We are not all in this together

We have been told over and over again by the CONDEM coalition that these cuts are inevitable and we are all in this together.

We are not. Ordinary working people are being condemned to years of poverty by this government as the economy; jobs and social support are dismantled. It is the poorest and most vulnerable in our society that will be hit hardest.

The collapse in the finance sector, due to greed, was a root cause of recession and higher unemployment; tax revenues shrank dramatically, and the welfare bill increased.

The Cuts in Defence are a folly.

300,000 UK manufacturing jobs depend on UK defence success. This is 10 per cent of all UK manufacturing employment.

UK defence industry has a £35bn turnover.

UK defence had a 21 per cent share of the defence export market in the last five years.

Defence contributed £12bn in value added to the UK economy in 2008.

Tens of thousands of job cuts will hit some of Britain's most deprived regions.

Civilians working in defence offer significant value for money in supporting the front line; however, some 25,000 civilian jobs were announced yesterday.

Since April 2004, civilian numbers in the MoD have decreased by some 22%, now 40% of the remaining civil servants are to have their lives devastated as they loose their jobs.


The Public and Commercial Services Union (www.pcs.org.uk) pamphlet, There is an alternative: the case against cuts in public spending, sets out what could be done instead. We outline a strategy to deal with the deficit by investing to create jobs, raise revenues and generate economic growth. We can also tackle the £120bn a year in tax that is evaded, avoided or not collected, and use the £850bn we hold in nationalised banking assets to work in our interests.

The MoD and Dr Liam Fox the Defence Minister assert that: “Our greatest asset is our people” yet the impact of the cuts on their greatest asset in real terms is job losses.