Birmingham coalition defiant over £212m cuts
Labour’s alternative to spending cuts in Birmingham was “effectively drawn up on the back of a fag packet”, the Conservatives have said.
Yesterday Labour’s Birmingham leader Sir Albert Bore told politics.co.uk he expected his party would become the largest on the city’s council after this year’s local elections in May.
Now the deputy leader on the Conservative group, Philip Parkin, has hit back, attacking Sir Albert for not coming up with a credible alternative to the £212 million spending cuts voted through earlier this week.
“There are some very difficult challenges ahead, it’s certainly not been easy,” he admitted.
“But we feel we’ve come up with a package that is fair, does support the most vulnerable and does acknowledge this is taxpayers’ money and we’ve got to spend it wisely.”
He said the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition was “surprised” by Labour’s alternative, which only outlined spending cuts totalling £13.1 million.
“They know as well as we do we have to pass the budget,” Mr Parkin added.
“There’s a bit of a feeling amongst them that it’s their turn – that this is the cycle of events and things will change. I don’t think it’s going to follow that route at all.”
The council has committed to keeping the city clean, weekly bin collections and keeping leisure centres and libraries open as much as possible. Mr Parkin suggested these measures were helping keep public concerns at the cuts in check.
Sir Albert had proposed changes which would provide extra support for elderly residents in need of care services, more resources for respite care and a significant reduction in cuts for youth services.
The Conservatives have been in coalition with the Liberal Democrats on Birmingham city council since 2004 and, while Sir Albert believes Labour will become the largest party, he does not expect this to change after May.
The third of seats on the council up for election in 2011 are a mixture, with Labour on the defensive in a number of wards.
Labour are currently only four seats behind the Tories, holding 41 of the 120-seat council to the Conservatives’ 45. The Lib Dems currently hold 25, however, and it is near-impossible for Labour to achieve an overall majority based on the seats being contested this May.
Mr Parkin said: “I don’t think it will necessarily follow at all they will do well in these elections. [What we’re hearing] on the doorstep suggests people accept there’s a problem and accept something needs to be done.”
He acknowledged that the real test will come where Tory and Lib Dem seats are vulnerable, however.
“We are aware that the government is having to do some unpopular things at the moment. We don’t take anything for granted,” he said.
“People will vote on whether their local library is open, whether their streets are clean, whether they get their rubbish collected – bread and butter type issues.
“Whether people will be voting on national issues, I’m not sure. It is all about the budget deficit as far as I can see.”
