EAst End MPs brand cuts “unfair”
Deprived boroughs including Tower Hamlets will have to make tough decisions as they face a cut of 8.9 per cent from the government.
The council has pledged to protect front line services and try to make savings by encouraging early retirement, voluntary redundancy and not filling vacancies but the cuts have been branded unfair by the two MPs representing the East End.
Tower Hamlets and Hackney are two of the 36 boroughs which are taking the maximum cuts announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
Jim Fitzpatrick MP who represents Poplar and Limehouse said: “It does seem that the Tory authorities have been relatively better treated than the poorer authorities.”
He said the cuts combined with threats to the Education Maintenance Allowance and tuition fees would make a “lose lose situation for young people aged 18 to 24.”
Bethnal Green MP Rushanara Ali said: “What’s going to happen with a borough like Tower Hamlets is completely unacceptable and unfair.”
She added: “It’s absolutely disproportionate. It’s very serious.
Most Read
- 1 Revealed: Your favourite fish and chip shop in east London
- 2 RideLondon 2022: East and central London roads among 100 miles of closures
- 3 Tower Hamlets neighbours must 'temporarily leave' and pay £85k for building repairs
- 4 Maskless passengers on London trains and buses fined 4,000 times
- 5 Appeal: CCTV image released after mosque attacked with bottles
- 6 Police looking for missing man last seen leaving hospital
- 7 Whitechapel dessert shop fined over £5,000 for dumping waste
- 8 Covid: Weekly admissions halve as patient counts drop to July 2021 levels
- 9 Girl, 17, held on suspicion of terrorism offences after east London arrest
- 10 7 of the best Chinese restaurants with delivery in east London
“At a time when the poorest boroughs are being cut there will be a time when it is very difficult to maintain services.”
She said she held a meeting with Business Secretary Vince Cable and will be meeting the Education Secretary Michael Gove to push for a fair deal for students in the constituency.
Tower Hamlets has a very high proportion of young people, with 45,800 under 16.
Ms Ali fears that tuition fees will deter many of them from considering going into further education, particularly those whose families have not done so.
