15 March - Labour’s initial response to the Tory budget
The first Councillor to respond to
the new budget was Zainab Asanramu (Labour,
Thamesmead East) who said that the
Council Tax Reduction scheme is being made
less generous (25% higher charges) because “it was chronically underfunded by the Tory
government”. She then launched the near standard 14 years of “declining
support” speech with which few would disagree. Austerity, poverty, potholes,
service cuts and a Council on the brink of bankruptcy all got a brief mention.
The Labour Government is going to fix all those things and the news should be
met with “jubilation”. Notably they are going to tackle the greedy childrenְ’s
care providers
charging £16,000 a week.
Breakfast clubs and school uniform changes will save Bexley families “up to £500
a year whilst this Bexley Cabinet want to see more people suffer. Labour is in the business of rebuilding
the country in the aftermath of a decade and a half of Conservative chaos and sleaze”.
Nicola Taylor (Labour) was next. “Erith needs homes
not built on green spaces
that most people of Erith cannot hope to own which are bought by
buy-to-let
landlords, but social homes where they can put down roots. They don’t want to be
sent to Leeds, Corby or
Gravesend”. No doubt very true.
Labour controlled Gravesend is an absolute dump.