This is the year that the full force of the coalition’s austerity budget will be felt. In a major feature in this week’s issue of the New Statesman, a teacher, GP, lawyer, social worker, postman and policeman reveal their concerns about the seismic change that 2011 will bring.
You can read their testmonials in the magazine, which hits news-stands tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a taster of what they have to say.
The Teacher
Gove’s English Baccalaureate has the potential to send Britain’s education system back 50 years.
The teacher is Peter Hyman, No 10 strategist (for Tony Blair) turned deputy head teacher.
The Postman
The Royal Mail is being slashed back, and it breaks this old postie’s heart.
The postman works in the south-east of England and writes under the pseudonym Roy Mayall. He is the author of Dear Granny Smith (Short Books, £4.99).
The Doctor
The way to stop GPs using resources, it seems, is to bombard them with so much admin, they give up.
The writer works in a GP consortium in the south-west of England.
The Supported Housing Officer
Instead of cutting front-line staff, why not cut the bloated bureaucracy?
The blog by the social worker Winston Smith won last year’s Orwell Prize. His book Generation F will be published by Monday Books later this year.
The Policeman
Already, in big towns, there can be just half a dozen uniformed cops on duty at any one time.
The writer is the blogger Inspector Gadget, author of Perverting the Course of Justice, published by Monday Books (£7.99).
The Legal Aid Worker
They say our work could be done by volunteers – but filing cabinets of complex cases tell me otherwise.
Nick Dilworth is a legal aid casework supervisor in Devon. To find out more about the Justice for All campaign, visit: justice-for-all.org.uk.
Are you affected by the cuts? We will be collecting testimonials from the front line over the course of the next year, so tell us your stories.
You can do this by writing in the comment box below, by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk, or sending a letter to:
New Statesman
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John Carpenter House
7 Carmelite Street
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London EC4Y 0BS
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