Sinn Fein say 'abusive behaviour not the way to oppose Tory/DUP cuts' as McCann argues 'people are at the end of their tether'

Abusive behaviour and the disruption of public meetings is not the way to successfully oppose Tory/DUP cuts, Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan has said.

"Public debate and discourse should always be carried out in a dignified and respectful manner," she commented.

"The abusive behaviour at tonight's consultation meeting was wrong and should be condemned. It does nothing to aid the campaign against Tory/DUP cuts to public services.

"The purpose of these consultation meetings is to give the public the opportunity to raise their genuine concerns about the impact of the Tory/DUP cuts with health service representatives.

"Sinn Fein will continue to raise concerns about the impact of the cuts on frontline public services."

Former People Before Profit MLA Eamonn McCann attended the meeting after the 'Stop the Cuts' protest which was held before the meeting began and said that emotions were running high due to the threat of cuts.

"The reason feelings ran so high at the meeting of the Western Trust tonight is that an awful lot of people are at the end of their tether trying to deal with the cuts which have already been inflicted on our health service. However it is categorically the case that there was no reason for any public representative to feel intimidated," he said.

He continued "For many, the threat of further cuts is nothing short of frightening. Services for people with disabilities, residential homes for the elderly, hundreds waiting in pain for hip or knee replacements, thousands dependent on domiciliary care and many, many others are all threatened with an even worse deal.

"We are being asked, for example, to choose between closing William Street residential home or Rectory Field in the Waterside – with all the connotations that would entail. To “consult” on which should be axed is to accept that one of them must go. We should say, no.

"It is self-evident that we are not going to beat the cuts by polite lobbying or conventional political action. We need a mass movement against austerity, we need industrial action and, if necessary, civil disobedience.

"Some political parties dismiss this as wild talk, say it will never happen. One of the reasons they believe it won’t happen is that they denounce the idea at every turn, rather than join with us in trying to build a movement with the potential to save the NHS - and the public service generally.

"None of the main parties has any plan of their own to defeat the cuts agenda.

"People Power will win this battle - or it won’t be won at all."