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Labour MP Challenges Local Tories On £18bn Cuts Plan

£18 Billion Adds Up To £27.5 Million In Bootle

Joe Benton MP has revealed that Bootle would be £27.5m worse off under new Tory plans revealed by Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin this week.

The figures Mr Letwin published on Monday show he is planning to cut government spending by £18 billion in the first two years of a Conservative Government. £18 billion is the equivalent of £27.5 million for each constituency.

Joe Benton MP, said:

“These new figures show the true extent of what the Tories are proposing. £27.5m in Bootle is the average annual cost of, for example, employing 123 teachers, 95 nurses, 76 police officers and 39 doctors and building two primary schools.

“If the Tories think these are luxuries we can do without in Bootle then they are badly wrong. This Labour Government is investing in public services, turning around the years of Tory underinvestment and making a real difference to local people’s lives. Oliver Letwin’s plans are a stark reminder of why we cannot trust the Tories with our public services.”

RUTH KELLY MP, Labour’s Treasury Minister, said:

“The £18 billion Tory Cuts Plan adds up to a massive £27.5 million for every constituency in the country and we’re going to make it the key issue in every seat between now and the election.

“We’re going to force local Tory MPs, candidates and councillors to answer for Oliver Letwin’s cuts.

“Oliver Letwin’s own figures show the Tories are planning to cut government spending by an immediate £18 billion in the first two years of a Conservative government. But his plans do not add up.

“Their cuts could only be found from cutting deep into public services including health and education. Then they are committed to taking £2 billion of the NHS budget which serves everyone to subsidise private healthcare for the few, so there is no way their immediate £18 billion cut could be found without cutting doctors and nurses up and down the country.”