A party opposed to spending cuts plans to field eight candidates in the local elections in Brighton and Hove.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) criticised Labour and Green councillors for voting for £14 million in cuts to Brighton and Hove City Council services earlier this year.
TUSC said: “Over the next four years, council finance officers have advised the council to make £58 million cuts. Excluding schools and housing, this is a 20 per cent cut to the council’s budget.
“Councillors should use the council’s reserves and borrowing powers and a mass campaign to get back funds cut over the last 13 years from central government.”
One of the party’s candidates, David Maples, is preparing to stand in Brunswick and Adelaide, challenging the Green council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty and deputy leader Hannah Allbrooke who currently represent the ward.
Mr Maples said: “Over the next four years the people of Brighton and Hove face devastating cuts.
“We have already seen large increases in charges for services such as adult social care. We will now see more increases – and cuts to provision.
“This is a devastating scenario for our vulnerable residents. If Labour and Green councillors won’t stand up for the community, we will.
“We will challenge the Labour and Green councillors at every opportunity, starting with the Bricycles hustings on Wednesday (5 April).
“TUSC candidates range from 24 to 79. We are not paid politicians. We include housing, education, environmental and disability campaigners and experienced trades unionists who are used to standing up to bosses.”
Here is the full list of TUSC candidates
Brunswick and Adelaide – David Maples
Central Hove – Glenn Kelly
Coldean and Stanmer – Penelope Ann Iveson
Hollingdean and Fiveways – Megan Churchland
Moulsecoomb and Bevendean – Julie Donovan
Rottingdean and West Saltdean – Ron Reader
Westbourne and Poets Corner – Dave Hill
Whitehawk and Marina – Bill North
Mr Maples said: “We will work with anybody who is consistently opposed to cuts.
“Keir Starmer has imposed a ban on Jeremy Corbyn standing for Labour and on Labour MPs supporting strikes.
“We believe he, and other debarred MPs, should stand as part of a trade union sponsored workers’ list at the general election.
“A small group of socialists in Parliament could put pressure on a Keir Starmer government, forcing him to look over his left shoulder.
“In this spirit, we won’t be standing in Preston Park and Hanover and Elm Grove wards where anti-austerity candidates appear to have been selected by Labour.
“If they consistently oppose cuts, we look forward to working with them.”
TUSC said that the party was initiated in 2009 by the late Bob Crow who was general secretary of the RMT transport union.
The party fielded candidates in parliamentary elections in Brighton and Hove in 2010 and 2015 – but not in 2017 and 2019 when, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour opposed austerity.
All 54 seats on Brighton and Hove City Council are up for election on polling day – Thursday 4 May – in 23 wards, up from 21 wards after a boundary review.
Oh the use of reserves to balance the budget rears it’s head.
Problem is reserves can only be used once and are earmarked for specific uses. Use them for something else and at some point you have to replenish them. They aren’t a pot of free money.
And borrowing has to be paid back and interest paid which then puts pressure on the budget.
And anyway councils cannot borrow money just to balance their budgets and pay for day to day spending.
These are the current reserves the council has.
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s186587/Appendix%204%20Review%20of%20Reserves.pdf
What about some positive policies such as reinstating car parking spaces removed due to unused second bike lanes next to existing bike lanes that could provide revenue for the council to help reduce cuts. Last year the council lost millions in parking revenue due to policies like this and by putting in bike sheds in places like Norfold square that could have generated £20,000 a year towards council budgets. Its easy saying no cuts but we don’t want to pay more council tax either.
I like your idea of squeezing more money out of motorists. However adding more parking induces more demand for driving which worsens traffic, pollution and causes more people to be injured or killed on the roads as a result. What’s more it’s extremely unsightly and would make the city feel like 1970s Houston. Perhaps speed cameras could be brought in to extract more funds from motorists?
Pedestrianise Seven Dials
You like the idea of squeezing more money out of motorists, typical comment from a fool. You forget, some of us who have to use our vehicles for our jobs work in and around the city providing the service’s you expect to receive week in week out. Delivery drivers, plumber’s, builders, electricians etc etc.
Ultimately, fees and charges are added on to customers invoices increasing their costs and this induces price increases in the service’s they provide to their customers and that’s you, me and, everybody else.
Already shops and businesses are closing down for one reason or another and because people are going to other areas to do their shop due to the difficulties getting into and out of Brighton and the high charges.
This council is complaining about lost revenue from parking already and has recently introduced a new bike scheme that only in their eyes is ‘inexpensive’ yet is the most expensive form of transport in the city and is also restricted on the area they can be used.
I would question your comment ‘adding more parking’, thousands of parking spaces have been taken away over the last few years, Madeira Drive, A259, communal bins, bike hubs etc etc.
What have this council done to help reduce private car use, nothing, refused a park and ride, installed cycle lanes along side cycle lanes that hasn’t made a hoot of a difference.
Yes we know pollution is harmful, we know people are injured and killed yet you are incorrect when you claim more vehicles CAUSES more people to be injured or killed.
