Will the 2010 Budget cause unrest?

Summer of Discontent revisited – again

I am starting to feel that I may be the only one who is concerned at the potential scenario facing the police this summer. In March I revisited my original article on the summer of discontent.

Since that time we have had an election and the new government are making it very clear what level of cuts in public spending they intend to make. David Cameron has said that these cuts would affect the lives of every person in this country.

Whilst the majority of people I speak to accept the need for these actions they seem to want the NIMBY cuts. Unison are already opposing any cuts that effect the pension or salary of their members and they also oppose redundancies. In Nottingham the council have announced £10m of spending reductions and are facing protests and industrial action.

In March I wrote, “There is no indication that the British Airways dispute is going to be resolved. Civil servants have staged two strikes already and more will come.” Unfortunately, this situation looks as though it will escalate. So, what has changed for the police since my last blog?

The announcements by the government have made it clear that the spending reductions are going to affect all public services and various police services have made public their impending cuts. These cuts are coming at a time when all of the local communities may be looking to the police to make sure that strikes and protests are lawfully conducted, so increasing the demands on a cash-strapped workforce.

When the media reported the situation in Nottingham they said that this would be replicated around the country. Whilst larger services may have the expertise and resources to meet this demand, this is certainly not the case countrywide. During the miners’ dispute of 1984 the situation was monitored centrally and I hope that there is a strategic co-ordinating group monitoring the intentions of local councils and unions, otherwise there is the potential for some services to be overwhelmed by travelling protestors.

Be a Team Player

We are now the proud sponsors of the laurel Park FC under 7 whirlwinds. We have chosen to support a youth team as our company philosophy is to assist people to be the best they can be. Although we work with adults, the coaches of this team, Darren Smith and Sandip Rahelu, are applying the same principles with the members of this team.

Anyone in the personal development arena knows that our values are created at an early age and the effort that the likes of Darren and Rahelu put in is to be applauded. Many of these teams cannot afford the basics, such as their kit, and it is our privilege to help them overcome this barrier.

We shall follow their development with interest.

Check out the team on their website Laurel Park FC