Basingstoke Labour Newsletter

BasingstokeBasingstokeBasingstokeLabour: a growing local partyLabour: a growing local partyLabour: a growing local party

May 2012 May 2012 May 2012 --- best results for 30 years, Labour wins 7 Council seats, best results for 30 years, Labour wins 7 Council seats, best results for 30 years, Labour wins 7 Council seats, Brookvale, Buckskin, Brighton Hill South, Popley East & West, South Ham & NordenBrookvale, Buckskin, Brighton Hill South, Popley East & West, South Ham & NordenBrookvale, Buckskin, Brighton Hill South, Popley East & West, South Ham & Norden

Membership rising, support growing,

number of councillors increasing…

We are working hard to win people’s

trust and respect. We’re local people who

care about our communities.

More & more people across our town

want to see things change, & they want

politics to mean something positive.

Would you like to be a part of that

change & help make a difference?

Cllr Carolyn Wooldridge with George Severs, Chair of

Basingstoke Labour Students, at the May election count.

Across Basingstoke people see that the Lib Dems have sold Across Basingstoke people see that the Lib Dems have sold Across Basingstoke people see that the Lib Dems have sold

out to the Tories on the NHS, on VAT, on Tuition Fees, on out to the Tories on the NHS, on VAT, on Tuition Fees, on out to the Tories on the NHS, on VAT, on Tuition Fees, on

Civil Liberties, on the Environment...Civil Liberties, on the Environment...Civil Liberties, on the Environment...

POPLEY EASTPOPLEY EASTPOPLEY EAST Cllr David Potter Cllr.david.potter@

Basingstoke,gov.uk

07941 507801 Cllr Viv Washbourne Cllr.vivien.washbourne@

Basingstoke.gov.uk 07900 890088

BROOKVALEBROOKVALEBROOKVALE Cllr Jack Cousens Cllr.jack.cousens@


BRIGHTON HILLBRIGHTON HILLBRIGHTON HILL

Cllr Carolyn Wooldridge Cllr.carolyn.wooldridge@

Basingstoke.gov.uk

07913 841439 Cllr David Eyre Cllr.david.eyre@


BUCKSKINBUCKSKINBUCKSKIN Cllr Tony Jones Cllr.tony.jones@

Basingstoke,gov.uk 07983 950032

Write to us at: Write to us at: Write to us at: The Labour Group,

Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council,

Civic Offices, London Road,

Basingstoke, RG21 4AH Telephone us at: Telephone us at: Telephone us at:

01256 845324

SOUTH HAMSOUTH HAMSOUTH HAM

Cllr Colin Regan Cllr.colin.regan@

Basingstoke.gov.uk 07796 225618 Cllr Sean Keating Cllr.sean.keating@

Basingstoke.gov.uk 01256 422969 Cllr Gary Watts Cllr.gary.watts@


POPLEY WESTPOPLEY WESTPOPLEY WEST

Cllr Jane Frankum Cllr.jane.frankum@

Basingstoke.gov.uk

Cllr Paul Frankum Cllr.paul.frankum@


NORDENNORDENNORDEN

Cllr Paul Harvey Cllr.paul.harvey@

Basingstoke.gov.uk 07968 941009 Cllr Laura James Cllr.laura.james@

Basingstoke.gov.uk 07780 663713 Cllr George Hood Cllr.george.hood@


We are here for Basingstoke,We are here for Basingstoke,

We are here for you.We are here for you.

Your BasingstokeYour BasingstokeYour BasingstokeLabourLabourLabour Councillor team Councillor team Councillor team

Norden Brookvale Popley West Buckskin South Ham Popley East Brighton Hill

“Support for Lib Dems collapses as TWO-THIRDS of those who voted for them say they wouldn't do it again!” Daily Mail Jan 2012

"Latest figures show that the party has fewer members than the number of football fans that fill Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.”

Independent August 2012

Lib Dem vote has collapsed

One in four unemployed in Basingstoke are under the age of 25. Youth unemployment went up 67% in Basingstoke last year. We face a lost generation of young people in

Basingstoke. We know that austerity alone is not

working, it is choking any growth. Youth

unemployment in Basingstoke is at 5%, the highest

rate in the whole of Hampshire.

Over the last few years Basingstoke has lost over

1,000 jobs. We have seen the biggest increase in

youth unemployment, up 67%. Basingstoke’s Tory MP

responded by saying: ‘there is no shortage of jobs.’

We are not sure what planet she is living on, but it

isn’t Basingstoke’s. The Tories and Lib Dem’s

economic plan has failed and it is local people and

local businesses that are suffering.

Record youth unemployment is not a price worth

paying. Unemployment only increases the benefits

bill. You don’t grow businesses or our local economy

by cutting to the bone, and the Tories ideological

obsession with cuts to the public sector has created

the longest recession and economic crisis for 60 yrs.

