News from Sheffield Labour

Betts lambasts Lib Dem Minister’s Sheffield “smokescreen” visit

Sheffield South East Labour MP, Clive Betts, today lambasted Liberal Democrat Minister Sarah Teather for using a visit to Sheffield as a smokescreen to avoid voting on cuts to benefits.

The Sunday Times revealed yesterday that Downing Street gave her special permission to miss the debates and votes which cut child care support for thousands of working families, Employment and Support Allowances which will particularly hit people recovering from cancer and mental health conditions, and strip an independent income from young people who have been severely disabled from birth.

The report suggested that Sarah Teather was so opposed to the cuts that, if present, she would have chosen to vote against and would, therefore, have had to resign as a Government Minister.

Clive Betts said: “We all know about ‘being sent to Coventry’. Now, we have ‘gone to Sheffield’.

“It means ‘a Liberal Democrat who chooses a Ministerial salary for herself rather than stopping massive cuts in the income of some of the poorest working families in the country, from disabled children, and from those recovering from cancer’!”

Clive Betts also lambasted Nick Clegg for his role in the cover-up.

Clive Betts said: “Not satisfied with just colluding with Sarah Teather’s vote avoidance, he’s been happy to besmirch the good name of Sheffield in this sorry affair.

“I’m sure the Sheffield people she met will be less than delighted to know that her visit was not because she wanted to meet them, but so that she could avoid a vote and keep her job. I suggest she doesn’t make another visit.”

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