Militant Pushchairs

A pushchair protest took place in Leicester on 30 April against the cuts being made by the council to children’s centres. Parents affected by the cuts to the centres and members of “Leicestershire Against the Cuts” (LAC) marched in opposition to the slashing of this service which plays a crucial role in supporting families across Leicester.

UNISON placards decorated by kids were prominent on the march, and UNISON has a Marquee in the city centre where petitions were signed. 96 jobs are under threat, and UNISON and GMB have both said they will ballot for industrial action.

The council and the executive Labour Mayor are using the excuse that the government has cut the grants they get. But what angers people is the fact that whilst services like this and others such as adventure playgrounds, homeless hostels and old people’s homes are being cut, the council is at the same time spending tens of millions of pounds on rebuilding parts of the city centre.

As one parent told us “I’m all for the city centre being made to look nice, but what kind of priorities does the Mayor have when services like this are being devastated?” Or as another protester against the Adventure playgrounds/ youth clubs being cut said a few months ago: “The Mayor is all fur coat and no knickers!”

Leicestershire Against the Cuts is arguing that, if he wanted to, the Mayor could set a no cuts budget using the £150 million reserves and the capital receipts from land and buildings they have sold off to keep services running and build a mass campaign to force the Government to return the money they cut.