Local elections 23: Transforming our city and our society for the benefit of everyone

The Labour party believes in people working together for the common good.

You have a say in electing people and those people should reflect your views.

Those people should serve to give the poorer, more disadvantaged in society similar opportunities as those who are richer and more advantaged.

We also believe that the state should provide welfare and opportunities for people to better themselves.

Allow me to briefly remind you what a Labour led council will look like:

• Making Peterborough a Living wage city putting businesses, jobs, and people first. Spending

the city’s money wisely, supporting local jobs and real apprenticeships paying decent wages.

• Keeping our streets safe and clean a top priority.

• Addressing the issue of rough sleeping, working closely with local charities and supporting the rough sleeping team to complement and reinforce the brilliant work they do to find effective solutions to getting rough sleepers off the streets.

• Bringing life back to our city and neighbourhood centres.

And we will look for more opportunities to develop our parks, open spaces and our environment.

• And you will always be able to rely on the Labour party to fight for our NHS to get the improvements needed for a fast-growing city such as ours.

And we will stop the wasteful signing of long-term contracts with no break clause that commits our city to deals that we have no opportunity to get out of, whilst providing vision, leadership and accountability that has been sadly lacking in the current administration for far too many years.

“Leaders do the right things. Managers do things right”.

My point is that, if we all claim to care, there shouldn’t be that much difference because we should know what you care about.

The difference is in vision and execution.

The Conservatives have given the city 23 years of transactional management. In other words, you give me your vote and I will give you ‘this’ in exchange.’

‘This’ was our administration standing by as the Conservative government savagely cut funding locally when they came to power in 2010 because of austerity.

‘This’ was bringing our fine city close to bankruptcy a year ago.

‘This’ was signing contracts for upwards of 15-25 years with no break clauses. Financial mismanagement of Herculean proportions.

Nationally, the same government declared in 2017 that austerity was over.

Is it? Really?

With foodbanks comfortably outnumbering McDonald’s restaurants and sky-high prices and council tax bills, does it feel like it?

Labour’s vision is for transformational leadership not transactional management.

Labour can transform society such as creating the NHS, compulsory National Insurance, social housing and state benefit, decriminalising homosexuality, legalising abortion, creating the Open University and ending capital punishment.

Labour’s job, from its origins in the trade union movement, evolving as a party committed to improving the conditions of the working class, is never to accept the status quo.

We are in politics to change the world for the better starting with our own wards and constituents along with the people who, like me, are immigrants to Peterborough, the city I now call home and am deeply proud to represent as a ward councillor.

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