This morning around 50 people, parents and children have transformed Natwest in Camden into a creche, in a protest against cuts which will hit children and women. It's our society that's too big to fail, not the banking system. 

One mother said "People are realising the massive impact these cuts are about to have on our lives and our children's future - we've got to work together to defend our future, there are alternatives, we need to fight for them".  

250 Sure Start children's centres are to close within the year and 2000 others will have reduced service and less funding. Rape crisis centres are being cut, domestic violence support services are being cut. 

Women are going to bear the brunt of the cuts. Women make up the majority of public sector workers, the jobs that are being cut. Women rely most heavily on public services and many of the benefits that are being cut such as the Sure Start Maternity Grant, Child Benefit and the childcare aspect of Working Tax Credits. Where cuts mean that the disabled, elderly and infant people in our society are left to go it alone, women will step in to bridge the gap. 

The action is part of around 8 actions in London today and almost 50 around the uk. 

Flyer text handed out:

We have turned Natwest into a crèche today to highlight one of the many ways

that the cuts will disproportionately affect women. We will not stand for these

unnecessary cuts, which will push progress on women’s equality back a

generation.The government should be making RBS/Natwest and the other banks

pay for the crisis they caused.

Women are going to bear the brunt of these cuts. Women make up 65% of the

public sector work force - the jobs that are being cut. Cuts to spending are set to hit

the services and benefits women and families rely on. Women access services such

as the NHS more frequently and more intensively than men, because of pregnancy,

longer life expectancy and lower earnings. Moreover, women still do the bulk of

caring for children and elderly parents, so will be most affected by reductions in

childcare and social care that help them meet these responsibilities. Expecting

women to bridge the looming care gap also jeopardises women’s presence in the

work place.

250 Sure Start children’s centres are set to close within the year and 2,000 others

will have reduced service and less funding. This will devastate thousands of families

across the UK. 100% funding has been cut to Liverpool Rape Crisis centre. Devon

county council announced plans to reduce funding for domestic violence support

services by 100% which after campaigning was reduced to 42%. Nottingham City

intends to cut their Supporting People budget by 50%, that’s money used to get

refugees and women fleeing domestic violence into housing.

“If the government is cutting the benefits that allow mothers to work, the state

support that allows them to survive without work, access child support, and protect

themselves in divorces and with employers, then remaining domestic violence

services have an impossible job. You can't work with women to protect them from

domestic violence when the state is ensuring that, outside that relationship, there

are few ways for them to survive.”

– Lisa Ansell, The Guardian

The government’s cuts are not ‘fair’, we’re not ‘all in this together’, and there are

alternatives. Make the banks pay for the crisis they caused.  It’s our society that's

too big to fail, not the broken banking system.

Join the protest, spread the word, stop the cuts.  www.ukuncut.org.uk