UKIP - more Tory than the Tories

UKIP want to take billions out of the NHS, subsidising the better off to go private. Their health spokesperson favours introducing charging in the NHS for “non-emergency” cases and to allow people to pay to jump the queue.

UKIP claim to be on the side of working people, but the truth is UKIP is made up of senior figures with a history in the Tory party. UKIP relies more and more on Tory funding and UKIP shares a Tory policy agenda. The only difference is that UKIP is an even more damaging prospectus for Britain’s future than the Tories.

UKIP are even more right wing than the Tories. A vote for UKIP is a vote for:

• Higher taxes for working families 
• Huge tax giveaways for the rich
• Even deeper cuts to the public services you rely on
• Charges to see your GP
• Scrapping your rights as a worker  

And then, of course, there's our own dear UKIP MEP.

A future for the many, not the few

The Tories can't build a better future for working people because they stand up only for a privileged few.

 

Under the Tories’ failing plan too many people are treading water, working harder and harder just to stay afloat, and worried that the next generation are finding it harder to get on than the last.

• Working people are an average of £1,600 a year worse off under the Tories
• Family energy bills have been allowed to rise by over £300 since the election.
• The average age of first time buyers has now reached 33.

David Cameron claims this economy is fixed, but their plan has seen a recovery which is benefiting a privileged few far more than most families.

• David Cameron has cut tax for people on over £150,000 a year while raising it for everyone else.
• Hedge funds have been given a tax break worth millions.
• Families with children have been hit hard, with childcare costs up 30%.

And despite promising to protect the NHS, under David Cameron it is going backwards with people struggling to see their GP and waiting lists rising. You can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.

• One in four patients are waiting a week or more for a GP appointment.
• Waiting lists for treatment are at their highest level for six years.
• Thousands of frontline NHS staff have been lost while £3 billion has been wasted on a damaging reorganisation they promised wouldn’t happen.

The Time to Care Fund

The NHS is one of our greatest achievements but it’s struggling under a Tory-led government which wasted billions on an unnecessary top-down reorganisation. Even the Tories themselves see it as their biggest own goal.


That’s why Ed Miliband has announced that the next Labour government will create a £2.5 billion a year NHS Time to Care Fund to save and transform our health service.

We’ll support 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 more careworkers and 3,000 more midwives. By appointing these additional staff, our doctors and nurses will have the time they need to care properly for patients, as well as transforming services in communities and at home.

The Time to Care Fund will not be paid for through more borrowing or by raising taxes on everyday working people. Instead, the money will be raised from a tax on houses worth over £2 million, a co-ordinated crackdown against tax avoidance, and by ensuring tobacco companies contribute towards the costs they impose on the NHS.

The Tories haven’t just destabilised our health service; they’re holding it back from meeting the challenges of the 21st century as well. We need a world-class health and care service that is equipped to address the modern challenges that come from an ageing population, more people living with chronic conditions, the rise of mental health, and a higher premium on preventing illness.

The NHS is going backwards under the Tories so there has never been a better or more important time to care about its future. 

Only Labour can be trusted to protect the NHS and with the Time to Care Fund, we’ll ensure we have a health service fit for the 21st century.  

Boosting the Minimum Wage

LABOUR WILL HELP BRITIAN’S LOWEST PAID BY RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE

The introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in 1999 was a great achievement of the last Labour Government.

This policy ended the exploitation of millions of Britain’s workers and increased productivity without job losses. But the challenge we faced 15 years ago is different to the one we face today and the one we will face in the coming years.

That’s why Ed Miliband has announced Labour’s plan to raise the NMW to £8 an hour by 2020.

One in five British workers find themselves struggling on low pay, often relying on benefits or tax credits to top up their wage so they can simply afford the essentials, even though they often work long, hard hours. This can’t be right. If you work hard you should be able to bring up your family with dignity without relying on the taxpayer to make up the difference.

But under David Cameron and George Osborne often people are not getting the rewards because the Government’s recovery is only benefiting a privileged few.

