Labour Party and union comrade, Mike Sheaff, posted this article from 1995, reviving memories of the long struggle in Plymouth against neoliberalism, privatisation and the break-up of the Welfare State. I moved to Plymouth in 1994 alongside my wife, Sian Gough, and two children. We were already agitational trade union activists, leading activists in Bristol during the Miners Strike, the campaign against the Poll Tax and the campaign against the first Iraq War, and moving to new jobs in Plymouth saw almost no gap in our political work or momentum. It did prove particularly invasive and challenging. the Plymouth Fightback against the Cuts continues today (find us on Facebook!).

Mike wrote (Facebook 14.4.24): This reports a Plymouth meeting held nearly 30 years ago, with speakers including Rachel Silcock, Tony Staunton & my late father. Labour, elected 2 years later, held to Tory spending plans for another 2 years, but did then increase resources, from Sure Start to the NHS. Too much confidence in the private sector, but there were real improvements. I’m not convinced Labour today offers the same possibilities.