I didn’t make it into the hall for George Osborne’s speech yesterday - too full! - but I did manage to find a screen to watch it on. I thought it was an excellent measured speech that struck the right tone, and the announcement on Council Tax will be welcomed by hard-working local residents in Salford who have seen Labour increase their bills through the roof in the last decade or so. Obviously events yesterday evening and today have made it even more imperative that we come up with the right economic proposals for Britain and David Cameron has rightly made an additional statement this morning on the current crisis.
After that I headed straight for the GMPTA fringe and met up with my colleague and Worsley Councillor Ian MacDonald. The panel included the new (Conservative) Chairman on GMPTA Matt Colledge, Shadow Transport Minister Stephen Hammond MP, Heidi Mottram from Northern Rail and a representative from FirstGroup (whose name I’m afraid escapes me). There was a discussion about the excellent new commitment for high-speed rail to Greater Manchester (which I commented on yesterday) and I made some comments about the lack of improvements for local residents in Salford and surrounding boroughs in the TIF bid.
In the evening I went to receptions organised by Manchester Airports Group and the Conservative Councillors’ Association - which were both useful and informative - before heading on to a party to celebrate ten years of Conservative Future.
“…the announcement on Council Tax will be welcomed by hard-working local residents in Salford”
Iain,
I think there is not doubt that this headline grabbing initiative will ultimately mean massive cuts for many councils. For me, I just don’t see how the figures are going to add up.
Instead of putting forward economic gimmicks, the conservatives should be coming up with workable proposals that are going to help the lower paid, which DO NOT ultimately lead to cuts in our services!
So then, by the logic that freezing Council Tax will mean “massive cuts”, the huge rises in council tax that we have seen in recent years (that are becoming more and more unaffordable, even to those with a relatively good income) must have made a real positive impact on expanded and improved council services? Shame then that I now get less of a service, to a lower quality, than I ever did five years ago. Spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax is *not* the answer to these problems!
Just a quick note to say how much I have enjoyed reading your conference postings. I too struggled to keep up with blogging during Conference! Best, Zehra
Thanks for your kind words Zehra. Just been flicking through your own posts on Conference and they are both a good read and far more comprehensive than my own! I didn’t have you on my blogroll so I’ve rectified that now…
Adam - I’ve made a post specifically about the Council Tax policy. Feel free to respond on that post.