Lib Dems ditch the poor along with election promises

Speaking at a TUC protest rally at Salthouse Dock in Liverpool during the Liberal Democrats Conference, Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, the UK’s largest public service union, will say:“Who can trust the Liberal Democrats now? They have ditched the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable along with their election promises. Their thirst for power has led them to sell-out their own supporters.“They must face up to the responsibility, that their assaults on public sector workers, will see hundreds and thousands of people out of a job. The impact of those cuts on local people who rely on those services will be devastating.“Here is Liverpool, 36% people employed in the pubic sector, relying on those jobs to keep their families off the poverty line.“And we don’t swallow the myth that the private sector are there, ready and willing to pick up the slack. That they will be able to create jobs for all those people losing them. The opposite is true.“We know that the jobs of hundreds and thousands of private sector jobs hang by a thread, because they rely on the public sector.“They rely on the spending power of council workers in their local shops, hairdressers local cafes and restaurants. As councils up and down the country cut jobs, we will see our high street shops empty and boarded up. Local shop keepers losing a lifetimes work and the dream of running their own shop. Their life savings gone.“And what about local businesses with council or hospital contracts – everything from paper and pens to food, computers, hospital beds and equipment? Those jobs will be seriously hit by the Lib Dem cuts to the public sector. Another dream hitting the Lib Dem wall.“But the Lib Dems – just like their friends the Tories – have the blinkers on and will not look at the alternatives. They are risking a double dip recession because they would rather cut jobs than deal with the tax dodgers and the fat cat bankers still raking in their bonuses.“They would rather cut benefits to the poor than ask the rich to pay 50% tax on earnings over £100,000.“They would rather spend time hunting down every penny over-paid in child tax credit, than go looking for the billions hidden away in a tax haven somewhere.“And yes, we should have a Robin Hood tax – a tax on banking transactions that would raise as much as £30bn a year – so that those who got this country into a mess – help pay to get it out.“That is why we must unite to fight these cuts. In every village, town, city across the country - unions must help bring together those fighting for their communities and the services that the poorest, the elderly and most vulnerable rely on.”