Peace group joins half a million on anti-cuts march

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group joined half a million protesters and many other groups from Rochdale in central London on Saturday (26 March 2011) demanding an end to cuts in public services which will seriously damage, not only Rochdale, but the whole country. We marched from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park calling once again for the Government to cut war not welfare and to cease spending on the Trident nuclear weapons system and to save jobs, health and education services The march stretched for over four hours and for three miles through central London and culminated in a mass rally in Hyde Park, where the crowd applauded speakers who told the coalition Government to end its policies of cuts and privatisations, to introduce higher taxation on the banks and the super-rich and to ensure that corporations currently avoiding taxes are made to pay them.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said, “Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people were in London on Saturday afternoon to tell politicians in Westminster that we will never accept their attacks on public services, jobs and pensions. We are united in resisting their cuts and privitisations. The peace group is pleased to be part of this mass movement and eager to remind people that money squandered on Trident and on wars is money that could be better spent on education, health and social services. We are confident that people in Rochdale would rather see their hospital and other services restored than to see their taxes being wasted on nuclear weapons of mass destruction and on continuing to send our young people to kill and be killed in NATO’s disastrous wars.”

March for the Alternative - Photo Gallery - 26 March 2011

Eve of Budget Message for Members of Parliament

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group is proud to be amongst the many organisations and individuals who contributed to the cost of the billboard currently displayed at Westminster underground station asking all our MPs, on the eve of the budget, 'How much are you spending on Trident?'

The answer, of course, is £2.2 billion and rising. This is what the present and the previous Government has squandered every year on a nuclear missile system we do not need, whilst at the same depriving Rochdale of its hospital services and forcing our Council to make drastic cuts in essential services throughout the borough.

The message is clear; we need Governments to stop spending on things we do not need and to transfer the money saved to spending on the services we do need.

March for the Alternative - CUT WAR NOT WELFARE - CUT TRIDENT NOT SERVICES

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group is calling on as many people as possible to join the TUC's 'March for the Alternative' in London next Saturday (26 March 2011). The peace campaigners were in Yorkshire Street on Saturday (19 March 2011) calling for people to join demonstrations against the Government's plans to cut health, education and welfare and to demand that resources are transferred to these services from spending on the Trident nuclear weapons system, NATO's war in Afghanistan and public subsidies to the nuclear power industry.

On behalf of the Peace Group, Philip Gilligan said,

“We live in dangerous and difficult times. We cannot afford to take risks with our own or our children's futures. It is essential that we defend and revive our public services with decent levels of funding. As a country, we cannot afford to squander £billions on nuclear weapons we do not need or on NATO's disastrous war in Afghanistan. Nor can we afford to see our Government subsidising a nuclear power industry that can never guarantee the safety of its power stations or remove the incalculable and ever-present risks from the nuclear waste their power stations produce. In Rochdale, we need our hospital services restored and we need the Council to reverse the cuts it has been forced to make in essential local services. We, also, need to remember that there are alternatives to the policies being pursued by Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. We need to demand that our taxes are spent on what we need, not on threats to our future."

Saturday 5 March 2011 - a busy day's campaigning

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group took their 'Cut Trident, not services' message to the march against the cuts in Manchester, on Saturday 5 March 2011, but only after they had shown support for the morning's rally to oppose the EDL's visit to Rochdale. In Stoneyfield Park, they joined supporters of Unite Against Fascism in calling for the EDL to leave Rochdale, immediately. In Albert Square, they met with friends from Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to demand that the Government end all spending on nuclear weapons and stop cutting jobs, education and health services.

Philip Gilligan said,

"In the Peace Group we are committed to working for peace and justice in all communities and throughout the world. This means that we will always campaign to keep the divisive and abhorrent views of far right groups out of our local communities and will defend essential public services against the Government's vicious programme of cuts. We will also continue to remind politicians of all political parties that they would have no excuse for their attacks on our welfare state, if the Government would ensure that multinational companies pay the taxes they should and would stop wasting our country's scarce resources on nuclear weapons we do not need".