Labour will rebuild our communities and transform our country
4 min read
Ahead of crucial local government elections on 3rd May Labour’s Co-National Campaign Coordinator writes about his party's chances and says "We’ll be out campaigning tirelessly between now and polling day to get the best possible result for Labour".
As we approach next week’s local elections, voters across England have the chance to send a powerful message to this weak and divided Conservative government.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen just how much of a mess this Tory government is in; the treatment of the Windrush Generation is a shameful episode which reveals a Government that is both callous and incompetent. It is an absolute scandal that the Home Office doesn’t even know how many people they have wrongly deported. The responsibility for this whole fiasco lies with the Tories and the Prime Minister.
Continuing Tory divisions and incompetence over Brexit are putting jobs and the economy at risk. They have not offered any viable way to ensure frictionless trade with Europe, protect our manufacturing industry or prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.
The Tories have slashed police funding and resources, leaving them struggling to cope with rising serious crime. Recently the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd claimed to be launching “a fact and evidence-fuelled” strategy, but then admitted she hadn’t even bothered to read the evidence her officials had compiled. Under the Tories, over 21,000 police officers and 6,800 community support officers have been axed despite a promise to protect the frontline.
And a year on from Theresa May’s decision to call a snap General Election, we’ve had anything but the ‘strong and stable’ government that was promised. The Tories have plunged the NHS into crisis; school class sizes are soaring; and wages are stagnant leaving people worse off. Far from providing strong leadership they’ve abandoned promises and focussed on themselves rather than what’s right for the country.
After eight years of Conservative cuts in vital services, failed privatisations and falling living standards. It’s time for change.
Under the Tories, millions face insecurity at work or in business. Most people’s incomes haven’t kept up with prices. Too many have to rely on debt to keep afloat.
Housebuilding fell to its lowest rate since the 1920s and homelessness is rising.
Older people are not living with the dignity and comfort they deserve because of Tory cuts to social care.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
Labour will rebuild our communities and transform our country for the many not the few. That change can start now.
Labour councils will stand up against Tory cuts to protect the services that people rely on. Residents living in Labour council areas pay considerably lower council tax bills compared to those living in Tory controlled councils. Where Labour controls the local council, households will pay on average £341 less next year than those living in Tory areas. The average council tax per dwelling in Labour council areas is £1,107, versus £1,449 in Tory council areas. The figures for council tax are even higher in London when compared nationally.
Labour will always put the interests of the people first. Locally and nationally, Labour will invest in people, public services and the industries of the future.
Labour has a strong message of how we will build a Britain for the many, not the few and we will be out every day between now and polling day campaigning and taking this argument to the country.
While we hope to make progress, these are going to be a challenging set of elections in a range of very different councils across the country.
These local elections are a range of local contests, with unique circumstances in each. A number of the London boroughs are historically Tory voting areas where Labour have either never, or very rarely, had a majority, so we’re realistic about our prospects in these areas.
We’ll be out campaigning tirelessly between now and polling day to get the best possible result for Labour.
Labour stands for secure and fulfilling jobs, for everyone to have a decent home, and the chance to train and study. For safer communities, and for care and support for us all when we need it.
Conservative cuts put all that at risk in your area.
A Labour government will introduce a real Living Wage of £10 an hour. We will always make sure the NHS and social care have the funding they need. We will ensure proper support for local services in government, easing pressure on your Council Tax bill.
We will invest in new affordable homes to rent and buy, and build over a million homes in five years, including 100,000 genuinely affordable homes to buy and rent a year by the end of the Parliament. We will give residents a say on redevelopment plans.
It’s time for change. Don’t let Conservative cuts hold us back any longer.
Vote Labour – for the many, not the few.
Andrew Gwynne is Labour’s Co-National Campaign Coordinator and MP for Denton and Reddish
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