Labour MPs across Greater Manchester are demanding a face-to-face showdown with the chancellor after the M.E.N. revealed how the region faced devastating council cuts.
The politicians want to confront George Osborne over plans to slash £341m from Treasury grants to the 10 town halls in our region over the next two years.
We reported yesterday how Greater Manchester – and other councils in urban cities in the north – faced far higher percentage cuts than affluent rural communities in the south of England.
Now 14 Labour MPs have signed a letter to the M.E.N. claiming the move would hit services to vulnerable people and was motivated by bias towards Tory heartlands.
A number of those politicians have joined calls for a meeting with Mr Osborne, who represents Tatton in Cheshire. The news came as the impact of the cuts to council budgets in Greater Manchester began to emerge.
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Sir Howard Bernstein – chief executive of Manchester council, which will lose 21 per cent of its government grants – has written to all staff warning the settlement would make it ‘incredibly difficult to maintain all key services’.
He said he wanted to avoid compulsory redundancies but said: “The severity of these cuts means that a further review of services and priorities in inevitable.”
John Merry, leader of Salford council – which faces cuts of 19.6pc – said the move would have a ‘devastating’ effect on frontline services in the city.
He confirmed his town hall officers would have to slash £40m from their spending plans for this year.
And he revealed that as part of a first £19m tranche of savings, recycling collections would be halved.
Salford’s three state-of-the-art Gateway centres – which provide GP services, pharmacies, dentists and libraries – will also be ordered to close an hour early.
The 14 MPs who have signed the letter are: Hazel Blears, Andy Burnham, Ann Coffey, Simon Danczuk, Yvonne Fovargue, Andrew Gwynne, Julie Hilling, Sir Gerald Kaufman, Barbara Keeley, Michael Meacher, Lisa Nandy, Yasmin Qureshi, Graham Stringer and Tony Lloyd.
Ms Hilling, MP for Bolton West and one of the group seeking to confront Mr Osborne, said: “Northern communities are bearing the brunt of these cuts and I think that we need to make it clear that this isn't acceptable.”
Mr Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, said he wanted to tell the chancellor of his 'deep concern' about the settlement.
“George Osborne might be an MP in the north west but he is part of a London-based Conservative clique concerned with diverting money away from the north to the affluent south-east of the country,” he said.
Ms Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, said: “The settlement is full of smoke and mirrors.”
Rochdale MP Mr Danczuk said: “It's unfair that authorities like Rochdale and Salford are having to stomach these severe cuts by the government.”
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MP`s want a showdown with Osborne,how do we get a showdown with our MP`s ?? other than wait until the next General Election.
Do MEN Readers know that there is no regulation or requirement whatsoever that requires an MP to represent you, or answer E.Mails, or even Letters from you,and thats a 100% fact.
The immunity of MP`s is staggering.
An outrageous act of economic barbarism.
It's time we stood with the students. A real punitive levy on the banks and a robin hood tax is a far more sensible option than putting community spirited public sector workers on the dole
No mention of our Wythenshawe west MP's name,are some still sitting on the fence.
And meanwhile the banks bailed out by the taxpayer had used the recession to avoid paying tax on their profits of £19b this year written off against their losess of 2008. This money alone would have paid for a much fairer settlement,the Tories don't give a toss about the deprived areas and the Fib dems are just Call me daves little lapdogs with Clegg just sucking up to stay in power whatever the cost to the economy which with these cuts will mirror Ireland in 18 months time, the private sector is not picking up the slack as the Tories thought it would the only ones who did, We are still not out of the woods infact the Fib Dem Con cuts mean that a few wolves have now joined red ridding hood in the wood and its getting darker, grannies house is miles away.
With these cuts, Gideon Osborne with his little helper Eric Pickles has just started building his election ' tax give away' savings account to bribe Tory and Lib Dem marginals in the South from 2013. And guess what? We're paying for it, with massive cuts in everyday services and resources for the North. Now that's really rubbing our noses in it! Is it just me, or do these characters make your flesh creep?
everbody get ready for the new year riots, by then the redundant police officers will be able to join in as well as the council worker nhs workersincluding the bid men, careworkers lollypop men& women,life gaurds, nurses, doctors, hospital technitions, forensic scientists, firemen,ect ect ect , WHEN WILL IT STOP. What they dont shut down they will sell off . THIS IS THATCHERISM ALL OVER AGAIN.
These same Labour authorities got much higher grants than the rest when their party was in power so there is more to cut in them than in those who repeatedly got less.
For those with short memories, here was the Labour party boasting about the cuts it was going to make, in order to try and start to clean up the mess they'd made of the public finances.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/25/alistair-darling-cut-deeper-margaret-thatcher
So the Manchester M.Ps want a face to face with Osborn do they,to do what exactly,they have been the recipitants of Zillions of labour munificence for the last fourteen years,and their electorate have therefore slavishly voted socialist because of it.Do they now imagine that one word from them is going to have Osborne quaking in his boots.Get real Bernstein the cuts are coming ,live wth it !!!