Loud, angry and belligerent’ was how one protester assessed the mood of the 200 strong demonstration in against the ConDem cuts in Doncaster this Saturday.

The demo was called after Tony Benn addressed the biggest meeting in Donny since The Great Miners Strike.

UCU, NUT, CWU, FBU, RMT, UNITE, Save Our Libraries, Stop The War, Council workers, School Students and Pensioners all marched around the busy town to the chants of, “No ifs-No buts-No education cuts’’ and “They say cut back we say fight back”

Speaker after speaker echoed the fear of just how devastating the cuts will be to people who are already living in an impoverished and low waged town. A Spokesperson for the FBU, warned us of swingeing cuts to the fire service.

Lectures, teachers and students spoke of the dismantling of the state funded education system and how the demonstration in London of 52,000 last Wednesday was an inspiration and a wake-up call to the ConDem government of things to come.

Joe Henry, Doncaster NUT nailed the lie that there is no alternative to the cuts. He said billions spent on weapons, war and bailing out the banks could fund a welfare state from cradle to grave.

The overwhelming feeling from speaking to people who came out to protest was that there was an urgent need for groups and individuals from our community to support each other’s campaigns.

The highlight of the day came when a contingency of 20 school students, 5 NUT teachers and a UNISON librarian came from a local comprehensive school, where there had been a competition to make the best anti-cuts poster after they found out the demo had been announced.

A school student representative said higher education is becoming a preserve of the rich and we need to stand together to defend it. Jim Board, Branch Secretary of UNISON, called for a further demonstration on the 11th December, and for us all to build and support it.

Doncaser and Scunthorpe Coalition of Resistance groups are taking a coach down to the National CoR conference on the 27th November.

Detailed information can be obtained from Louise. Email: [email protected]