Support the Sit-In at London Met University!

For those who don't know the backstory of whats been happening at London Met University over the last few months I'll quickly fill in the details.
A few months ago it came out that London Met management had been over-reporting the number of students by about 7,000 and given that universities recieve a certain amount of government money per student in funding it has been 'over-paid'. London Met has been ordered to pay back the money (which has obviously been spent) as well as having its funding cut by £15million a year.
As a result university management are making savage cuts to courses and facilities at the university as well as planning on axing 550 jobs!
Save London Metropolitan University campaign has been set up to fight these cuts with the participation of students as well as the UCU and UNISON branches at the university. The campaign has already scored a success forcing the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Brian Roper. Staff took strike action last week, and yesterday at 5pm students occupied a canteen in the Commercial Building.

For more info check out

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46966049540
Blog: http://savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com/
Press Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8045195.stm

Send solidarity messages to: savelondonmet@gmail.com

There is going to be a protest outside the building this evening at 5.30pm to support the occupation. Details:

COMMERCIAL RD, CITY CAMPUS 5.30 – 6PM TUESDAY 12th MAY

All students and others should support this campaign in any way they can.

Gwynedd - Cuts, cuts and more cuts!

From the Socialist Party Wales website and also being distributed as a leaflet on stalls in Bangor. Although the leaflet focuses on Gwynedd, the gist of it applies to many other Welsh councils at the present time.

Plaid Cymru-led Gwynedd council is howling and raging over the recent low spending increase given to it by the Assembly government. This comes on the back of a low settlement from Westminster to the One Wales (Plaid Cymru and Labour coalition) Assembly government.

The council’s response has been to complain but do nothing to oppose the cuts, and instead has passed them straight on. The council are now making an extra £4-5m worth of cuts on top of already making £4m worth of so called ‘efficiency savings’. Closures and mergers of schools have been the big headline grabber in the area, but so has the ending of funding to the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in Bangor. There are also expected losses of 300 jobs and a day centre for the elderly is set to close in September, as well increases in parking charges and a 4.8% rise in council tax.

Local Anger

The cuts have provoked resistance. At the moment it is quite scattered, although there was a 600 strong protest against school cuts outside the Council’s November meeting (see below). Protests and campaigns against some of the other cuts have happened or are being set up. However, some of these are arguing that the cuts should come from elsewhere in the budget.

The Socialist Answer

Socialists however, demand that there should be no cuts to services. The Socialist Party in Gwynedd is calling on the council to set a needs budget. Decide what our communities need, better schools not school closures, better cultural facilities (museums, theatres) etc., and then set a budget based on the needs of the community not the demands of Gordon Brown or Rhodri Morgan. If they can find billions of pounds to bale out Northern Rock then they can find billions to keep community schools open and decent accommodation for the elderly. But the council has to mobilise a mass campaign together with other local authorities in Wales and in England to force them to do it.
Such a campaign would follow the heroic example of the Liverpool Labour Council from 1983-7, who forced Thatcher to return millions of pounds she’d stolen from the city in funding cuts.