"No ifs no buts -

Don't vote for Tory cuts!"

A little bit of Wisconsin came to Brixton last night as over 100 protestors invaded Lambeth Council's budget meeting after a lobby of about 300 local people. The visitor gallery was full and looked down on a meeting not of the Labour-majority councillors debating where to let the axe fall but anti-cuts campaigners holding an impromptu meeting on how to defeat the cuts. We heard local trade unionists from Unison and the NUT telling us about their dealings with the council to people from the local community facing the decimation of services that they rely on. Andy Tullis, the Unison convenor for children's services in the borough and Socialist Party member led up three youngsters who gave emotional speeches about the loss of their adventure playground. Rob Williams the National Shop Stewards Network's anti-cuts convenor told the meeting that Labour councillors had a choice - stand with the communities who voted for them and their workforce or join with the ConDems and the bankers. He said that in Lambeth they should follow the example of Ted Knight (who was in the occupation) who led the council into defying Thatcher in the 1980s along with Liverpool. The councillors couldn't be surcharged now. Craig Johnston executive member from the RMT told the meeting that he had been a Labour councillor in the 1980s and had voted against the poll tax.

Our meeting finished after two hours and we marched out together...just as the councillors were leaving! Shamefully, the councillors who had been blocked from the chamber had shuffled off to a side-room to vote through �79 million worth of cuts that if implemented will devastate services in Lambeth. Earlier in the week Labour had disgracefully suspended Kingsley Abrams who had declared his intention to vote against the cuts! However, implementing them is a different story - we'll fight them library by library if we have to. This shows the importance of building the NSSN's march and lobby of Labour's local government conference on March 5th to put all Labour councils under pressure.

Everyone was filled with defiance and a confidence that the cuts can be defeated both in Lambeth and nationally, particularly with the TUC demo on March 26th looming into view. Many speakers talked about the events in the Middle East and the USA and Greece which shows how ordinary people are being inspired by these events. As Rob said, "Tomorrow people in the rest of Britain and even internationally will wake up to the news that workers in Lambeth are fighting back as well!"