Labour has published its local election manifesto for Brighton and Hove with polling day scheduled for Thursday 4 May.
The party pledged to restore basic services, with a war on weeds, reliable rubbish collections and a promise of free public toilets.
It also vowed to build more truly affordable homes and improve rights for people who rent, with landlord licensing and a push for better regulation of short-term lets such as Airbnbs.
Labour said that it would “combat climate change with actions that really work”, adding: “Residents have repeatedly called for more park and ride schemes which the current Green administration have ignored.
“Labour will listen and will look at creating more park and ride spaces and mobility hubs, making the city more accessible while reducing air pollution.”
It said that it would plant more trees, bring in “pocket parks”, focus on clean energy and look at schemes to improve insulation for homes and offices.
The party also promised to “support our communities through the ‘cost of living crisis’ (and) provide quality education for all children and young people”.
The manifesto was published at an event at St George’s Church, in Kemp Town, this morning (Saturday 25 March) with the election formally due to be called on Monday.
Labour was the first party in Brighton and Hove to announce its full slate of candidates – and most of them were present this morning. To see who is standing in your ward, click here.
The opening section of the manifesto said: “The Green administration has let our city down, mismanaging a budget already decimated by years of Conservative government cuts.
“Labour will do things differently and has the experience and ideas to pull the city out of crisis while providing good local services and listening to residents’ voices.
“These are difficult times but Brighton and Hove has a positive future ahead if we work together to find creative solutions to the challenges created by years of austerity and the ‘cost of living crisis’.
“We believe only a Labour majority council can make things better – and will work hard with you and on your behalf to deliver the vital services that are needed and make our city a greener and fairer place to live and work.
“Labour will listen to residents and businesses to find the best ways forward, working with and in our communities to help us make the very most of what we have.
“We will build relationships with everyone involved including local community and voluntary organisations and independent businesses to tackle the ‘cost of living crisis’.
“We will work better and smarter to restore basic services and do all we can to protect our nurseries, libraries, youth services, heritage treasures, leisure centres, parks, public toilets and lifeguard service from further cuts.
“We will develop new ways of providing homes for everyone (with) strategies that serve the housing needs of Brighton and Hove people rather than developers.
“We will do all in our power to address the crisis in our health and adult social care sectors.
“We will explore new ways to attract investment in our city while encouraging and supporting the growth of local expertise and innovation.
“We will concentrate on creating a strong local economy where the people of Brighton and Hove can support local independent businesses, invest in local talent and ideas and so build sustainable ‘community wealth’ for the benefit of residents, communities and local business.
“We will tackle pollution and improve air quality, cleaning up our streets and city environment with tree planting schemes and green spaces, accessible to all our communities and visitors. We want Brighton and Hove to be a safe and welcoming place for all.
“All your Labour councillors will be residents who understand the challenges of inequality in our city. We live alongside you and love the diversity and energy at the heart of Brighton and Hove. This is what makes our city so special. We will listen to your views and stand by our promises.
“Labour will run a council that is accessible, providing a more personal service to our residents, including clearer online information and a face-to-face service with staff based in council offices across the city.
“Now is the time for positive change and Labour can deliver for Brighton and Hove.”
To read the manifesto, click here.
A real Labour manifesto should be for the many not the few and include below!
Ban statues
Ban private schools
More universal credit
More free housing
More rights for real locals
Ban rich people moving here
More cycle lanes
More bins
Free WiFi for people on uni credit
That would he Labour supporters votes!
Gary
Ah yes. The face of ‘true liebour’. Jealousy, prejudice and the ability to spend other peoples money.
The world is made up of givers and takers.
The givers can give all the have and it will never be enough.
The takers will take all they can get and will never be satisfied.
Socialist ideals funded by capitalism
That’s how a decent society works. Capitalism makes the money. Some folks stay rich, whilst taxes make the world a better and fairer place. look at the mess we have now, where obscene levels of wealth are hoarded tax free, whilst the country falls to bits.
