Union leaders in Dundee have called on city councillors to abandon cuts outlined in the 2019-20 budget and work together to secure more funding from national government.
Anti-austerity protesters issued a Valentine’s Day plea on Thursday for local representatives to ‘Love Dundee, Hate Cuts’, and vowed to join them at Holyrood or Westminster if they come together to demand more money for the city.
A meeting of campaigners and local politicians on Wednesday raised the prospect of an alternative budget being put forward and it is understood talks have been progressing about what those proposals could look like.
A card detailing “heartfelt” messages, including concerns over jobs and education standards, has now been delivered to council bosses demanding a U-turn on plans to make more than £8 million of cuts.
Stuart Fairweather from Unite confirmed a number of protests have been arranged to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the proposals, including a Dundee Against Cuts march in the city square on Saturday.
He said: “We are making it clear that we want a stop to the cuts. We should have a growth budget not a cuts budget.
“The council administration are talking up the city and so are we, but we are dismayed at these attacks on schools and education departments. I don’t believe the council’s hands are tied.
“We would be more than happy to go to Edinburgh with councillors to ask for more money. We would be more than happy to go to London as well, if they think that’s necessary.”
Labour councillors George McIrvine and Charlie Malone also attended Thursday’s demonstration and pledged to be part of any efforts to secure more funding for the city from the Scottish and UK Governments.
Mr Malone said: “We (the Dundee Labour group) will be making a decision on our position on the budget very soon.
“There are obviously restrictions on what we can do but we will be looking at what is possible. I have made it quite clear I have my own personal red lines.
“Any attacks on education, any attacks on workers rights or conditions are just red lines for me and I would find it really impossible to vote for any budget that did that, or any more damage to education.”
Mr Alexander insisted he will “always make representations in the best interests of the city” and recently worked with opposition parties in Dundee to request greater financial support from finance secretary Derek Mackay and chancellor Philip Hammond.
He said: “It’s always easy to criticise and I understand why but the bottom line is that we must spend what we actually have and that means cutting our cloth accordingly, just as any of us would with our household budgets when the going was tough.
“I respect the fact the public are fed up hearing about cuts. If its any consolation, so too are councillors but we weren’t elected to avoid taking responsibility in the hard times.
“Whilst unpopular and difficult, these decisions must be made and the budget balanced.”