Promoted by Paul Harvey on behalf of the Basingstoke Labour Party, all at the Labour Club, Sandys Road, Basingstoke, RG22 6AS. Printed by Community Print, Broadway, Bingley BD16 4QA

The Conservatives have ignored the warning signs in Basingstoke. Austerity has gone mad, and they continue to take a reckless gamble with our economy.

We need to focus on job creation and

helping small businesses. Getting people

into jobs is the way to grow and sustain a

recovery. We need a plan for growth and

jobs. Labour is the ‘one nation party’, we

are about everyone not the few.

A year of recession, U-turns & no growth. The Tory plan is hurting and it is not working. We’ve lost too many local jobs.

Labour’s plans in 2010 which put jobs and growth first saw our economy grow by 1.8%. It hasn’t done that since the Coalition took over.

Join Labour, let’s make change happen together Call us: 07968 941009 email: [email protected]

Basingstoke

BasingstokeLabour - focusing on jobs, housing, schools, health & pensions

The Scandal of Youth Unemployment.

Huawei 400 jobs lost

Labour leads fight to stop & rejectLabour leads fight to stop & rejectLabour leads fight to stop & reject

TESCOPOLY & protect local shops.TESCOPOLY & protect local shops.TESCOPOLY & protect local shops.

“We need a fair & transparent

planning process that listens to

people & that balances the need

for housing with the need to

protect our green fields. With over

6,000 people on the Housing Register. With

homelessness up 23% last year, we need to get

a grip on the housing crisis in Basingstoke.”

says Cllr Tony Jones, Buckskin.

“Labour Councillors are

fighting for a new

approach to local

planning that meets our

communities needs &

expectations. We need a fresh start

with a new Council. We are focused

on delivering socially rented homes

that people need, and in ending the

scandal of empty homes. This free-

for-all the Tories have created is a

disgrace.” says Cllr Viv Washbourne.

Cllr Jane Frankum (top picture) on the

Kiln Farm fields site north of Popley, &

Cllr Colin Regan at the Down Grange

Playing Fields, rural & urban green fields

are threatened with development.

Local Tory Cllrs have been desperate to stop

an independent inquiry into the Manydown

scandal.

A small clique of Tory Cllrs tried to stitch up the

planning process. They were found to have acted

unlawfully in the High Court bringing the Council

into disrepute.

“Developers are now lining up

applications to try & take advantage

of the mess that the Tories have

created. Razors Farm, Kiln Farm,

Kennel Farm and Down Grange are

all under threat. In fact the Tories have put

every green field in Basingstoke under threat.”

says Cllr David Potter, Popley East.

“Labour Councillors

spoke out to protect our

local shopping parades

in Kings Road, Worting

Road, Kings Furlong,

and Buckland Parade.”

says Cllr Gary Watts.

We spoke out to protect

the Brighton Hill District

Centre. The Council Planning Officer’s report predicted that

Asda would lose 25% of its trade and this would impact on

the centre. Sainsbury’s in Hatch Warren would lose a third of

its trade. Basingstoke is not big enough for another store of

that kind. The Council report did not consider the impact on

our local shopping parades at all. Labour Cllrs listened

carefully to residents and shop owners who spoke and we

responded in support of our communities. The application

was rejected and Tesco have gone to appeal.

The Tories running Basingstoke Council are cutting

Council Tax Benefit for all working age claimants by

either 30% or 50% from next April. That’s over 4,000

working households in Basingstoke who will see their

Council Tax rise. On an average household tax bill

that could be as much as £465 a year more for those

on benefit or up to £363 for those on low wages.

The only exemptions will be households with children under 5 or

in receipt of disability benefit. There will be an across the board

30% or 50% reduction in eligible support for all other working

age claimants.

The Tories just don’t get it, they don’t feel it because they don’t

live it. They are so out of touch with people all over Basingstoke.

To keep Council Tax support as it is now, meaning no cuts, for

another year would cost the Borough Council £60,000 out of an

annual revenue budget of £19million. They could support working

people if they wanted to. Even David Cameron is facing a revolt

in his own Oxfordshire "backyard" as local Tories there join a

national outcry over these council tax reforms.

Working poor could be up to £363 a year Working poor could be up to £363 a year Working poor could be up to £363 a year worse off under Tory Council Tax changes.worse off under Tory Council Tax changes.worse off under Tory Council Tax changes.

“It’s not good

enough just to

appear on

your doorstep

at election

times. We work in our

communities all year round.

Our whole focus is on

getting the job done.

The Tory Council is remote

and isolated from people, it

has acted unlawfully, and

yet the Tories don’t think

anything has to change.

We want to restore

people’s faith in what the

council can do for

Basingstoke and you.

