Sheffield Labour MP slams Clegg’s attack on the poor

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Sheffield Labour MP slams Clegg’s attack on the poor

By Sheffield Labour ⋅ September 16, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Paul Blomfield, Labour MP for Sheffield Central, has launched an angry attack on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. In a personal letter to the Sheffield Hallam MP, Mr Blomfield says that voters have been betrayed by Tory-Lib Dem Government policies on poverty. He highlights Mr Clegg’s article in today’s Times newspaper.

In the Times article, Mr Clegg argues that the poor must accept cuts, saying that it is not the role of the Government to “compensate the poor for their predicament”. Mr Blomfield slams him for betraying those who had voted Lib Dem thinking that they were supporting a Party with compassion and decent values.

Paul Blomfield says: “Under Nick Clegg’s leadership the Lib Dems have put power before principle, and scrapped the policies that they once stood for. I know that there are many Lib Dems who are deeply unhappy about where Nick Clegg has taken their Party. I hope they will join with Labour in rejecting policies that will penalise the poor.”

The letter reads:

Dear Nick,

I read your article in ‘The Times’ today with both disappointment and anger. At the outset of the Coalition Government, you pledged that cuts would not negatively impact on the poorest or on the North of England. Over the last few weeks we have seen independent reports, from the IFS and the BBC, which confirm that your Government is failing on both counts.

Your argument today that the poor must accept benefits cuts and that our welfare system should not “compensate the poor for their predicament” will shock many Liberal Democrat supporters. We both know that those who voted for the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield Central, and across the country, thought that they were supporting a Party with compassion and decent values. They have been betrayed by the deeply regressive direction of your Government.

I would urge you to reconsider the policies you are pursuing that will cause such pain in the city that we both represent.

Best wishes,

Paul Blomfield MP

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Discussion

View Comments for “Sheffield Labour MP slams Clegg’s attack on the poor”

Gautam

The Honorable MP from Sheffield Paul Blomfield’s stand on the proposed cuts in benefits to the poor should be commended. The poor and the downtrodden have already suffered enough in this recession without the added insult of having their meager benefits taken away by the government. This atrocity continues while bank fat cats with their millions of pound bonuses and the corporations get ever richer. Enough is enough. The United Kingdom is not some banana republic in Africa; we will not tolerate government policies that would not allow our poorest citizens to live their lives with a measure of dignity.