Social care priority (From York Press)

Social care priority

5:47pm Friday 29th June 2012 in Letters By Reader's letter

Carol Runciman (Letters, June 28) says I am wrong in suggesting that Labour is prioritising adult social care over bins.

My view is simply the Labour group made the right choice to cut the amount of bins. It is surely little sacrifice for us all to carry litter a bit further or even home when necessary.

I do, however, applaud her concern for the disabled and the more vulnerable in our communities. I would however respectfully suggest that she should be addressing her ire at her party’s leadership who have legislated a 20 per cent cut in disability benefits without considering need, including no entitlement to lower rate DLA.

She could ask why the Lib Dems have presided over scrapping the Education Maintenance Allowance. She could ask why Sure Start funding was not ring-fenced.

She could ask why working tax credit for lower earners is frozen for three years and why the same families should pay an additional ten per cent for their childcare.

Choices do exist as to how we allocate spending – and those choices are undoubtedly difficult in current economic times when we need to encourage growth. Those spending choices should be focussed on being fair to working people as well as protecting the vulnerable rather than favouring the rich with tax cuts.

Richard Bridge, Holgate Road, York.