Ed Miliband has signed an M.E.N. petition against unfair town hall cuts.
The Labour leader said cuts to councils’ budgets were the ‘wrong choices’ for Greater Manchester’s future and urged readers to send a message to the government to ‘think again’.
Mr Miliband signed up after town hall bosses in Manchester revealed how they were cutting £109m of spending this year alone.
Cutbacks across almost every service will lead to the closure of dozens of libraries and youth centres as well as reduced support for some of the city’s neediest residents.
They will also mean scaled back bin collections and street cleaning.
It comes after the city was landed with one of the worst percentage cuts to its government grant of any council in the country – with many more affluent areas escaping relatively unscathed.
Nine out of the 10 Greater Manchester authorities received worse than average settlements from Whitehall.
Town halls are expected to lay out details of their budgets in the coming weeks.
Mr Miliband encouraged M.E.N. readers to join the campaign – also backed by his Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls – which calls on the government to give our region its fair share of cash.
He said: “I welcome the opportunity to give my support to the Manchester Evening News’s campaign.
“These cuts are not only unfair but the wrong long-term choices for the future of Greater Manchester.
“Councils are working hard to find savings but the fact is that these cuts go too far and too fast – hitting jobs, economic growth and the vital frontline services people rely on.
“I urge M.E.N. readers to sign the petition and send a message to the Tory-led government to think again.”
The petition has already been signed by thousands of people including a number of Lib Dem councillors.
To add your name to the petition, fill in the coupon in today's Manchester Evening News.
Or you can join the petition online - by clicking on this link
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Well, this is a bit political by the M.E.N. I’m sure the current government would like to be deciding where to spent excess income rather than cutting services to people they hope will ultimately vote for them. As for the cuts being fair, well that much money needs to be saved they never will be. The architects of the financial sewer we now find ourselves in is the Labour party. They should not be at the front of the queue to sign a petition to say it’s not fair. If they don’t think its necessary it just shows why we are in this mess in the first place. A global crisis yes, in which the little UK played a leading role.
Millband reminds me of a gawky sixth former at the school debate.
Somewhat a shallow gesture, Miliband doesn't want to face up to the cuts his party created whilst in government. He has no suggestions of his own but simply jumping on a bandwagon which is a lot less popular than he imagines.