LETTER: '˜I want to put the record straight'

As the Labour candidate for Broadwater, I would like the chance to respond to this cynical attempt to scare the voters.

The facts of the matter are that this is not Labour policy, neither locally or nationally, and if Labour councillors are elected in East Worthing and Shoreham (EWS) we have no intention of doubling council tax nor reducing bin collections, and to say otherwise is to give credence to untruths.

Both of these are scare stories being used to manipulate the voter so that Conservatives councillors can stay in power.

This leaflet is trying to make capital of an unfortunate comment made by a Labour MP who gave a personal opinion, against Labour Party policy, and as a result resigned from the shadow cabinet.

The local Labour Party has not used comments made by Conservative ministers against them, so we would be grateful for the chance to put the record straight by correcting the mistakes in the leaflets and letting the voters know of some of our policies. In brief:

Labour policies are designed to help the many and not the few. Too many people are suffering under the policies of austerity and Labour wants to reverse that trend and make those with the deepest pockets pay their fair share.

EWS councillors would not double council tax nor reduce bin collections.

EWS Labour want to make sure that developers contribute their fair share towards affordable and social housing, and keep rent at affordable levels, so that we can reduce the housing list, rehouse the homeless and allow our children to leave home.

EWS Labour supports the use of community-led housing projects, which put people before profit, instead of the current profit driven developer model, which prioritises profit before people. Examples of this are: community land trusts, co-housing, co-operatives and self-builds.

Labour also wants to help small businesses survive and grow through the hard times, rather than helping large companies to make excess profit at our expense.

Please do not believe the stories that you are hearing, they are being used to scare you into supporting policies that do not help the majority of constituents.

With hope for a better future,

MARGARET HOWARD

Lavington Road
Worthing

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