UNISON Cymru Wales region is warning that the Con-Dem Government’s plans to slash departmental budgets by 25% could lead to economic devastation in Wales comparable to the Tory’s 1980s pit closure programme. Research undertaken by UNISON estimates that a 25% cut in local government support grants could cost the Welsh economy at least £404 million in local investment.
http://www.unison.org.uk/cymruwales/pages_view.asp?did=11422
The cuts would result in 20,000 job losses directly costing the Welsh economy over £306 million. UNISON head of local government Dominic McCAskill said: “It is quite clear that we are at a crossroads between maintaining the welfare state and moving towards full marketisation of society, where we know the price of everything but the value of nothing. If the Con Dems continue on this path of cutting budgets without any thought for the future, we will soon be facing the ruin of frontline services in Wales - the aftershocks of which would be felt for generations to come.”
