Medway Labour are standing up for residents of Strood to oppose Conservative and Liberal Democrat cuts to Medway public services. The Conservatives have announced massive cuts to local government spending which hit the poorest and most disadvantaged in our community. Cuts to Sure Start, Libraries and education budgets will be opposed by Labour.
George Osborne delivered a Budget that will throw people out of work, hold back economic growth and damage the public services we all rely on. The Tories have broken their promise to be fair, with tax increases and benefit cuts that will hit hardest at the people who can least afford it.
These cuts will affect you, your family and the people around Strood. This Budget will affect everyone:
- *Growth next year would have been higher and unemployment lower with the Labour responsible, credible plan to halve the deficit over four years
- *Increasing VAT from 17.5% to 20%, so that higher prices will be paid in the shops by everyone, from pensioners to the unemployed
- *Cuts to tax credits, and cutting back free school meals
- *Cuts to the disability living allowance, cuts to help for the jobless
- *Freezing Child Benefit for the next three years
Cuts include an immediate £6m Tory slashing of Medway services including:
- *Scrapping of free swimming for pensioners and primary school pupils
- *Cutting of Sure start, free school meals, parenting support and breakfast clubs
- *£830,000 cuts to Medway Primary and Secondary School grants. Including Grammar schools.
- *Regneration Projects across Rochester & Strood Riverside slashed
- *£9m new bridge at Stoke Crossing axed
- *Old people services including housing, personal care and meals on wheels services
- *50-100 people cut from front line Medway Council services
Cllr Glyn Griffiths, Labour Group Spokesperson for Finance stated,
'The Tories promised during the election that they would not increase VAT, and the Lib Dems said that it would hit the poorest the hardest. Therefore it is no surprise that it is VAT that is shooting up. This is despite the fact that public finances are GBP 8bn better than predicted.
'As Medway faces such a drastic reduction in funding for services, residents have a right to know what services the local Tories are going to cut to manage this. We have already seen the free school meals for primary school children cut before the budget, so what is next in the firing line?
'However, the big issue is that service cuts equals job losses. That is not only a disaster for individual families, but also means that spending will fall which runs the real risk of sending the country back into recession. This is a reckless budget that only focuses on cuts, which will hit poorer families hardest and bring Medway regeneration to a halt.'
It is important to set the record straight, the Tories can't encourage economic growth, and reduce the deficit, by throwing people out of their jobs and abandoning support for business. People will be worrying about what these cuts will mean to their livelihoods, and for the future of their family.
For more information, please read the Medway Council document on Public Sector Reductions for a full list of Medway Conservative cuts.
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