PETERBOROUGH LABOUR PARTY

The next election will be a big choice about the change we want for Britain. Our vision for Britain is fundamentally optimistic

– based on our enduring belief that Britain’s greatest strength is the talent and enterprise of its people. Even in tough times, we can achieve great things. And we will remain true, as always, to the values of fairness and responsibility for which we stand.

The Conservatives offer change to benefit the privileged few – a change you can’t afford.

The Tories’ vision for Britain is fundamentally pessimistic– about a Britain that is broken and with only an age of austerity to look forward to. The Conservative approach is to abandon the responsibility of government, to let the recession take its course and to leave people to sink or swim.

  Labour Action on economy es

In today’s global financial crisis, Labour has made the right choices. It is vital that we continue to support the economy until recovery is secured.

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Family We have given 22 million basic rate taxpayers a £145 tax cut; the VAT cut is worth £275 off the average household bill; the £75 above inflation increase in the child element of the Child Tax Credit, is worth up to £2,235 a year for families;and bringing forward the increase in Child Benefit, is worth anadditional £22 on average to every family with children.The Conservatives have opposed our fiscal stimulus whichis delivering real help to people.

 The Choice We are investing £5 billion in Jobcentre Plus to help peopleback to work. We are guaranteeing work or training forevery 18-24 year old unemployed for a year because we do not believe that Government should leave anyone behind.Labour’s Future Jobs Fund will provide 150,000 new jobs,around two thirds of which will be directed at young people.

The Conservatives refuse to support Labour’s £5 billion investment in helping people back to work. They offer a gamble - not a guarantee - to young people out of work. By refusing to offer support to people during the recession the Conservatives threaten to choke off the recovery with cuts at the worst possible time, leading to more people unemployed, bigger deficits and bigger debts in the future.

By 2011 we are committed to ensuring that every school gets at minimum 30 per cent of their pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and maths – compared to over half failing this benchmark in 1997. We want every school to have discipline that is good or excellent – not just satisfactory –within three years and we will rebuild every secondary school and half of all primaries in the coming years.The Tories would make cuts to schools now and in thefuture, jeopardising discipline, standards and school building plans. Their “Swedish” style school reforms could mean schools opened in rented office blocks, without playing fields or playgrounds, in a system which overall cost more meaning cuts to existing schools.

We’ve put an additional £1 billion each month into the pocketsof families and retailers by cutting VAT; 200,000 agreements have been signed with businesses to defer tax bills. The Tories have promised a £4 billion increase in tax on business investment, hitting sectors like manufacturing,transport and utilities and discouraging firms from investing in the future of their business.   

Health and the NHSorie  If you have suspected cancer, you will see a specialist within two weeks of GP referral. New access to diagnostic tests will mean cancer diagnosis, with results, within one week. Over three quarters of GP practices now offer extended evening or weekend opening hours.

The Tories say they would scrap your right to see a cancer specialist within two weeks. The Tories do not support a right to one-week cancer diagnosis.

The Tories do not support a National Care Service, and David Cameron’s plan for an £8,000 insurance payment at age 65 would do nothing for people unless they leave theirhomes and move into permanent residential care.

The legacy of Thatcherism should not be forgotten:

Riots
Poll tax
Massive unemployment
Recession after recession
Run down schools
Run down hospitals
Long waiting lists
Maastricht
Shut down coal mines devastating whole communities where some people are now the 3rd generation unemployed
Miner's strike
Steel strike
Using North sea oil to fund unemployment
Interest rates upto 15%
Privatisation
Opposing German reunification
Westland
Dissolution of the GLC

We should never forget the achievements of the Tories