UK & World News
- 30 December 2012, 9:09
City Leaders Warn Of 'Civil Unrest' Amid Cuts
City leaders have warned that spending cuts could lead to social unrest and the "break-up of civil society".
The council leaders of three of England's biggest cities - Newcastle, Liverpool and Sheffield - say the north of England has been unfairly targeted.
But there are also signs of a backlash from rural authorities, mostly Conservative-led, who claim the shires are losing out disproportionately under the Government's cuts.
The criticism presents a headache for David Cameron, who announced in the Autumn Statement that councils must find a further 2% of savings in 2014/15.
That comes on top of the 27% cuts announced in 2010.
The Labour leaders of Newcastle, Liverpool and Sheffield - where Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is an MP - wrote to The Observer accusing Whitehall of "Dickensian" views.
"Rising crime, increasing community tension and more problems on our streets will contribute to the break-up of civil society if we do not turn back," they write.
"The one nation Tory brand of conservatism recognised the duty of government to help the country's most deprived in the belief that economic and social responsibility benefited us all.
"The unfairness of the Government's cuts is in danger of creating a deeply divided nation.
"We urge them to stop what they are doing now and listen to our warnings before the forces of social unrest start to smoulder."
Separately, The Sunday Telegraph reported that more than 120 rural councils were weighing up a judicial review of the spending settlement for local authorities because it was "grossly unfair" and would hit services in remote areas.
what do you think?
stevie may
Paul - you have absolutely no concept of how angry people are and how deep the poverty levels are in this country. Blaming foreigners may be politically convienient but not only does it display your own xenephobia, but its also incorrect. Why not try blaming the ruling elite who enforce poverty on others but live in obscene wealth themselves? Thatcherite policies have ruined this country with greed, immorality and selfishness. Think the riots of 2011 were a fluke, a one-off? Think again. Poverty levels will soon hit Victorian levels and the Underclass has swelled to 5 million. History has proven you can only socially engineer oppression and poverty for so long before people start fighting back.
Paul Grice
Stevie may. You think as you like that is the point of free speech and debate you can attack me anyway you like I an not a Thatcher child I vote for who I think would be right for the country at the time Your obviously a labour follower who for ten years opened the door for all to come here Sold all the gold reserve for its record lowest price Plundered the pension pots Borrowed way beyond the capabilities of this country for which we are now paying Do go a head slate me its common for people to react like yourself. Thatcher was far from perfect but really you have no base to stand your argument on with labours past record if you had I would be voting labour
Steven Tracey
There's always an obvious common denominator when someone starts blaming immigration for everything - a big lack of statistical facts. Where are your figures Paul?
shaun spencer
Steven again paul is partly right.look at many contractual builders, scaffolders etc etc.and you find many of them foreign sending many back home to their familys in poland for example soon we will have the bulgarian and romanians coming over doing tbe same.
blue side
stevie I must agree with Shaun as I know three people in construction and they are being crowded out by foreign labour as are many of their friends. It must also be said that in other employment areas whilst the Brits are forced to follow the rules other nationalities ignore them and seem to get away with it. These are facts
steve devrell
Have you ever seen poverty? We look after our poor, elderly, disadvantaged and workshy better than any other country I know. You have no concept of reality - underclasses, Victorian levels socially engineered oppression - DON'T TALK SUCH NAIVE BANAL RUBBISH
Chris Robinson
Crowded out because bosses are ALLOWED to pay lower wages, this should be stopped, the same wages (and higher) for all.
chris
Isn't it usual to blame the last government?
shaun spencer
I can certainly see the prospect of rioting occurring soon, particuarly after april.but its not just the north suffering, its widespread.there WILL be more homeless, and their WILL be more familys living in poverty.what sickens me the most is were still rewarding bankers with astronomical wages and christmas bonuses for failure.its
blue side
shaun the problem is not high wages in banking or private sector there is no given right to income but when I see a retired civil servant on £120k per annum say pensioners should be made to do social work I get annoyed. We need to think more about looking after ourselves than the rest of the world and give back some hope and leadership not based on left or right policies. We have a generation who expect as a right and that is dangerous
Chris Robinson
High wages in banking certainly IS just one of the problems, quite apart from the fact THEY are the ones who caused this crisis. Just how many 'retired civil servants do you think actually get a pension at £120,000 pa?' The average civil servant pension is between £4 - £6,500 pa.
