Hetter backs detiant 1 Merseyside Unite in action to get Tories out!

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From the platform of the Liverpool anti-cuts demonstration two weeks ago, Eric Heffer made the following points.

The 7 point programme upon which the Liverpool Labour Party fought and won the Municipal Election earlier this year is perfectly reasonable and sensible. Surely no one in their right mind could object to improving public services and creating jobs, cutting Council house rents - which in Liverpool are among the highest in the country - and embarking on a Council housebuilding Here in Liverpool, because of past Tory'/Liberal policies and Tory Government policies, no new Council houses have been built for a number of years. That is causing real hardship to those who want a home and cannot afford to buy one. The Labour Council is also quite right to say that there should be No redundancies amongst the Council workforce; The truth is that because of past Council policies and Government policies over the years thousands of Council workers have lost their jobs in an area with over 20% unemployed.

The Liverpool Labour Party has said it would not agree to the privatisation of public services. That is also the policy of the Labour Party nationally. That is why, in Parliament, the privatisation of British Telecom is being resisted so fiercely. On Monday, because of the fierce resistance we are putting up against the Bill, the Tories are going to guillotine it - that is to limit the time for discussion and force it through by sheer weight of Parliamentary numbers.

With regard to rate increases, I understand from your local Council leaders, that some rate increases to improve services would be acceptable to them, but rightly they are not going to put up the rates by something like 150% to meet Government cuts. They will take a stand against policies of forcing Local Authorities to keep their spending within certain limits, THIS NEWSPAPER does give in to blackmail.

Last night, those wreckers in the composing room who carry out some perfectly menial task with little bits of type, refused to because that would mean deliberately cutting down on services thus causing even more unemployment and generally making life worse for working people.

I am with them over this and so is the Labour Party Conference.

The resolution Party should: 1) Uphold the principle of local authorities providing a good level of services to the community.

2) Mount a major campaign to publicise the effect of financial controls over local government.

) Oppose, through all available channels, further legislation against local government.

4) Commit the next Labour Government to repeal repressive legislative measures, grant local authorities the right to determine their own aggregate level of expenditure, and indemnify Labour Councillors defending local government, and 5) Initiate and support any campaigns to defend local authority services under immediate threat.

I fully support that resolution, and believe that the demonstration today is fully in line with it.

The Merseyside County Council, which has done a good job, to keep fares down, and There is talk at Westminster that the Government is preparing plans to take over Liverpool and put in Government Commissioners. If that is so, it is a serious threat to local government and smacks of authoritarian rule. Such a move must be resisted by Duily Hail EXPRESS Che Daily Orlegraph Eric Heffer every means available, inside and outside Parliament.

This Government's policies must be fought. The package of financial proposals made by Lawson on Thursday will not add up to one job.

They allow cruise missiles in Britain under US control without a protest, in fact they encourage our subservience to US policy.

They undermine our National Health Service and our Social Security system.

They slice up our public industries and hand them over sarassre HAVEL MILE to their pals to make money at the public expense.

They cut down on housing and force our local authorities to cut back on education.

They are cutting university expenditure and our teachers are being faced with the dole.

Generally they are bad news.

Here on Merseyside we above all others understand just how evil and destructive this Government is.

We must unite to get them out, as early as we can, both by Parliamentary and extraParliamentary action. that stands above abstract principles. It is called money.

By 5.51 we had our splendid NGA stalwarts back at their posts. We explained that the statement had been a purely