Time to start cutting

Review, review, review – that’s all we seem to hear.

We are now onto the review of the review of the review of the education Blueprint. It was “blue” about 10 years ago, it’s now an old bit of paper with coffee stains on it.

At the same time we are now on the review of the review of council wide budget cuts. At what point does the council start cutting and I mean major cuts, real cuts, JOB CUTS.

Recently a councillor voiced her opinion that jobs can be cut at the council – 500 jobs, but immediately this was shot down in flames by her fellow councillors.

To cut jobs would hurt the economy, dole queues in Lerwick, people forced to leave the islands, poverty!!!!

All very true and all very real. So we will wait, bury our heads in the sand and continue to sell shares on the stock market to pay the monthly wage bill.

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The council’s fund has dropped below £200 million. They will look to take a further £30 million out this year. At some point the fund will read £0. No money to pay the wages.

Then what? Bankruptcy, the government steps in?

Then we will find out what austerity is really about. Mass redundancy. There will be no bargaining.

The government will be called “bullies” and “duds”.

“We were made to walk the plank with a knife in our back.”

“This was not our fault.”

“We were left this mess.”

This council has the chance to be the “brave” ones, the group who made the cuts, the decisions that saved our unique public fund, which is the envy of a nation.

Or this council can be added to the long list of failures. A group who did not have the foresight or guts to make controversial decisions that will affect every family in the islands.

I was recently called a “brave boy” for stating that the council needs to cut 800 jobs to save £10 million a year from the wage bill.

I don’t think this is brave, I think it’s honest. A word rarely used in politics.

Craig Johnson
Northmavine