So the next Labour government, working with businesses and the Low Pay Commission, will raise the NMW to £8 by 2020, a move that will put an extra £3,000 a year in the pockets of Britain’s lowest paid workers.

This is an important move that will end the scandal of five million Brits struggling to make ends meet because they are on low pay. But Labour understands that businesses need time to adjust their models to support higher wages. That’s why we will raise the NMW over the five years of the next Parliament so businesses will have enough time to plan for the long-term goal of £8 an hour by 2020.

The Tories are boasting that the economy is fixed but we’ve seen a recovery that is working just for the few. Labour’s plan for Britain’s future will ensure we become a country that rewards hard work again. That begins by guaranteeing that everyone in Britain should be able to live on the wage they earn.   

The real choices - the Labour alternative

As the Labour Party meets for its annual conference up in Manchester there are less than nine months to go before Britain is faced with a choice.

The choice to elect a government that only represents the interests of a few or a Labour government that will take on vested interests and stand up for the many.

The Tories and LibDems will use every tool at their disposal to try and discredit us and blame us for their failure.

Remember, under this useless Coalition the use of food banks has increased tenfold, prices continue to outstrip wages and it's getting harder and harder to get an appointment with your GP.

Ed Miliband's Labour Party offers a real alternative.

A Labour Government elected in 2015 will axe the cruel Bedroom Tax, strengthen the minimum wage, introduce a cap on energy bills to reset the broken market, and stop the Tory privatisation of our world-beating NHS,

The Scottish Referendum showed that people will come out and vote in huge numbers (86%) when given a clear choice about issues that matter to them.

Should be a record turnout in 2015 then.

Lutterworth Labour party Summer BBQ

A big thank you goes to Mike Wailloo for once again hosting a BBQ in his lovely garden this July. He provided and cooked a delicious meal. Music was provided by Peter and Elaine, and the raffle was truly Socialist ensuring everyone won a prize! The prizes were great, and included donations from various local businesses. About 35 people attended, and we had a great day, and the weather was not bad either! £885 was made, which will help nicely towards costs of the forth coming General election.

Our next social / fund raising event will be a wine tasting on 25th October, tasting the delicious wines of Leigh Jones! Please join us!

Your Labour Candidate for South Leicestershire

AMANDA HACK

Labour Party members in South Leicestershire have selected a local councillor to take on sitting Tory MP Andrew Robatham at the general election.

Amanda Hack, a married mum of two, represents the Thorpe Astley ward on Braunstone Town Council. 

Professionally, Amanda works as Head of Economic Development for the Asra Housing Group – a leading housing and regeneration provider, managing 13,500 homes in the Midlands and South East England.

Speaking after her selection as Labour’s choice for South Leicestershire, Amanda said: 

I’m delighted that local people have backed me to take on the Tories and LibDems in South Leicestershire.

Independent figures reveal that wages are an average of £1,600 down in real terms since 2010 as prices and inflation continue to raise faster that pay packets.

Combined with an average increase of £300 on household utility bills, hardworking people in South Leicestershire find themselves in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

It needn’t be like this - it’s only because of the decisions David Cameron’s government has made that people who work hard and play by the rules are so out of pocket.

Living standards for the majority have fallen in 44 of the 45 months David Cameron has been in Downing Street – all whilst the out-of-touch Tory-led government hands a £3billion tax break to the top 1% of earners by cutting the 50p income tax rate.

People are playing by the rules but not getting any better off.

Ed Miliband has committed a future Labour government to delivering an energy price freeze and introducing a Jobs Guarantee to get the million unemployed young people back to work – a government who stands up for the many, not the few.

Amanda added: “I’m looking forward to getting out on the doorsteps of South Leicestershire and making the case for Ed Miliband’s One Nation alternative here.”

South Leicestershire Constituency Labour Party member Lord Willy Bach, who serves as a Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister in the Lords, welcomed Amanda’s selection. He said: 

Amanda has a proven track record in standing up for local people – just the kind of advocate the people who have been left worse off by this government need. I look forward to working with her in the run up to the general election.

Follow Amanda's campaign on Twitter @hack4labour