News from The Labour Party

“Cameron’s cuts would threaten key local services” – Blears

Hazel Blears MP, Labour’s Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:

“It is vital that the boost we have given to the economy at a national level gets through to every local economy of every town and city in Britain. We are determined to work with local authorities to ensure our investment reaches every part of the country.

“By contrast, not only has David Cameron opposed the investment that we want to bring forward to local areas, he has committed his party to cuts that would threaten key local services like transport, police and schools.

“If you take David Cameron’s own constituency of Witney as an example, Tory cuts to Labour’s school building programme would put at risk 33 school projects in Oxfordshire, Tory cuts to Labour’s Home Office budget would be equivalent to 105 police officers cut from Thames Valley Police force, and Tory cuts to Labour’s transport budget would put at risk major schemes being planned or considered from which Witney residents would benefit, such as the station expansion at Reading.

“Alongside these unfair Tory cuts, David Cameron’s idea of a council tax freeze is a council tax con.

“His commitment to cut the budget for local authorities by £240 million if there was a Conservative government is the equivalent of an extra one per cent on every council tax bill.”

Other news from The Labour Party

• Tories stranded with no plan for growth, and no vision of Britain's industrial future - 17 March 2010
• Cameron's European policy reveals that it's the same old Conservative Party - 17 March 2010
• Join with Labour to Save Our Sure Start - 16 March 2010