It really is time for a fresh

start. More than ever

people need a council that

is one their side.”

Cllr Laura James.

Labour Group Leader.

Privatising Privatising Privatising Basingstoke’s NHSBasingstoke’s NHSBasingstoke’s NHS

Basingstoke Hospital is set to increase

the amount of private healthcare it

does by dedicating a whole floor of

the publicly paid for DTC Centre just

to private patients.

“A Labour Government will repeal

the Tories NHS Reform Bill,

restoring the NHS to public ownership.” Says Cllr George Hood.

The N in NHS is under sustained attack. A postcode lottery is running

riot - older people denied cataract and hip operations. NHS

privatisation at a pace and scale never seen before. Contracts are

being signed in the single biggest act of privatisation the NHS has

ever seen. 398 NHS community services all over England - worth over

a quarter of a billion pounds – are out to open tender. Not the

choice of GPs, who we were told would be in control. But a forced

privatisation ordered from the top. The NHS is being broken up, sold

off & sold out.

Cllr David Eyre & Cllr Carolyn Wooldridge in Britten Rd, Brighton Hill.

There are 400 roads that the Council

have identified that need parking

schemes, they are currently doing just 3

a year. At that rate the truth is most

people won’t see solutions at all.

The Council are choosing to spend just

£140,000 a year on parking schemes,

and even this budget is now under

review. We recognise that the problem

is town-wide. We see the strain it puts

on people and communities. The Council

can do something about it.

The bottom line is that the rural Tories

running Basingstoke Council do not see

this issue as a priority. When it came to

a vote on Labour’s parking proposal in

Council the Tories opposed it! They

are utterly out of touch with people’s

concerns. The scale of the problem is

town-wide and only Labour

Councillors are taking it seriously.

“It might not always cost a

lot to implement simple

changes which could

deliver real improvements.

Your Labour Councillors are

campaigning for a change, we want to

see more investment from the capital

budget in parking solutions across

Basingstoke.”

Cllr Jack Cousens, Brookvale. “Next April

David Cameron

will be giving

every millionaire,

including himself, a £40,000

tax cut following the top

rate tax cut from 50p to

45p.

From privatising the NHS to

screwing up rail franchises.

From Pasty Tax, to Murdoch

to bankers bonuses. Have

you ever seen a more

incompetent, hopeless, out

of touch, u-turning, pledge-

breaking, make it up as you

go along, back of the

envelope, miserable shower

than this Prime Minister and

this Government?”

Cllr Sean Keating.

Thousands of low paid working people and families

throughout Basingstoke are facing financial hardship.

1600 Households face upto a 25% cut in Housing Benefit.1600 Households face upto a 25% cut in Housing Benefit.1600 Households face upto a 25% cut in Housing Benefit.

4000 Households face upto a £465 rise in Council Tax.4000 Households face upto a £465 rise in Council Tax.4000 Households face upto a £465 rise in Council Tax.

3237 Children are living in poverty in Basingstoke.3237 Children are living in poverty in Basingstoke.3237 Children are living in poverty in Basingstoke.

Fuel Bills are set to rise by over £100 this Christmas.Fuel Bills are set to rise by over £100 this Christmas.Fuel Bills are set to rise by over £100 this Christmas.

Food prices are increasing by way above inflation.Food prices are increasing by way above inflation.Food prices are increasing by way above inflation.

“The poorest in Basingstoke are being made to pay the

most, while millionaires get tax cuts” Cllr Paul Frankum.

Parking in Basingstoke is Parking in Basingstoke is a nightmare for so a nightmare for so many people.many people.

We have heard from

people all over

Basingstoke about the

problems that

inadequate parking

causes.

The Borough Council had

a surplus budget of £3.5

million last year. We want

the Council to commit at

least £1million from the

£3.5million surplus in a

one off major scheme to

tackle the worst affected

roads. We want a toolbox

of solutions that can

deliver parking schemes

street by street.

BasingstokeBasingstokeBasingstokeLabourLabourLabour: A fresh start for our town & our communities

“We want roads assessed

fairly & to listen to people

when they tell us about

the problems they face.”

Cllr David Eyre, Brighton Hill South.

Tories oppose parking solutions! Tories say it’s not a priority & oppose Labour’s proposal.

Buckskin has no beat bobbies and is being covered by

the team in South Ham. Oakridge and Popley have had a

50% cut in the number of officers covering those beats.

Basingstoke has lost frontline Police Officers. “This is

austerity gone mad, when we see frontline 999 officers

cut. Nationally that’s 7000 frontline Police cut since the

Coalition came to power in 2010, and 3000 fewer

PCSOs. In Basingstoke these cuts are taking Police

Officers off our streets” said Cllr Paul Harvey.

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Basingstoke Labour Newsletter