SALIVATING TORIES PROPPED UP BY SERVILE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS EMBARK ON MASSIVE CUTS PROGRAMME

It’s 10 weeks since I was elected as the member of parliament for Derby North and I have been amazed at how quickly the Conservatives have reverted to type.

Judging by the maiden speeches of the new intake of Conservative MPs, it’s clear that many of them take their inspiration from Margaret Thatcher’s period as prime minister.

This probably explains why the Conservative benches have been positively salivating at the prospect of the cuts programme outlined by the new government.

Of course a Conservative government making savage cuts is nothing new. What is new, is the Liberal Democrats’ willingness to collaborate with the Conservative Party’s reactionary right wing policy agenda.

In spite of their pretentions to progressive politics, the record of the Liberal Democrats and their predecessors in the Liberal Party shows that they have hampered progressive change. By splitting the centre left vote, they have assisted the Conservatives into power in four out of the last seven General Elections.

Now we have the ghastly spectacle of the Liberal Democrats supporting savage cuts in public services, increasing VAT, cancelling new schools and undermining the NHS on the pretext of deficit reduction. They conveniently forget that the scale of deficit was caused by the worst global recession in living memory.

Of course the deficit needs to be reduced but cutting public spending too soon will hit economic growth, exacerbate the deficit and create an economic vicious circle. The International Monetary Fund agrees and has now slashed its growth forecasts for the UK economy

My concern is that the government’s cuts will lead to higher unemployment, an increase in benefit claimants and lower income tax receipts. That will lead to further cuts causing even more unemployment, yet more benefit claimants, lower still income tax receipts and the consequential continuation of an economic vicious circle.

Raising VAT is an unfair tax rise. It hits everyone, including pensioners and those on middle and low incomes. We rejected a VAT increase as part of our deficit reduction plan, and chose to increase National Insurance Contributions instead – a move that was repeatedly criticised by the Conservatives. But now they are going ahead with the NI increase for employees after all.

During the election campaign, the Conservatives denied they had plans to raise VAT and the Liberal Democrats actively campaigned against raising it, but now they are increasing it anyway.

Before the election the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives said they supported investment in education. But the country’s biggest ever new school building programme is another casualty of this Lib Dem/Conservative coalition. Here in Derby that means 15 out of the 18 schemes to rebuild and improve local schools have been stopped.

Before the General Election, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were at pains to reassure voters that the NHS would be safe in their hands, but once again, the reality is very different.

The Health White Paper that was published earlier this week scraps national targets, ending the commitment to keep NHS waiting lists below 18 weeks. It also means an end to the maximum two week wait for patients seeing a cancer specialist following a GP referral. And it means waiting times in Accident and Emergency hospitals will be much longer.

These last 10 weeks have underlined the fact that the only party genuinely committed to standing up for ordinary working people in this country is the Labour Party.

In the last 65 years only Labour governments have introduced progressive legislation. Examples include the NHS, comprehensive education, equal pay, civil partnerships, the National Minimum Wage, Sure-Start, the ban on foxhunting, comprehensive education and the open university to name but a few.

So my message to everyone who feels let down by the Liberal Democrats is: Come home to Labour and help us stand up for a fairer society.