The Live Wire



Press Release

Prime minister's 'hypocritical' views on Britain's youth highlighted by Oxfordshire youth workers' strike

8 September 2011

David Cameron's 'hypocritical' stance on the fate of Britain's young people will be the focus of a youth workers' strike in his Oxfordshire constituency tomorrow (Friday, 9 September).

Striking youth workers - members of Unite, the country's largest union - will stage a protest in Witney, the heart of the Prime Minister's rural constituency, from noon on Friday.

Unite points out the chasm between David Cameron's rhetoric about 'broken Britain', with the fact that, since 1 September, all five of the county council's youth centres in his constituency have closed. Only the church-run Base 33 remains.

The union is challenging the Prime Minister to a public debate with his constituents about the drastic scale of the cutbacks to youth services.

Unite said that the jobs of 80 professional youth workers, who care for hundreds of vulnerable young people across Oxfordshire are at risk, as the Conservative-led council races ahead with plans to offload the running of its 26 youth clubs and two detached youth work teams.

Members of Unite will be striking across Oxfordshire tomorrow, following the county-wide strike action on 23 August.

Doug Nicholls, Unite national officer for the community, youth workers and not for profit sector, said:

'What is happening in Witney is a small part of a frightening nationwide picture, which is seeing youth services being destroyed.'

'It is hypocritical for David Cameron to keep having 'a go' at young people and painting an image of 'broken Britain', yet at the same time, the very centres which are meant to help young people are being axed indiscriminately, even in his own backyard. He can't have it both ways.'

'The cuts to youth services across the country need to be reversed, if David Cameron is serious about a country at ease with itself. We would like him to debate publicly with his constituents about the scale of the cuts.'

-ends-

The rally and meeting will be held in Witney outside David Cameron's constituency office. Strikers will assemble at College Green at 12 noon. There will be a presence outside Cameron's office at around 2.30pm, and an early evening public meeting at in Witney.

The council plans to slash youth service funding from £3.7 million to £1.4 million, making the county one of the lowest contributors to youth services in the country. Within the council's overall budget of £800 million, the cut will save a miniscule 0.17 per cent, but the impact on the service and its recipients will be huge and very damaging.



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

Unite

Unite

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd