Manchester Labour has chosen a new and unique was to publicise our manifesto this year. We will be publishing a promise a day via Twitter.
Our first three promise have already been published:
Manchester Labour has kept Council Tax increases at or below the rate of inflation for more than a decade so that now the average Council Tax bill is one of the lowest in the Country.
This year we have frozen the Council's own Council Tax demand - a 0% increase, but unlike other Councils we will not be cutting services nor, especially important as we come out of a recession, making any compulsory redundancies.
Financially the next few years will be tough, but building on our track record:
• we promise to keep future Council Tax increases at or below inflation
• We promise to maintain and improve the frontline services our residents tell us are important to them
• we promise to work with our staff to keep people in work delivering vital services for Manchester people
To follow Manchester Labour on twitter follow @ManchesterRose
I am a resisdent of longsight, in fact all my life until now always voted labour, this time i don't feel i can vote for anyone, nobody has been to my door so i could voice my opinion, but one point for me is iam a 57 year old woman who feels her choice to finish work at 60 has been taken away, i am not interested about being told people are living longer, it is not my fault that our pensions have not been looked after properly, i would have liked to have finished at 60, and had time for me to do other things that i wanted to do without having to watch a clock all the time, it should have been a personal choice my choice, but living in longsight not all changes have been good, there is a lot of people here that are not working, no matter where there from, but never the less are entitiled to certain benefits, which has never bothered me even though i haved payed into the system and have done all my life until now, but a lot our from the younger generation, and iff i had finished work, that generates a job for them, you have not done yourselves any favours because people from my generation are not voting tomorrow and they are the ones you should be concerned about, the money that has been wasted in this country. I do blame the powers at be for taking my last of what quality of life away from me to do the things i want, and not being told what i have to do, i was hoping to help my children, by taking care of my granchildren while ther parents go to work, especially school holidays so that they are not paying out huge amounts for childcare, but the powers at be don't take that into consideration, and also to get out of longsight, i am a resident of stainer street, i was born in the street and would like to move on, i don't like it here anymore, like i said earlier not all changes have been for the best. I know you probably won't take much notice from what i have had to say but felt i had to get it off my chest.
ReplyDeleteMrs l wood
Dear Mrs Wood
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I have been door knocking in your street several times since I was selected in February. I have also distributed 4 leaflets with reply / comment slips on them. I am sorry that so far I have not been able to meet you personally.
In 1997 the poorest pensioners, who received Income Support, lived on what would be the equivalent of £98 a week in today’s prices. Today, Pension Credit means pensioner needs to live on less than £130 a week or £198.45 a week for couples. This represents an increase in income by almost a third in real terms. Many of those on Pension Credit will also be entitled to additional support through Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
We made an additional payment alongside the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2008/09 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 – 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over. In his Budget 2009 speech, the Chancellor announced that he would repeat this additional payment for Winter 2009/10. This makes the Winter Fuel Payment £250 and £400 respectively for winter 2008/09 and winter 2009/10, which provides a significant contribution towards an older person’s winter fuel bill.
Other measures introduced for Pensioners by Labour include:
• Free off-peak bus travel
• Free TV Licences (for over 75s)
• Free eye tests for people aged 60
• Free swimming for people aged 60
In Manchester our Labour Council has frozen council tax this year because we know its been a hard year for many people.
What is clear is that Tory and Lib Dem plans to slash spending on public services and tax credits will mean greater hardship for many families across Manchester.
I know there is a lot still to do. But I believe that only the Labour Party will continue to fight for hard working families.