David Cameron keeps telling us
that ‘we’re all in this together’ and ‘there must be fairness in all
the decisions we take.’
Well, I’ll let you decide on
the fairness of the decision to cut the incomes of millions of ordinary working
families – a one-earner family on £20,000 with two children will lose £279 next
year, and this is after the impact of the personal tax allowance
increase, but does not include the £450 a year worse a family will be as a
result of the VAT increase – so that millionaires can have a £100,000 tax cut.
And, you might also want to
reflect on the fairness of the recent local government finance settlement. The
20 most deprived authorities will have their spending power cut by an average
of 8.0% between 2012-13 and 2014-15. However, the 20 least deprived authorities
will have their spending power cut by an average of just 0.7% between 2012-13
and 2014-15.
Locally, our councils have been
hit hard again. Chesterfield is proportionately the hardest hit with a 14.5%
cut in its spending power. NE Derbys 7.8% cut, Sheffield 7.3% cut, Rotherham
6.4% cut, Barnsley 6% cut, and Doncaster 6.8% cut, are all near the top end of
losses. Meanwhile, David Cameron’s local council, West Oxfordshire, gets a 1.1%
increase. Suffolk gets a 6% increase.
Even the coalition government’s informed supporters don’t
think it’s fair. The former Conservative chair of the Local Government
Association, Baroness Eaton, described the effect of local government cuts as 'detached
from the reality that councils are dealing with'. Her Conservative successor,
Sir Merrick Cockell, called the cuts 'unsustainable'. And the Tory
Leader of Kent says his county 'can’t cope' with further reductions and 'is
running on empty'. And their councils are getting the best deals.
Anyone who thinks that the scale of cuts being required of
local councils will not have a big, negative impact on local services – like
libraries, sports and recreation facilities, Sure Start centres – is just
fooling themselves. But no-one can deny that the poorest communities will get the
hardest hit.
Is it fair? You decide.
