I suppose I should have known better, but I fully
expected Saturday`s edition to include news of an angry reaction from Labour
leaders to the announcement by local government minister, Kris Hopkins, that the
"latest round of multibillion-pound cuts" to local authorities` funding was a
"fair financial settlement". (Council leaders say breaking point is
near,19/12/14) What can possibly be "fair" about a settlement which sees over
90% of the councils facing cuts in their spending of up to 6.4% being under
Labour control, whilst the ones receiving increases are over 90% in Tory hands.
The situation is worsened, of course, by the fact that one has to suspect, with
this government`s record of duplicity, that the figures are more likely to be
nearer the 8.8% average, as suggested by the the group representing local
government heads, making a total of 40% cuts since the coalition took
office.
Admittedly, Hilary Benn did accuse the
government of cutting funding for "socially deprived cities in the north"
disproportionately, but that barely merits the term, "opposition". Why can`t the Labour leadership realise that it is, above all
else, unfairness that annoys and antagonises the British people, and that these
cuts are just another example of the government`s discrimination. There can`t
even be many Tories who honestly believe that rich areas like Wokingham should
be getting a better deal than impoverished urban areas further north, but still
Labour`s reaction is muted. Such stifled reaction goes some way to explain why
Labour`s lead in the polls, after almost five years of unjust and prejudiced
government, is only by a slender margin, rather than the double digit one it
should be. Why aren`t Miliband and co. at least as angry as they were over a
misguided tweet recently, or perhaps even more so? For goodness sakes, this is
about people`s quality of life deteriorating, about inequality increasing, and
children`s futures being jeopardised; lets see some anger and
passion!
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