Author: Mike Davies

1) Reduce deprivation Manifesto pledges:  ·         Prevent further unnecessary increases in council tax ·         Establish a Poverty Commission for Swindon  ·         Increase the numbers of jobs paying the Real Living Wage ·         Help break the “lowest income, highest cost” trap  2)  Remove health inequalities Manifesto pledges: ·         Increase quick access to mental health facilities for young people ·         Reintroduce Wardens into residential care homes ·         Create a loneliness reduction strategy ·         Increase specialist housing for SEND ·         Create a homelessness reduction strategy ·         Introduce a Renters’ Charter 3) Create a greener, cleaner, safer environment Manifesto pledges:…

Dear South Swindon constituents, one of the most important ways to make your MP know how you feel about the issues of the day is to write to them. If you feel as angry as we do about the poor behaviour in Downing Street, please consider writing to robert.buckland.mp@parliament.uk, including your personal experience of lockdown. — Dear Robert Buckland MP, As a constituent, I wanted to register my anger and disappointment with the Prime Minister and his refusal to resign…

The Labour Group on Swindon Borough Council support the proposed sale of the County Ground to the joint venture between the Club and the Supporters Trust. We are pleased to note the buy back option included in the deal, and we will urge the Council to use it if the joint venture haven’t commenced the Stadium Development Plan within three years. We also note that the Council have the first option on buying back the freehold if the JV ever…

REVEALED: Families in Swindon face £28m Conservative tax hike, £282 per worker – new analysis New figures released by Swindon Labour reveal that families in Swindon are facing a £28m NICs hike thanks to the latest Tory tax rise. Under the Conservative’s plans to raise National Insurance this April, the average worker in Swindon will pay an extra £282 in NICs alone. The increase pushes taxes up to a 70-year high – and comes at a time when energy bills are set to rise by almost £700 and inflation…

Conservatives’ outrageous fraud write off could fund Swindon Council for 26 years – new analysis New analysis by Swindon Labour reveals the Conservatives staggering £4.3bn fraud write-off, could fund Swindon Borough Council for 26 years. The news comes just days after the Treasury Minister in charge of countering fraud resigned in disgust at the Conservative Government’s inability to prevent the staggering waste. Publishing the analysis, Labour’s Cllr Jim Grant said, “This shameful Conservative government is utterly failing the people of Swindon. “It’s not just the law-breaking, chaos and deceit…

The Swindon Labour Group was disappointed to see the Conservative government sneak out an expected 9% hike in Council tax as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement released last week. Whilst there was a modest increase in funding, it was offset by the removal of some COVID funding despite the country being stuck in the middle of a new wave of COVID infections and an expectation that inflation will add significantly to local Government costs. Cllr Jim Grant commented…