THE  Coalition Government’s programme, particularly its emergency budget measures, are economically reckless and socially divisive.

The North West TUC will play its part in defending our jobs, services and communities.

• Cuts now will make the recession worse. Private sector jobs as well as those in the public sector depend on public spending. Poorer regions are especially dependent on public spending.

• The government says cuts are the only way to reduce the deficit. They are not. We should tax those who did well from the boom, not penalise those that did nothing to cause the crisis. The Government needs to invest in growth – not stifle the recovery.

• The coalition is breaking its promises that the cuts will be fair. They will hit front-line services; the poor and vulnerable; increase inequality; open up a new North/South divide; and let the richest off the hook.

• Some in the coalition have a long-standing ideological commitment to reduce the size of the state. They are using the deficit as an excuse. Right-wing politicians and think-tanks called for cuts when the economy was booming. Their agenda is driven by ideology rather than economic reality.

• Tax-payers are right to ask for value for money. Academy and ‘Free’ schools, increased privatisation and ever more complex internal markets in the NHS, will deliver less for more.

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FIFTEEN thousand public servants will lose their jobs in the North West’s ‘big two’ cities over the next five years, according to independent research.

In Manchester, 7,648 jobs will go amongst the total of 90,000 people working in public services in the city, while 30 miles away in Liverpool a further 7,523 jobs will be axed from the 88,000 total.

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LANCASHIRE’S chief executive Ged Fitzgerald pocketed a whacking £254,000 a year salary last year – while 4,000 of his staff face huge pay CUTS.

The chief executive’s salary has more than doubled in the last ten years – while front line staff have been forced to take repeated pay cuts.

Members of UNISON are already balloting over industrial action in response to the Conservative controlled council’s £22.9million budget cuts.

But the news of Mr Fitzgerald’s bumper pay-out is certain to inflame opinion amongst County Hall workers throughout Lancashire.

Mr Fitzgerald is currently enjoying a 5-star luxury holiday abroad, leaving behind public servants who fear for their jobs.

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THE Coalition’s plans to ‘privatise’ the National Health Service will cost more than £1.7 billion, it has emerged today.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, MP for Leigh, has exposed the true cost of the ‘reforms’  and warned about their impact on patient care.

He said: “The cost of this re-organisation will be £1.7billion – that’s £1.7 billion not spent on patient care.”

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UP to 5,000 police service jobs in the North West are at risk because of cuts to local councils and government grants.

That’s the shock conclusion of a new study which forecasts that a total of up to 60,000 police jobs could go in England and Wales.

Worst hit will be civilian support staff, although community police and officers on the beat will also be affected.

The cuts could mean that neighbourhood policing teams could quickly disappear and there would be fewer bobbies on the beat.

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A NORTH WEST business leader has accused the Coalition Government of being “unbelievably naive”  over the massive job losses in public services.

Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, has also attacked the Con/Dems for failing to recognise how private firms depend on public services for business.

Mr Stopforth has cast fresh doubt over the ability of the private sector to create the hundreds of thousands of new jobs which will be lost from the public sector.

He said: ” The idea that the private sector can shake off the effects of the credit crunch and create employment on the scale of job losses anticipated in the public sector, is unbelievably naïve.”

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A SENIOR civil servant has warned that the Con/Dem coalition government are about to embark on “monumental decisions” which will change the face of public services for a generation.

He has branded the Government ‘naive, arrogant, careless and sloppy’ and forecasts that fundamental decisions on the future of health, education and defence will all be made before Parliament breaks for the summer in three weeks.

The mandarin writes today in The Observer: “In health, the most alarming and costly upheaval the NHS has seen will be unveiled in a white paper tomorrow. It could signal the beginning of the end for free healthcare as the system disintegrates and is handed to consultants and private companies. In education, the details of free schools will be finalised in a plan that will change the shape of our system for years to come.”

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