A group of pensioners armed with placards and flags marched from Liverpool waterfront to the Town Hall.
Members of the Merseyside Pensioners Association gathered outside the Cunard Building yesterday, November 23, after Liverpool City Council announced "horrific" budget cuts of £73m - taking the city's overall losses to more than half a billion pounds since 2010.
They also protested the appointment of Conservative government commissioners, who were given powers to "amend" the council's budget plans after taking over the authority's finance and government decisions in October.
READ MORE: Government has power to 'amend' Liverpool Council budget and fire staff
Leslie Mahmood, from the Merseyside Pensioners Association, said: "The city council for years has been making cuts, and it has always been said if you make any opposition you'll have the Tories ruling the city. Well now we have got the Tories ruling the city.
"The Tory commissioners earn a fortune every day. That money is completely wasted. The Tories have not had anybody elected to any position in this city, so we're objecting to that."
She added: "The Labour council could have been campaigning against austerity for the last 12 years, campaigning to get more money into Liverpool and linking up with other authorities that have had their budgets massively cut. Rishi Sunak was on telly boasting about how he had taken money away from working class areas and put it into areas that are better off, whereas all the cities in the north have seen massive cuts adding up to literally millions - and theres £73m more in the pipeline for March.
"Liverpool has never had anything but austerity for the last 12 years and Labour should have stood up and made a stand against that."
Around £73m needs to be found from the Cunard administration to balance its books for the next financial year, with a palate of cost-cutting measures put forward that Mayor Joanne Anderson described as “horrific.”
Linda Sargeant, of the Pensioners Association and Unite the Union, described the administration as "a robber's den".
She said: "£73m worth of cuts - how are we going to cope with that? What about people with young families? People who can't afford to put their gas and electricity on? It's absolutely horrible."
Terry Clark said: "These councillors were elected to represent us, and yet now our city is being run basically by Tories. the councilllors who are supposed to represent us have acutally welcomed the Tory commissioners with open arms, and we weren't even consulted about it. My opinion is that the council now is nothing more than nodding donkeys."
Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, said: “This has been the toughest budget options process that we have ever been through.
“We are going to have to make some extremely difficult decisions to deliver a legal and balanced budget.
“I recognise that any proposed reduction in services will impact on residents, but we have to maximise the impact of the limited resources we have and make sure every pound of our spending is making a difference.
“Delivering best value and social value for our residents has to be at the heart of everything we do.”
Theresa Grant, Interim Chief Executive, said: “Residents have told us what they want from their council – better local services and a council that provides value for money.
“We need to make wholesale changes to deliver this within the budget we have available to us, particularly with the squeeze on public spending and rising costs.
“Continuing as we are is not an option, if we are to deliver best value for residents and improve local services.
“Our proposals will make the council fit for purpose and give it a sustainable future and most importantly, enable us to deliver better services and focus on what matters most to residents.”
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