Bedford Borough Labour Group of Councillors welcomed the statement from Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer today setting out Labour’s vision for a “new chapter for Britain.”
In his speech, Starmer called for immediate support at next month’s Budget to help secure our economy for families and businesses, including:
Reversing planned cuts to Universal Credit, benefiting six million families by £1,000 a year.
Providing local councils with the funding they need to prevent Boris Johnson’s council tax bombshell.
Extending the business rate holiday and the VAT cut for hospitality and leisure.
Labour Group Leader Sue Oliver said; “Kier is absolutely right to point out that the terrible damage caused by the virus to health and prosperity has been all the worse because the foundations of our society had been weakened over a decade.
"Here in Bedford Borough we’ve seen public sector spending, and central government funding to the council services on which we all rely, slashed year after year.
"Things need to change, and we need the funding to repair the damage done by ten years of Tory austerity, and to enable the local authority to provide the excellent services we want to for every resident of the Borough.”
For more information of the speech - Starmer sets out plan to give British people ‘a stake in our national recovery’:
Full text of Keir Starmer speech on A New Chapter for Britain