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Labour tables amendment to secure Pride Parade for 2014

Besi Besemar February 24, 2014

Labour and Cooperative have tabled an amendment at the Council’s budget debate on Thursday to guarantee the Pride Parade continues in 2014.

Cllr Warren Morgan
Cllr Warren Morgan

Labour will block the planned £5 a month council tax rise and reverse several of the cuts to services planned by the Greens in their Budget, it is revealed today.

The ammendment will guarantee another year’s funding for the Pride street parade, which Labour view as an essential part of the city’s annual calendar of events. The £25,000 will come from the money earmarked by the Green Administration for their proposed council tax referendum which Labour are seeking to block as they intend to protect services for children, people with learning disabilities and park users.

Labour Leader Councillor Warren Morgan, said: “The Green Budget is a political one, we will stop their costly council tax referendum and block the unaffordable increase, using the money instead to reverse cuts to social care and maintain services – like park cleaning at weekends – that the Greens have said they will cut. Our focus is on people not politics.”

Labour will use some of the £900,000 the Greens want to spend on a referendum to keep Able & Willing, a council-supported business employing people with learning disabilities (www.ableandwilling.org.uk), going. Warren along with serveral Labour councillors visited the centre last week and have pledged not to put people with learning disabilities out of a job.

Labour will also reverse the cut in grant funding to dozens of community groups across the city proposed by the Greens. “These community grants are essential to keeping many organisations heads above water” said Cllr Morgan, “it’s wrong at a time like this to hit community groups with cuts.”

The cuts in the Green budget proposals to homework clubs and to respite breaks for children with disabilities will also be blocked by Labour’s amendments. “We think it is essential to keep these services to children going, instead of adding yet more money to the travellers’ budget as the Greens are proposing.”

The Greens have said they want to stop cleaning parks around the city at weekends, although not in the city centre areas represented by Green councillors. Labour will block this cut by suspending the Green’s tree planting programme.

Cllr Morgan concluded: “We think these are the right priorities for the city and residents, we would like to do more to focus spending on jobs, homes, and schools, fixing potholes and helping people struggling with the cost of living, but that will have to wait till after the elections in 400 days time when we hope to see the end of this Green council.”

The Budget and the Labour amendments will be voted on at a council meeting this Thursday, Febuary 27.

Brighton Pride Parade

 

 

 

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