You have no evidence to back that statement up, however, official data shows overwhelmingly that volumes of traffic have increased year on year whilst there has been a notable decline in Road Traffic Incidents. Interestingly, the data shows an increase in bumps in area’s where 20 zones were introduced but RTC/injuries/fatalities remained around the same.
As for your comment about speed camera’s, you are aware, Brighton is top for the slowest and most congestion place and it is rare any vehicle actually reaches the maximum speed therefore, would be a total waste of council taxes.
For every one van on the road there are seven cars. I have no issue with the 12.5% that are vans, I have an issue with the 87.5% that are cars.
Brighton’s city centre is coping great compared to most others. Even before the pandemic, the majority of high streets in the country were already desolated, consisting primarily of charity shops, Ladbrokes and vacant department shops. Despite competition from the internet, enduring the pandemic and the effects of the current economic crisis, most businesses that have to close their doors here soon have another in their place.
I think the council is mainly complaining about the loss of funding from the central government thanks to ideologically-led austerity measures implemented by a Conservative government back during a time of historically low global interest rates.
I do agree about the need for alternative forms of transport to be more accessible and affordable. Continental Europe can definitely be looked to for inspiration in this regards. Take Nice in France for example, quite analogous to Brighton in terms of size, layout and having a tourism led economy. And like Brighton, it had a tram network that got abandoned in favour of the car in the middle of the century, only unlike Brighton, it spent the last 20 years rebuilding and expanding upon its tram network so that you can now quickly travel from one end of the city to the other for a euro.
I can’t believe you would seriously suggest an increase in cars don’t correlate to an increase in accidents. That car in Saltdean wouldn’t have overturned if it wasn’t on the road in the first place. The reduction in the number of cars in the road in 2020 correlated with a reduction in car accidents. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of pedestrians killed by traffic in the UK had also trended upwards (405 in 2010, 470 in 2019). Yes, there used to be more casualties relative to the number of cars, but you have improved road designs, improved cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, improved car safety features (e.g. seat belts, airbags), fewer drink drivers for that. The number of people killed for the convenience of cars is still too high.
Plenty of cars speed in Brighton, but it’s true a more serious suggestion that I did not go into for the sake of brevity would be a congestion charge and more penalising drivers that go through red lights of which there are countless.
Pedestrianise Seven Dials
Thank you for your response that requires further thought.
I haven’t done the ratio on van/cars so can only comment on my thoughts to try and give a P.O.V.
Of those 87.5 that are are cars, could you give the figures for tradespeople who use cars instead of vans, how many are care workers, how many are disabled or transporting goods that can’t be carried on Public Services. How many of those cars are being used because access to P/T is limited or non existent ?
It’s fine criticising the amount of cars but we need imo, to discover why people are using their vehicles so we can plan transport in a better way don’t you think?
You’re correct, high streets were already desolated due to various reasons the main one being the internet, yet, it seems to me the council are making it difficult for the businesses that are still able to operate with their plans and policies.
At a time like this, councils should be doing all they can to encourage people to spend their cash in the high street, yet make it almost impossible to do so.
You say most businesses that have to close their doors here soon have another in their place. But that is not the case. Just take a look along Western Road and see vacant buildings that have been there for several years.
The council always complain about shortfalls in budgets but what they never do, is actually tell us what additional funding they get from other sources that they didn’t get before, but hey ho that’s just the way it is.
This council told us in various local news spreads that there was a SHORTFAL in revenue from parking.
You’re probably right about transport networks on mainland Europe.
We can forget any traffic stats for 2020-21/2 due to lockdowns.
I’m pleased that you have recognised the point that more cars on our roads has not led to more incidents as you implied.
I totally agree, there are still too many deaths on our roads and we could probably come up with a big list of causes and ways to address.
I accept that some Drivers/riders do speed in Brighton.
Now I have a few views on the suggestion of congestion charging. Much of the congestion caused in Brighton is poor traffic management. There are plenty of examples where an adjustment of traffic light sequence’s would clear traffic instead on congesting it, one of the worst areas is Elm Grove/Lewes Road/Union Road where traffic sits on a red needlessly.
You’ve given no comment on the lack of Park and Ride and your comments about penalising drivers that go through red lights and that of congestion charging gives the impression that you are Anti car and only see £ notes just like our council and I think you, just like BHCC couldn’t careless about addressing the problems in this city.
Shame no one standing in Woodingdean ward, they would certainly get my vote. It is time we got away from elections for careerists and had people who represented the needs of the people more.
shame there is no candidate in queens park to split the vote between the hideous cabal of green/labour
Do they have any policies to make the council affordable for ordinary people, or are they not interested in the residents who pay for their plans?
Ian
Nope they just bang on about a car free city and vanity projects and couldn’t careless about anything or any one, least of all it’s residents.
Something is not right here. We pay on average twice as much council tax as Londoners. Where is the money going and why does it not go on essential services ?
A very good question. These people just assume council taxpayers are rich and want to pay more council tax.
The trouble is, they will just end up splitting the vote…