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Stafford

View candidate responses for Stafford to our public service pledges.

  • Jeremy LaFroy (Conservative) - No response has been received from this candidate. Complete the e-action and ask them to respond.
  • David Kidney (Labour)
  • Barry Stamp (Lib Dem) - No response has been received from this candidate. Complete the e-action and ask them to respond.
  • Mike Shone (Green)
  • Roy Goode (UKIP) - No response has been received from this candidate. Complete the e-action and ask them to respond.

David Kidney (Labour)

Constituency: Stafford

I think trade unions are for a free and democratic society.

As you know, it will be an imperative for the next government - whichever party forms the government - to reduce the nation's deficit in the public finances. It is vital to recall that the deficit is partly as large as it is because a Labour government would not stand by and watch people lose their jobs and their homes. When tax revenues fell, we borrowed money for schemes like "Kickstart" to keep construction workers in jobs, "car scrappage" to keep automotive workers in jobs and tax credits so that employers and employees were able to agree reduced working hours and keep crucial skills sets in place for when the recovery started.

So I cannot give you a blanket guarantee of no reductions in public spending and I cannot promise that all public sector jobs will be protected. But I can say that Labour is the party that believes in strong public services. We have proved this by our investment in them for the past 13 years. We pledge to protect frontline services and we will be as considerate, as consultative and as participative as possible in making the savings that will be necessary. As you know, Labour has a plan for halving the deficit over 4 years. It involves a balanced approach of some cost savings, some higher taxes (like the new top rate of tax of 50% and the new 50% tax on bankers' bonuses) and some increase in revenues from growth in the economy. When you hear the Tories and Lib Dems talk of spending cuts, do you get the feeling that I do that they almost seem to relish the prospect?

I hope this is helpful.

Regards, David

Mike Shone (Green)

Constituency: Stafford

1) I pledge to work to ensure that public services are properly resourced and delivered by the public sector and that there are no further local office closures, public sector job cuts or privatisations.

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2) I pledge to support measures aimed at closing the UK tax gap, including recruiting HMRC staff and ensuring tax loopholes are closed.

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3) I pledge to support civil service national pay bargaining and to press the government to offer pay increases to public sector workers at least in line with inflation.

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4) I pledge to urge the government to honour the 2005 commitment on public sector pensions and to defend the rights of existing members of the civil service compensation scheme.

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5) I pledge to campaign to ensure any changes to public services are only made after proper equality impact assessments have been conducted and their findings implemented.

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I am a Green Party candidate and the Green Party wishes to expand public service provision not contract it ,in overall terms. So we wish to see more spending on elderly care, provision for out-of-school facilities for 13 to 19 year olds, public transport and social housing.

We would maintain and increase spending on public services by a mixture of increased taxation on the better off (progressive taxation) and environmental taxes plus there would be some scope for savings such as ceasing to employ big accountancy companies like KPMG on consultancy work and bringing the troop back from Afghanistan.
 

So I have no hesitation in supporting the 5 pledges: that the public services are properly resourced, that measures to support the tax gap are implemented, that public servants incomes are maintained at least at real present levels, that public sector pensions are not eroded and that changes to public services are only implemented after thorough impact assessments.