Tony Benn and his pals on the extreme Left seek to organise a "broad movement of active resistance" against the Government

By Jonathan Isaby

A hotch-potch of extreme Left-wingers have written for Comment is Free to express their support for a sinister-sounding "Coalition of Resistance" against what they describe as "the most savage spending cuts since the 1930s".

Tony Benn is the lead signatory, with others backing his move including Respect leader Salma Yaqoob; Green leader Caroline Lucas; trade unionists Bob Crow, Mark Serwotka and Jeremy Dear; and Left-winf London Labour MPs John Mcdonnell and Jeremy Corbyn. The name of former Ken Livingstone sidekick Lee Jasper is there, but strangely absent is that of Livingstone himself: he's obviously on his best behaviour as he seeks the official Labour nomination for the 2012 London mayoralty.

They claim:

"The £11bn welfare cuts, rise in VAT to 20%, and 25% reductions across government departments target the most vulnerable – disabled people, single parents, those on housing benefit, black and other ethnic minority communities, students, migrant workers, LGBT people and pensioners.

"Women are expected to bear 75% of the burden. The poorest will be hit six times harder than the richest. Internal Treasury documents estimate 1.3 million job losses in public and private sectors."

Worryingly, given the riots that we recently saw on the streets of Athens, they add:

"We reject this malicious vandalism and resolve to campaign for a radical alternative, with the level of determination shown by trade unionists and social movements in Greece and other European countries."

The so-called Coalition of Resistance already has its own website, which you can see here.