Burnley Labour Party - Candidate Julie Cooper

LIB DEM HEALTH SHAME

BURNLEY COUNCIL SHOCK AS LIBERAL DEMOCRAT COUNCILLORS BREAK ALL PARTY CONSENSUS AGAINST CHILDRENS WARD CLOSURE.

Liberal Democrats fail to support motion to protect future NHS funding.

The Liberal Democrats cannot be trusted to maintain current levels of NHS funding.

The Labour Party motion to Burnley Council on April 7^th that ALL political partys’ supported apart from ALL Liberal Democrat Councillors who shamefully VOTED AGAINST :

“That Burnley Council notes with grave concern that East Lancashire Hospitals Trust is to close down the children's ward at Burnley General Hospital, meaning that children who need in-patient treatment will have to stay in Blackburn along with their families and other visitors.

This will be a further unacceptable reduction in the range of services provided in the Burnley and Pendle area.

This Council condemns any suggestion of spending cuts being forced on East Lancashire Hospitals Trust in the next financial year. It asks the Government to guarantee that National Health Service funding will be ‘ring fenced’ during any future spending reviews and to maintain spending on vital local health services such as the Burnley General Hospital Childrens Ward.

The Council asks NHS East Lancashire and East Lancashire Hospitals Trust to reverse the decision and to continue the provision of children's inpatient services locally.”

Council Leader Gordon Birtwistle did not even contribute in the debate!!

Lib Dem health campaign is politically motivated

The mask slips : Quotes from the Liberal Democrats............

Gordon Birtwistle has not always been so bashful in offering his opinions. In a recent interview on TV when asked what his highlight of the week was, he replied

“...........................the closure of the Childrens Ward..................” Oops!!!

Burnley resident question to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg : “If the Lib Dems were to form the next government after the next general election does your party pledge that A&E services will be returned to Burnley General Hospital within the lifetime of that parliament?”

“....at this stage it is not possible for me to make any specific pledges with regard to Burnley General .....” – Nick Clegg; 27 Nov 2008

BURNLEY DESERVES BETTER – OUR SICK CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER!!

THE LABOUR PARTY IS THE PARTY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE

The Liberal Democrats will say anything to get elected. But their policies don’t add up. This doesn’t matter at all for them because they know they will never form a Government but it REALLY matters to the people of Burnley and Padiham.

What has the Liberal Democratic run Council really achieved in Burnley in its 4 years in office?

Since becoming the Liberal Democrat Council Leader 4 years ago Gordon Birtwistle has a record of broken promises:

Promised – clean streets
The Truth – Four years on the streets are filthy and Burnley has had the highest charges for removing rubbish in the area. No wonder fly-tipping has been on the increase. Councillor Julie Cooper has been pressurising the Council to reduce the price for removing rubbish for the last 3 years and has recently succeeded despite some serious foot dragging from the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats raised the charge for the collection of bulky waste by 50% in April 2007 from £10 to £15 (+ VAT). THIS WAS OPPOSED BY ALL LABOUR COUNCILLORS. Councillor Julie Cooper has done a fantastic job in pursuing this issue until the Lib Dems had no choice but to face the reality of their failed collection charge policy. What a pity it took so long!!

Promised – to change the site of Unity College
The Truth – site unchanged and the cost of this failure was £100,000 of tax payers money. Childrens education suffered as the building programme became bogged down in a costly and needless public inquiry.

In his report following the public enquiry the Planning Inspector cited Burnley Councils lack of evidence as a significant reason for not ruling against the development of the school on Lower Towneley.

Labours investment of over £180,000,000 in new schools for Burnley & Padiham is now visible across the Borough. These state-of-the-art facilities will be at the heart of our communities for many years to come. Unity College is now becoming a reality and will open in September 2010.

Promised – to return Accident and Emergency services to Burnley
The Truth – signatures collected and people let down, failed to influence the Hospital Trust or the Primary Care Trust. People misled about services and old people frightened. Playing LOCAL politics with people’s health.

The people of Burnley and Padiham are not fools. When residents have pushed the Liberal Democrat national leader, Nick Clegg, for his policy on this issue he admitted that he had no plans and could not pledge to return full Accident and Emergency services to Burnley General Hospital. Saying one thing in one area and the opposite in another area is a typical Liberal Democrat tactic.

