[predominate. The slashing of health, education, school meals…]

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predominate.

The slashing of health, education, school meals, social services and the civil service have cut further tens of thousands of largely women's jobs -with the first to go being part-time staff, often married women not eligible for redundancy payments or unemployment benefits.

Child care The destruction of nursery facilities has loaded countless women with the burden of childcare, preventing them holding full-time jobs; the axing of old peoples' homes, the closure of hospitals and the - growing waiting lists for NHS treatment further saddle tens of thousands with the burden of caring for elderly parents, relatives and children.

As wages have been held down, and often family incomes have plummetted through unemployment, it is predominantly women who have had to struggle to cope with soaring rents and rate bills, price rises on almost every item, and the worsened housing conditions brought by cuts in council repairs, and the chronic housing shortage.

Between May 1979 and April 1983, prescription charges rose trom 20p to £1.40 - an increase of 600%.

And in public transport, capped were cut in England between 1979 and 1981 - a reduction of 9%.

House building has fallen to its lowest level since the 1920's - except for the war and immediately after - while nearly 400,000 building workers are on the dole.

There are - 2,500,000 dwellings estimated to be seriously affected by damp, 800,000 households living in overcrowded conditions, 800,000 households living in shared accommodation and unknown thousands of people homeless.

Of course not all this will be put right at once should Labour get elected on June 9. But it is all certain to get worse under the Tories - whose attempts to buttress up the institution of the 'family' in which the woman remains chained to the home, and largely excluded from the workforce, makes them even more willing to attack-women's rights at work.

Some of 'Labour's policies could make a big difference if LOSE implemented. The Party is pledged to extend and enforce equal pay legislation; compel local authorities to step up nursery facilities; increase the maternity grants and child benefit; provide refuges for battered women; and remove obstacles to free abortion on demand on the NHS.

The leaders of course will seek to duck some of these policies: but the only way to fight this is to put them in office and organise now to call the leadership to account.

Vote Labour -socialist policies.

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CUTS PHOTO: JOHN HARRIS