IT is hard to express adequately the devastation wrought on Bolton in the last six years as a result of budget cuts. Approaching £200,000,000 has been taken away from vital services seemingly in the blink of an eye.

While the consequences are usually plain to see — children's centres, libraries and other public services reduced or removed completely — there are other effects that aren't immediately obvious. These include the outsourcing of services and the consequent sacking of experienced staff and their replacement by lower paid workers on worse pay and conditions.

Bolton TUC is increasingly aware of the damage done to the Bolton family through all of this, and strives to protect the services and workforce so many rely on.

However, there is increasing dismay at the knee-jerk resort to Orwellian doublespeak by Bolton council's spin doctors. The latest example relates to the 13 children's centres whose closure is referred to as "improving" provision. What an insult to those whose work is under threat, and the parents and children affected by this proposal to save £1.5m.

The insult is heightened by a difficult questionnaire designed to screen out opposition to closures. This technique was used to dilute opposition to library closures, and we see it again with the children's centres "consultation".

Bolton TUC calls for an answer to two questions: who designed the questionnaire and publicity for the children's centres' closures, and how much were they paid?

And why are cuts always presented as "improvements"?

You can't fool all the people all the time, and treating people as fools is not good politics at any time — and certainly not when the truth is a painful daily reality for so many.

Tom Hanley

Bolton TUC