Labour Manifesto

Labour’s manifesto for the 

2012 Borough Council elections

Fighting for a fair deal for Reading in tough times

Labour’s manifesto for the Borough Council elections, says Labour Leader Jo Lovelock, includes detailed commitments across the full range of Council services, commitments that Labour knows it can meet despite the huge financial pressures on the Council. “Our first promise in these tough times,” she says, “is to be upfront with people about what can and can’t be done, and to continue to involve residents in deciding what the priorities are.”

Faced with unfair cuts from central government, who have taken £73 away from every Reading resident as compared with £16 in Tory Wokingham, Cllr. Lovelock says, Reading needs a Council which will fight for a fair deal for Reading. “But,” she says,  “Labour will do its best to protect people where we can and we can make sure that the Council’s priorities are those of Reading people: working with businesses to bring jobs to the town; clean, safe streets; protection for the most vulnerable; and efficient, well-run services.”

Labour’s key pledges in this election are to:

• Fight for a new secondary school for all 11 – 18 year olds in East Reading
• Keep Reading clean with a crackdown on graffiti and fly-tipping
• Promote jobs and investment
• Use the Council’s watchdog powers to stand up for the NHS
• Protect Reading’s green spaces
• Continue to involve the public more effectively
• Find further efficiency savings
• Restore free OAP bus travel from 9am
• Protect libraries, youth clubs and children’s centres
• Promote environmental responsibility – the Council will lead by example and encourage others
• Create a New Local Partnership to stand up for Reading

Cllr. Lovelock says that with the wheels coming off the Tory-LibDem government, it is even more important for Reading Council to be run for Reading people and not just there to make the cuts Whitehall demands. She is hoping for a working majority to give Labour the mandate to stand up for Reading.

Read our Manifesto here or 

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