chris
'Activists' and those who enjoy a good riot certainly seem to see encouraging prospects! The vast, vast majority of people here just keep on working and like the weather, some better times will come again. But as the world has become are more unstable place we must wean ourselves off such huge borrowing.
shaun spencer
Why peaple lose focus on the problem and get on the political bandwagon is pointless and really missing the point.its the bankers etc etc you need to focus your anger at.thatcher was in goverment in the 80s not the noughties.its what we do now is what we need to concertrate on and not apportion blame to those no longer in power.your all living in the past .
blue side
DARN RIGHT
Steven Tracey
Its time the decent people in this country got together and formed a register for all these bigots and xenophobes so we can protect our children from them.
Louisa Gieldon
What a brilliant idea Steven. Right behind it! If only, eh?
Gordon Wright
Who decides who is a "decent person" and who is not??. Just because someone else does not share the same views as yourself, is no reason to refer to them as "Bigots" or "Xenophobes". If you start putting peoples names on any list, you are taking the first steps towards a totalitarian state. Remember, "your name vill also go on ze list"............. Louisa, I am surprised to see you subscribe to such a view, I thought better of you..........
Louisa Gieldon
Gordon i am completely sickened by the xenophobic bigots who frequent theses pages. Every time a crime is committed they crawl out to hint that the perpetrators are black, eastern european, etc. On the thread concernin Mr Greaves' murder they are busy doing it right now. Anyway, it was tongue in cheek! x
Mark Hussey
Problem is you pay people to well not to work.like it or not east europens some south easten asians work as thay have had a hard upbring.
shaun spencer
Some of what you say is true mark, trouble is these working foreigners are sending the money back home.poland for example.so the money doesnt stay in this country.
blue side
I wish people would enter the debate rather than just giving thumbs down. Mark I suggest what is happening our own workforce are being crowded out by foreign workers who do not have the costs living in near communes and as Shaun says the money is then sent back home not applied within the Brit economy
Chris Robinson
Some money is sent home, but most IS spent in the local economy.
Steven Tracey
Is deafened by the statistical silence (again).
Andy Smithies
There are no stats because the useless Liebour government had no idea how many they allowed in thats the TRUTH!!!!
john
I have lived through a few recessions, and in every one johnny foreigner gets a kicking, never the useless gobsmiths and their rich friends in the city who actually cause the mess. If only working class people would focus their anger on the real villains. The politicians actively encourage immigration to drive down workers wages and keep the native workforce fearful for their jobs and too scared to rock the boat. Lack of affordable social housing adds to the fear by wrapping the chains of a mortgage around the necks of the workers, another attack on the working class by politicians who stopped councils building council houses from the proceeds of council house sales. And the foolish working classes blame foreigners for this mess?
shaun spencer
Totally agree
blue side
john find some merit in what your saying but this time is different in that we have mobility of labour thanks to ............ yes Brussels that lovely club
john
Brussels, more politicians BS, they are the problem, until we all stop blaming joe bloggs and johnny foreigner for our ills and focus on the real villains, then nothing will change.
Louisa Gieldon
John i totally agree. Divide and conquer works every time. It disgusts me.
shaun spencer
Currently im helping peaple to fill out their claim forms often for medical reasons.but one thought i had is that everybody gets a a letter saying " this is how much money "THE LAW SAYS YOU NEED TO LIVE" well if then youve got to pay a rent and council tax top out of this money wouldnt it then be illegal.hope someone out there knows the answer to this question.
shaun spencer
A good example of the type of problems were getting in at the moment is a bloke came in saying that he had had his money stopped because he didnt attend a self esteem course via pathfinders.( hes like the benny type charactor in crossroads)it turned out that the reason he didnt attend is because he was expected to read a passage out in front of the other pupils.well this bloke had a terrible stutter and felt embarrased and humiliated so he felt he couldnt go back.what did dhss do , stopped his money.now we are having to go through the appeals court with him .which is going to cost more money .yet he doesnt have a chance of finding a job..this is just one example.
blue side
shaun those who administer the system have a number of questions to answer - how about a guy with throat cancer who was told it was terminal being told he must work?
Louisa Gieldon
My sis works in jobcentre plus. A man had his benefits stopped for refusing a work trial that involved climbing a twenty foot high ladder. He couldn't do it and when he went back to the JC+ and told them this, some disgusting jobsworth stopped his benefits.
Adrian Wagstaff
In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. H.A.T.E. I don't know, I was just thinking that yesterday evening. The thought just appeared in my mind and then I realised, that is what the Universe seems to be full of. The Universe is hardly full of love but it is full of hate, by the looks of it. Everything seems to hate everything else. City riots? Dunno, really. There is already a lot of civil unrest. All the people with all their brand new cars, brand new clothes, all their money, I think, a Robin Hood era is looming with real bows and arrows. I'd like to say not but you only have to look around the World to see where the future is heading. If people end up using bows and arrows, that will probably be due to cost, as well. The wealthy will retaliate using more expensive, latest technology bows and arrows and look down on the poorer Robin Hoods as something less than them. I went to some archery lessons as a child in army schools overseas and I've already seen wealthier people with better bows and arrows act like a bunch of know-it-alls. It's the same, thirty years later. Obviously, I won't be able to compare today's society with Robin Hood legends but I'll post my comment, anyway.
Eric Coster
The EU only accounts for 14% of global trade, leave it and all the proplems it's brought with it and go after the other 86% of world trade.
steven
Civil unrest/ riots are a terrible thing, now warnings have been given that more may follow, someone in power really needs to take notice.
Name witheld
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
Michael Hawkins
But then It is only Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle - typical of the spoilt north If you can't get what you want strike / riot These towns were mollycoddled under labour, now they are being asked to live like most of the South West, they are whinging Typical lazy socialists, take all give nothing. It was the dockers and bus drivers of Liverpool that went out on strike for 6 weeks in the second world war - whilst others fought and gave their lives for the country No change in 70 years
Michael Hawkins
No shock here Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle get around £800 per head of population government support compared to my own area that gets only £160.00 per head if £160 is good enough for my area £ 800 should be more than enough for the labour wasters
Michael Hawkins
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
Michael Bell
Couldn t agree more with you, people in the mentioned cities are lefties with no sense of pride or responsibility, its not the govt and councils job to constantly keep them and protect them from the realities of life.
Chris Robinson
It's all very well for these New Labour worthies to wring their hands and try to appeal to the better side of the Tories - they haven't got one where the cuts are concerned - the likes of Liverpool Mayor Joe anderson is all too willing to hand down millions of pounds of cuts to the people who elected him instead of organising these people, together swith linking up to the other Labour-led cities and leading a mass campaign against these cuts altogether. They would then lead the way to councils up and down the country that would kick this government into touch. But they won't, because, in reality, the Labourites only offer cuts themselves, cocooned as they are in the rotten capitalist system.
Michael Hawkins
Q .Why are not these cities self sufficient ? A. they are run by labour wasters
James Poulton
Civil unrest can wait. We need to get a handle on our finances. Its all good talking about economic and social responsibility, however, you need the resources to actually help people. If we carry on spedning the way we are our economy will tank and we won't be able to afford 1/2 of the social services we have at the moment.
peter
With the debt left behind by Labour (and even Miliband admits it), costing the people of the UK - (Thats you and me), over 120 million pounds a day in interest alone, even if ALL the money saved by the spending cuts to ALL the councils was added up, it still would not even pay the interest. Who do you think will eventually pay the debt? That is the mess we are in. - I don't agree with all the cuts, but what's the alternative?
james mcbride
the army needs to be called in to corner off streets, check everyone. no papers/id strict interrogation and deportation, and sent home. some homes have 30 illegals in. the eu needs to end with former sov block ppl sent home. strict quota on unis/colleges having say 10 foreign students each max. that way visa system not abused. aho cares about unis'colleges the pc brigade they turn out is why we are in this mess.