There’s a balance that needs to be struck. Combining the heart, mind, and ambition.
It’s time to punish people with fancy jobs and pay those struggling without one. #moreunicredit #punishrichpeople #morebikelanes #blm #toriesout
I don’t trust a party led by a Knighted, multi-millionaire champagne socialist any further than I can throw him…
They presumably want us residents to vote for them and conveniently forget that they, with the Greens, created this mess we’re in…
Remember the antisemitic Momentum nut jobs are just below the surface.
All the stuff they failed at just two years ago before they lost control of the council in an antisemitism scandal!
I’ve read both the Labour and Tory manifestos, which seem to say much the same thing. Labour were in bed with the Greens for quite a while, until they woke up to the fact, very belatedly, that a large amount of voters were very unhappy with the Greens and Lab thought they would separate themselves in the hope of getting a majority in May. So, it seems that the Momentum and anti-semitism lot have been purged and we are back to the same old people, such as Morgan, Cattell, Daniel, who have perceived that they might stand a chance of getting back in as ‘mainstream/orthodox’ Labour. The people leading Lab into the election are standing down, so there is no logical reason for listening to anything they say, as they won’t be around after the election and, should Labour get a majority, we have no idea who might be their leader and what their agenda/administration might really look like.
All I see is that, ever since Kitcat and Mac Cafferty got in originally and then got decisively slung out because of gross mismanagement of the council, we have had totally dysfunctional local govt in the city – and yet, deluded people still got enough Greens in office to take over when Labour imploded. Normal citizens deserve a lot better than this and I hope that, come the day, some sort of commonsense might prevail and that we get rid of most of the Greens (for good, this time round), recognise what Labour have or haven’t done in recent years and reject the recycled and returning Lab candidates as mentioned above. Not holding my breath, but we desperately need and deserve something different and better than the ‘same-old’.
Quite an insightful standpoint beyond the usual disingenuous hyperbole. And based on this, there’s a solid argument to be made on voting for people on an individual level, and the impact they have made as such, rather than their representative party. At least for me, my choice is very clear when considering this aspect. I respect the person for the work they have put into my ward and the way they have worked hard for my community; their politics are almost irrelevant.
The hung council currently in place has evidenced a system where different ideals try to pull in separate directions and ultimately end up in roughly the same spot because of it, particularly since each ideal is quintessentially juxtaposed to the other.
There is also a wider context to consider unfortunately, and one can’t dismiss party politics outright, and it will be important for people to consider what kind of support they are giving to the government.
We have a lot of unique history over the last couple of years with the pandemic; lockdown, and its effect on health; the Cost of Greed Crisis, and the damage it caused to the most vulnerable people in our society; the discontent on working standards across multiple industries; and the direction the NHS has been going in.
There’s a lot to consider.
Can you add a link to the manifesto document please?
The city is crying out for change from the Green/Labour coalition. Nearly everything that the Greens have put forward has been backed by Labour until the past few weeks (oh there is an election coming up)
I hope the good people come out & vote on May 4th – but anyone other than Green or Labour
Conservative Manifesto
https://www.brightonhoveconservativecouncillors.com/news/10-good-reasons-vote-conservative-brighton-and-hove
Labour Manifesto
https://www.brightonhovelabour.com/manifesto/
Looking forward to voting for Labour on 4th May.
Let’s get more money for poor people and get rich people out so real locals get houses and rich people leave and fund nhs and ban second homes plus more bike lanes and more uni credit
Sounds like you should move to a communist country
Looking forward to not voting for either Labour or the Greens on 4th May.
Sounds like their last manifesto, which they failed miserably in achieving.
Scrap the little used bike lanes, scrap Medeira Drive chaos and revert to two way, Scrap the removal of Aquarium roundabout. I will only vote for a party that pledges to do this.
Lies all lies