Destruction of Birmingham council’s funding is outrageous and will damage the city, says Roger Godsiff MP
Posted by Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, at 10:58, Thu 25 September 2014:
Roger has condemned the Coalition’s proposed cuts to Birmingham Council’s 2015 funding, which will see staff numbers decline to less than a third of their previous l, as “utterly outrageous and very damaging to our city”. He commented:
“I am absolutely furious that the Conservatives have decided to seriously threaten—if not completely destroy—Birmingham council’s ability to offer the city’s residents, including my constituents, the basic services they rely on. Since the Coalition government came in in 2010, they have already cut funding to councils in the most deprived areas by £782 per household, and in richest areas by just £48. This is just more of the same—punishing the poorest for a crisis that they did not cause, while allowing the wealthy to avoid contributing anything like their fair share.
“If the Government are really so short of cash that they have to cut our city’s local government to shreds, why are they not cracking down on corporate tax avoidance or the use of tax havens? Why are the cuts not evenly distributed between UK councils? As the council Leader has pointed out, Birmingham will receive a cut equivalent to £147 per next year, compared to the national average of just £45. Birmingham citizens pay the same rates of tax as the rest of the UK—why should we accept a cut which is three times that suffered by the rest of the country? Some county councils, such as the Conservative-controlled Buckinghamshire or Hampshire, will actually receive a spending increase next year.
“It is outrageously unfair and corrupt that the Conservatives are pouring funding into areas where their voters live, while expecting poorer parts of the UK to take all the pain of spending cuts. I do not see why the citizens of Birmingham should be expected to sacrifice their essential local services, while people in other parts of the UK receive a budget increase.”
Roger has tabled Written Parliamentary Questions to ask the Secretary of State for Community and Local Government, Eric Pickles, why Birmingham’s funding is being cut by three times the national average; why some councils receive an increase in spending and others a decrease; why all councils’ budgets were not decreased by the same percentage; and whether he has bothered to carry out an assessment of whether the cuts will increase deprivation in the city.
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Posted by Ian Soady, 11:07, Thu 25 September 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Spot on again. I shudder to think what will happen if Labour fails to win a majority next May. It's about time some of the negative voices in the party stopped sniping at Ed Miliband and got together to ensure that victory rather than going public with their whinges.
Well done Roger and I'm pleased to see you're continuing to attack the Tories rather than causing internal strife.
Posted by Colin, 11:43, Thu 25 September 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Mr. Godsiff's fury would be better directed at his own party, whose disastrous 13-year tenure brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy, necessitating the need for such cuts. Voters will never forget the smirking Liam Byrne's parting note at the Treasury; 'Sorry, there's no money left'. As for tax avoidance, Labour had 13 years to tackle this, which needs international agreement. Unlike the hapless, blundering, Milliband, 'forgetting' the deficit in his keynote speech, some of us have better memories.
Posted by Dr Electra Soady, 14:15, Thu 25 September 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
I welcome another communication from Roger, which is not only succinct and informative as usual, but this time highlights yet another injustice perpetrated by a government run by, and in the interests of, millionaires.
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 14:55, Thu 25 September 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
The question is how did two classes - rich and deprived households - have arisen in the first place. There is a lot of discrimination against those in the poor household due to where they live (in a deprived area) in terms of facilities, education and employment. This has arisen due to the failed government policies in spite of the present budget deficit and borrowing standing at £1.43 trillion and the Labour promising more expenditure to win voters. Where will the money come from? How much tax can be imposed on the rich and on corporations? How many rich people and rich corporations exist in the UK?
Posted by Paul Simmonds, 17:21, Thu 25 September 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Colin clearly has no understanding whatsoever of the real causes of the damage done to the UK; it was not a disastrous period by a Labour government but the result of the appalling policies of Thatcher / Reagan which left open the way for uncontrolled corporate greed. As Ian said, Roger was spot on once again and I can only say thank goodness that we have a good MP with a brain.