News

George Osborne said today that the Tories would take a cost-cutting leaf out of Tory-led councils' book if they were to get in to Government. Channel 4 News tonight (10th Sept) gave us an idea of what that might mean. They featured what’s going on in Hammersmith and Fulham, where the Tory-controlled council is cutting services and support for the disabled.

Closer to home we are also getting to see what Osborne would be up to if he ever got the keys to 11 Downing Street. Pay cuts for the lowest paid council workers are certain – refuse workers in Leeds stand to lose as much as £6,000 a year. It’s going to be working class families who will suffer the consequences of Osborne's Age of Austerity rhetoric.

Other victims will include the elderly and vulnerable. The Tories in Leeds want to cut day care centres - including Bramley Lawn in Leeds West - which provide much needed support for those who use them – and some respite for their families.

There is a clear choice. Yes, future spending rounds are going to be tough, but Labour are on the side of hard-working families and those who most need government to be on their side – the young, elderly, disabled and vulnerable. We can see, in Leeds and elsewhere, that the Tories are on a different side – a cut in inheritance tax for the richest few hundred families and pain for those who can afford it least.