Letter for publication: the Budget
Dear editor,
Letter for publication: the Budget
Last week’s Budget did nothing to help Londoners deal with the challenges we face posed by Brexit, rising crime and security and safety concerns, the housing crisis, or toxic air quality.
With the Brexit negotiations in chaos, and the economic impact of the current uncertainty being felt across the capital, the Budget was an opportunity for the Chancellor to reaffirm his commitment to London through a major programme of investment – an opportunity the Chancellor Philip Hammond MP totally failed to take..
The Chancellor failed even to mention counter-terrorism, policing and security in a year when London has been victim to four terrorist attacks, crime is on the rise and there has been a spike in violent crime- the Met. still faces a shortfall of £400 million on top of the £600 million in cuts so far. Mayor Sadiq Khan has made it clear that the Government’s failure to address this funding crisis will mean that police officer numbers will now begin to fall – potentially to as few as 27,500 by 2021.
There was no mention of finding the extra money our Fire Brigade needs- £6 million for equipment and £6 million a year running costs to deal with the extra demands on them, after the Grenfell Tower fire. Nor was there any money to meet the staggering costs facing Barnet and Camden, for the extra fire precautions that are needed. Yet Kensington and Chelsea, responsible for Grenfell Tower and the richest borough in the country with £200 million in reserves, was given £28 million!
The Government’s most astonishing failure is over housing. London needs to build 66,000 homes every year in order to meet the needs of its growing population, but the Budget doesn’t even paper over the cracks. The Chancellor failed to announce a penny of extra grant for affordable housing in London – even though we know current spending is less than a fifth of what we need. Everyone knows councils must be empowered to build more, but there was no commitment that any councils in London will be allowed to do so.
The measures announced to clean up our polluted air are woefully inadequate . This was a missed opportunity to help local authorities take action on air quality and to mitigate the impacts on businesses, residents and drivers. The Government should have brought forward proposals for a diesel scrappage fund to help ordinary people and businesses have the cleanest vehicles possible, but they didn’t.
This woeful Budget by a lame duck Government is a symptom of just how weak and ineffective they have become; yet no doubt Barnet’s three Conservative MPs will vote it through despite its failure to address the many needs and expectations of their constituents.
Andrew Dismore AM
Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