Brian Quinn
I suspect riots and civil unrest will take place in the UK but not because of so called poverty or joblessness. Just look at the rise of UKIP to find the real answer. We are facing a backlash against illegal immigration and a rapidly unrecognisable British culture.
Brian mckeown
Lets think about the cuts and where they have been made, in all the wrong areas.All councils and local government need cutting at the top level. overpaid bueacrats, police commissioners (daft idea) and the spongers who have high paid final salary pensionable ljobs. These jobsworths have never done a hard days work in their lives and have got into positions of power by the old boy network. MPs who we know are now corrupt whether fiddling their expenses or fiddling with the press are another area that needs to be cut.Slash these incomes down save some money and put the power where it should be ie at street level, Whether it be at national or local level the heads must roll rather than hide behind all this scare mongery.
Paul Grice
9:02am on 30/12/2012
Nothing to do with cuts they use the word cuts just like they use climate change All those high up in the public sector are starting to fear for their none jobs so kick up a media storm and hide behind it Remove all the heath tourists from this country. Remove all the illegals Remove all how come here work for six months then claim befits Remove this country from the EU Problem solved we would have more money than we would know what to do with
ali baba
9:06am on 30/12/2012
Utter tosh
Paul Grice
9:28am on 30/12/2012
Ali --- would not expect anything less from you
stevie may
9:44am on 30/12/2012
Your wasting your time Ali baba and your breath. . Paul believes in Thatcherite neo liberal faceless capitalism policies. Even though all economists have rejected it as a failed form of financial government. I'm all right jack! That's all thatchers children know. . . And let everyone else starve. Typical tory - me me me me me. . . Sad
Steven Tracey
9:47am on 30/12/2012
So once you remove the workers and the investment (and the free market) where are you going to get all this money from? Certainly wont be from all the indigenous workshy. That why we move people in - pays for the lazy ones.
snape
9:53am on 30/12/2012
you are right of course, the lefties are just pissed off you are on to them.
shaun spencer
10:40am on 30/12/2012
Steven tracy.obviously there are the workshy but most want to work, but to cut their benefits then make them pay a rent top up along with a council tax top up then to send them on a meaningless courses via pathfinders only to not to have any prospect of getting a job .then facing possible homelessness and what they do about it.send them on another course, proberly a self esteem course is well.
shaun spencer
10:43am on 30/12/2012
It would help if everybody thats british bought british.instead of cheap chinese etc etc products.simple.this would creat more jobs.
Steven Tracey
10:53am on 30/12/2012
Shaun - sorry to burst your bubble but there's lots of jobs out there but a big lack of people who are willing to do them. We need immigration to wipe and burp all the cotton wool wrapped pointless masses who think that they are above that kind of work. Trust me - my work brings me right to the front line with this. Yes there are many who want to work but its quite the minority. Goto gateshead high St one day - its become walking stick city since the new Dole office opened (they never know when big brother's watching).
john
11:09am on 30/12/2012
Subtract the number of available jobs from the number of unemployed. Unfortunately that still leaves a couple of million unemployed. Oh well, better label them workshy scroungers to blacken them in the eyes of those still lucky enough to be working. Keep the "lower" orders fighting amongst themselves, divide and rule, it works every time.
shaun spencer
11:24am on 30/12/2012
Steven you must be living at sandbanks or cloud cuckoo land.theres certainly not the jobs where i live available if anything more redundecies and our high street is half empty.i work for a charity very much in the front line at the moment and i tend to agree with stevie may, that their a lot of angry peaple out there at the moment.in the words of the kaiser chiefs, i predict a riot.
Mark Hussey
11:50am on 30/12/2012
Almost all the farms and horse stables were i live use easteuropens as thay are willing to work .if you put a add for a job 5.50 a hour brits will not do it as thay tell you dole pays more
blue side
2:10pm on 30/12/2012
Steven we must be living in a different country cause here in the west Midlands we have one of the highest unemployment levels. The NE is historically an area of high unemployment as are many of the areas that were dependent on the staples. That all said socialist Robin Hood policies also fail we need wealthy people who have the freedom to invest as they feel appropriate. Where we fail is with politicians and civil servants who are ring fenced from the real world