Hard-hit British heartland braces for cuts


SHEFFIELD, England --

Sheffield knows all about cuts - and no one knows better than Philip Wright.

A scissors manufacturer, he remembers this city at the height of its steel-making glory, when Sheffield's furnaces and factories produced ships and tools and cutlery for the dinner tables of the world.

The huge steelworks are mostly gone now, like so much British industry over the past few decades, the victim of international competition, changing technology and governments with other priorities.

- A man walks past an empty shop in a finically stalled redevelopment, that now lets out shops left empty to local community artists in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010. Sheffield knows all about cuts _ and no one knows better than scissors-maker Ernest Wright & son. The huge steelworks have mostly gone, like so much British industry over the past few decades, the victim of international competition, changing technology and governments with other priorities. With grit and determination _ and dollops of government investment _ Sheffield has remade itself, forging a post-industrial economy from a mix of high-tech businesses, the service sector, tourism and education. Now many in this city of 500,000 are worried that the biggest British government spending cuts in decades could derail that recovery.

"The city at night used to be alight," said Wright, whose tiny factory is a link to Sheffield's past - and, he hopes, a part of its future.

That dream is under threat from deep government spending cuts to be unveiled Wednesday that many fear will once again crush cities in England's traditional industrial belt, a generation after they were laid low by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's severe brand of capitalism.

Sheffield lost 70,000 jobs between 1979 and 1987, according to the local government - a quarter of the city's total. The decline in steel-making was compounded by the closure of nearby coal mines in the wake of Thatcher's war with the unions.

"When Maggie Thatcher was in she brought us to our knees," said retiree Doreen Treweek, 70. "We really struggled. And now I'm really proud, because it's risen from the ashes."

With grit and determination and dollops of public investment, Sheffield has remade itself, forging a postindustrial economy from a mix of high-tech businesses, the service sector, tourism and education. Now many in this city of 500,000 - as in other cities across Britain - are worried that the spending cuts could derail that recovery.

Recession-battered Britain faces shrinking tax revenue and a growing welfare bill, and has spent billions bailing out indebted banks.

On Wednesday, Treasury chief George Osborne will announce details of more than 80 billion pounds ($128 billion) in cuts he says are necessary to rein in Britain's 156-billion-pound deficit and reduce its huge debt.

Prime Minister David Cameron's center-right coalition government took office in May and has already announced a raft of painful measures, including welfare cuts, a hike in the goods and services tax and a rise in the retirement age.

In the next stage of cuts, government ministries will have their budgets reduced by up to 25 percent over four years - far more than any British administration since World War II has attempted, even Thatcher's.

"I wish there was another way. I wish there was an easier way. But I tell you: There is no other responsible way," Cameron told his Conservative Party conference earlier this month.

As many as 600,000 public sector jobs expected to be eliminated, on top of hundreds of thousands of private sector positions already lost in the recession. The government hopes that as the economy grows, new private sector jobs will fill the gap.

But some economists say sudden cuts could tip Britain's fragile economy back into recession. The OECD, an international club of developed economies, has warned against rapid cuts, and the U.S. government wants other countries to continue stimulus programs aimed at encouraging spending.

Christopher Pissarides, joint winner of this year's Nobel Prize in economics, said the cuts are "too much too quickly."

"If you do it suddenly, lots of workers might lose their jobs and then you have a problem of placing all of them in new jobs," said Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics. "If you do it gradually ... people may have found new jobs by the time others lose theirs."

Governments across Europe are facing similar dilemmas. They don't want to end up like Greece, which had to be saved from the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year by massive rescue loans. The severe austerity measures that followed have sparked violent protests.

Britain's neighbor Ireland - no longer the Celtic Tiger - has made savage cuts in response to its debt crisis, including tax hikes and deep cuts in public sector salaries.


Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/10/16/2535297/hard-hit-british-heartland-braces.html#ixzz12fNbEkPE

farming .. not sure will be sustained in the future .. as population kept of growing .. water is for people not farming . just look at the Murray Darling issues now .. look like we will have to import food from the others .. and food just can't be made .. what if there are disasters or bad weathers on the others which we imported .. ??

Quote:


Sounds like the way Australia is going.

Lots of valuable manufacturing jobs being replaced by casualized rubbish service industries and lots of parasite job providers cashing in on the Government employment contracts

Just look at Dudd's wife. She has made a fortune out of scamming the Government

longweekend58 wrote on Oct 18^th, 2010 at 7:09pm:



And he isn't alone.

For a supposedly good economy, FAR too many are doing it hard, with no
relief in sight, only skyrocketing prices and costs, and no real increases in
wages or benefits to offset this.


But, the 'top-end' of town is doing OK, and the
middle-class have their vastly excessive WEALTHfare, so
WTF do the poor matter, eh?