Monday night saw the first meeting of the IOW Stop the Cuts Alliance.
The purpose of the Alliance is to bring together concerned Island residents from all walks of life opposed to the massive budget cuts being proposed by the Isle of Wight council.
Geoff Mason, IOW Stop the Cuts Alliance spokesperson said, “This Alliance has been formed not just to fight the council’s proposed cuts but also to promote the fact that the Isle of Wight is a vibrant place with great potential and that its residents deserve better than the council is offering.”
Who’s involved?
The committee is made up of private individuals, trade unionists, representatives of threatened services and local councillors and plan to meet regularly between now and the full council meeting on the 23 February when proposals will be voted upon.
Geoff Mason added, “the Alliance wants to work with the people of the Island to oppose these damaging cuts, the first step must be for residents to lobby their local councillors and let them know how unhappy they are with the proposals. The cuts go way deeper than library and toilet closures, they will affect everyone on the Island. We call upon all islanders to stand up and be counted.
“The coalition government has asked for savings in the region of £6 to £8million for the Isle of Wight – we have to be asking why our council sees fit to increase this to around £18 million of cuts in the next year? Might it be to recoup some of the £30 million reserves that have been frittered away since 2005?”
New website and mass rally
A new website is being launched this week which will hold details of all future events as well as the latest news from the Alliance.
In addition to forthcoming public meetings, a mass rally is being planned for Saturday 19 February in Newport.
Check out iwnocuts.org