Nov 2007; Question to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg : “If the Lib Dems were to form the next government after the next general election does your party pledge that A&E services will be returned to Burnley General Hospital within the lifetime of that parliament?”

Promised – to speed up the Elevate programme
The Truth – the programme has come to a standstill. The Labour Government invests millions of pounds each year in Burnley and all we have to show for it is a demolition site.

Streets like Parliament Street that are main routes through Burnley should not look like this after 4 years of massive Labour government investment.

The Labour Government has given Burnley over £60,000,000 in the last 6 years to renew our neighbourhoods. For all this investment the 3 priority action areas in Burnley Wood, Daneshouse & Stoneyholme and Trinity should be showing real signs of regeneration by now but all we see are boarded up houses and vacant areas where proud communities once stood. The Liberal Democrats have let these communities down.

The failure to push ahead quickly is now impacting other areas. The Liberal Democrats promised early intervention in declining areas but the residents in areas such as central Padiham and Piccadilly have been abandoned.

They scrapped the grants that people needed to enable them to afford to move from deprived to better areas and in its place imposed a loan system. They ignored all those people who had worked a lifetime to pay off their mortgages and own their homes and plunged them back into debt. No wonder residents forced to move by the Council became frightened and resisted change.

The Liberal Democrat Council purchased the Derby Pub for £290,000 to USE ELEVATE MONEY BEFORE THEY LOST IT! the Council Leader, Cllr Gordon Birtwistle took the individual decision to commit funds to demolish it and then grass the area. Over £500,000 to produce an area of grass not much bigger than an average lawn!

Promised – to run the town efficiently
The Truth – the programme has come to a standstill. The Labour Government invests millions of pounds each year in Burnley and all we have to show for it is a demolition site.

1. Needlessly purchased 4 houses in the Melrose Avenue area at a cost to the Council of over £530,000. They remained unused for 3 years costing the taxpayer thousands in maintenance and lost Council Tax. The houses have now been sold for £149,000. A whopping loss to the Council of £385,000. So much for Liberal Democrat financial management.

2. Raised charges for all services including the cost of burials and cremations way beyond inflation levels, this is effectively a local Death Tax.

3. Paid for visiting VIPs at Turf Moor when half the population of Burnley can’t afford to watch a match.

4. Your 5 Liberal Democrat County Councillors failed to make Burnley a priority through the recent cold spell. The elderly became prisoners in their own homes as the roads and pavements remained un-gritted. People aren’t fooled by photo opportunity gimmicks - they want the snow and ice cleared so they can do their own shopping.

5. The proposed new shopping centre development on Curzon Street is no nearer today than it was 4 years ago. Debenhams pulled out of the project and despite spending thousands on costly consultants a single brick has yet to be layed.

6. The Weavers Triangle development is continually delayed. Taxpayers money is poured in every year but the area is an eyesore and it worsens by the year. The Liberal Democrats have failed to secure the private investment needed for this project. Investors have no confidence in Liberal Democrat plans for Burnley and Padiham.

7. For the first 2 years of their administration they handed over the financial control of the Council to the Conservatives. The resulting ‘slash & burn’ budgets have given an insight into the disaster awaiting Burnley & Padiham if David Cameron ever stepped foot inside 10 Downing Street.

8. Unholy Alliance – in late 2006 two Liberal Democrat Councillors voted to appoint the BNP Leader Sharon Wilkinson to the board of Padiham Life. One of the Councillors was later appointed to the Borough Council Executive. This shameful episode occurred despite the Lib Dems giving repeated assurances that the Lib-Dems would never work with the BNP, or support BNP representatives gaining senior positions on decision-making bodies.
One of the Councillors (John Jones) even had a letter published in the press in an attempt to ‘justify’ this shameful position. It included the following statement :
“Given these facts and that Padiham Life is over represented by Labour, this would have helped to restore a balance and would have given Padiham people the best person for the post. Thus, Coun. Wilkinson was, to my mind and Coun. Sumner's, the better candidate. “ Burnley Express letters dated 5th Jan 2007