Council cuts are wrong, wrong, wrong

Back to work! With a well earned rest after the by-election it is back to campaigning. Below is a letter to the Kent Messenger on the proposed council cuts in Maidstone.

Dear Editor,

Local Conservative plans to cut spending by £1m during the recession (KM, 9th Oct) may mirror the national race for cuts by the big three parties, however cuts during a recession are wrong and are based on a poor understanding of economics.

Maidstone's unemployement levels have doubled in the past 12 months and cutting jobs funded by the council will simply add more people to the dole queue while pushing the local econonmy further into recession. The council should draw upon reserves to see us through the recession, after all that is what reserves are for!

While an age of austerity may be good for tempering the endemic consumerism that has wreaked havoc on our environment, reducing consumption needs to be combined with protecting jobs and making society more equal. Inequalities are already rife and increasing unemployment will make them worse. If the council pay bill has to reduce, reductions should come from the higher paid staff not through job cuts.

Stuart Jeffery
Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Maidstone and the Weald