Iain Dalton, Save Little Owls nurseries steering committee
The fifth local rally in defence of Little Owls nurseries took place in Bramley, Leeds, where two dozen parents and children marched against the potential privatisation of their nursery.
This rally was the first since the announcement of the general election, which seems to have prompted some Leeds Labour MPs, such as Richard Burgon and Fabian Hamilton to express support for their campaign. However, Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, whose constituency the rally took place in, declined to send a message of support.
With the likelihood of the Tories being booted out on 4 July, the Save Little Owls nurseries campaign has raised the call for the decision on the nurseries’ future, to be delayed until after the general election.
It was therefore welcome that two local Labour councillors in the area, Adele Rae and Kevin Ritchie, attended the rally. Kevin backed the call for the council to delay this decision and other proposed cuts, and pointed to the SEND transport campaign in 2018 which forced the Labour council to U-turn.
As we have emphasised all along, councillors do have a choice. Save Little Owls has consistently called for, instead of cutting vital nurseries (and other services), councillors to work with trade unions and community groups to fight for the funding our city needs.
A new Labour government needs to fully fund nursery places and reverse the austerity in local government. The council leaders need to withdraw the proposed nursery closures and privatisations and join with us in fighting for that.
