Islington Council Leader, Cllr Richard Watts, today (Thursday 17th April) launched Islington Labour’s manifesto for the local elections which will take place on 22nd May.
Islington Labour’s mission is to make our borough a fairer place so that everyone can benefit from a successful Islington. After conducting a huge listening exercise involving 20,000 people, we found that local people’s priorities were jobs, housing and the cost of living. As a result, our three priorities for 2014-;18 are:
- Jobs -; bringing down unemployment levels to below the London average and making sure every young person in the borough has an offer of a job, a college place or an apprenticeship.
- Housing -; building a further 1,500 new homes for social rent, prioritised for local people, and setting up a non-profit lettings agency to provide an affordable alternative for private renters
- Cost of living -; cutting energy bills through insulation programmes and building new local power stations, and providing free school meals to all primary school children
Cllr Watts said: “The policies we’re announcing today will make a difference to people across our borough. Against the backdrop of massive cuts imposed on Islington by the Tory-led Government, we are proud to be able to present a radical manifesto that shows a clear alternative to the agenda put forward by David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
“Over the last few months we’ve spoken to over 20,000 local people to hear what their priorities are. The top concerns people told us they have were jobs, housing and the cost of living. We listened and our key manifesto pledges will tackle these issues.
“On jobs, we will bring down unemployment levels to below the London average and will make sure every young person has an offer of a job, a college place or an apprenticeship.
“On housing, we will ensure that 1,500 new homes for genuinely affordable social rents are built and will also set up a non-profit lettings agency to provide an affordable alternative for private renters.
“To tackle the cost of living, we will cut energy bills through insulation programmes and building new local power stations, and providing free school meals to all primary school children.
“As well as working towards these important goals, we will continue to run an efficient and effective council.”
Islington Labour is committed to making a difference for our borough, despite having to close a budget gap of £112 million at the Council since 2010 – equivalent to 35 per cent of the council’s budget. We are expecting further cuts from the Tory-led Government of £34 million in 2015/16 alone. Islington is facing more severe cuts that most parts of the country, as this Tory-led government targets the poorest people and places.