuts we riot like crazy.

DON 'T RIOT! For everyone's sake DON'T RIOT!

Over and out
Twisted-Inside-Out

reply to post by dawnstar


Your right, my apologies :-) I planned a Summer of having picnics rather than going to work if it was going to be a summer of rage.. so I guess I was mentally agreeing with you while writing something completely different ;-)

You have to question who was interviewed here. A union leader!

Some one who is employed by The TUC to promote the rights of workers and of course it is in their interests to offer a view of what could happen on the streets so they can attempt to influence Government policy.

Reminds me of the guy who told us we'd all be rioting the summer afore last due to all the Polish immigrants.....

Still, shows the dinosaur Unions in their true colours. Blackmail and threats of civil violence if the Govt doesn't do what they want it to do. Interesting the Beast rears it's head only when the Labour Party is weak (as was the case with the 'winter of discontent') - but I guess they need to get in and ruin a few thousands lives soon before the Tories get back in Office and send the unions back to their smelly little caves.