On Sat 2nd Feb 250 people marched through Halifax town centre demanding an end to the cuts. Local residents are facing the closure of a youth club and an NHS walk-in centre amongst other public services.
Beginning at Halifax Town Hall, we marched through the streets chanting “banks get bailed out – we get sold out!” and “no ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts!” The trade union GMB had a good contingent, with flags and a branch banner and there was also a good presence from the National Union of Teachers and Unison. One Unison member, however, told us that her branch hadn’t advertised the demonstration and instead she’d found out about it through the local newspaper.
The march ended at Halifax Piece Hall where there were speakers including a local councillor, a NUT NEC member and a young woman campaigning to save her youth club. The NUT speaker was greeted by shouts of “strike!” – referring to the union’s leadership’s recent decision to not join the pay strikes in March.
We handed out leaflets for the upcoming Leeds Anti-Cuts Convention and hopefully anti-cuts activists from Halifax will come and take part. We’ll be making proposals at that event for how local anti-cuts groups can work together, and this demonstration called by Northern Towns Against the Cuts shows that there are active local movements that could pool their ideas and co-ordinate their struggles.
