Waltham Forest Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition campaigners lobbied outside the Town Hall on Thursday night as the full council met to agree yet another cuts-making budget.
TUSC held a ‘funeral for council services’ highlighting the £67.2 million of cuts that have been made since 2011 and the £16.4 million to be ‘saved’ next year and the year after. This will mean for example, £3.5 million of cuts from adult social care next year and £1.7 million from children’s and young people’s services.

TUSC candidate Nancy Taaffe said: “Outrageously deputy council leader Clyde Loakes has recently accepted a 24% pay rise while low paid council staff are suffering pay freezes, job cuts and attacks on trade union facility time.
“The council has more than £50 million in reserves and huge borrowing powers. This could be used to set a budget based on what the borough needs and buy time for the councillors to lead a mass campaign in the borough to force central government to give back the money it’s stolen from this area.”

Kevin Parslow, local Unite the Union branch secretary and TUSC candidate who was on the lobby said: “We stopped the councillors as they went inside to ask them to vote against the cuts. None would promise to do this, and in fact several were unwilling to talk to us while others were openly hostile – such as Councillor Karen Bellamy (Higham Hill Ward) who, when asked if she was planning to vote for the cuts, replied ‘That’s my business’.
“But in actual fact these councillors signing away jobs and services for the people of Waltham Forest is the business of everyone who lives and works here. As none are willing to make a stand, TUSC will be standing against them in every ward in May’s elections.”