‘Rough deal’ for Kirklees under government cuts

investment bank, with a regional arm specifically for the north.”

Talking about Kirklees Council, he said: “It’s one of the many councils in the north that have been hit hard.

“We’re now into our eighth year of austerity so what the government has done, and it’s been a clever tactic, is cut support for local government so it’s the local councils that are forced into those cuts and they can walk away from it as though they’ve got clean hands.

“So Kirklees has had a rough deal, but so have most of the local authorities in the north – what they need is a proper deal.

“We put in our budget £2bn extra for local government so we can start tackling some of those problems.

“We also said we’d have an investment fund that we’d build up to £150bn over ten years and we’d give priority to those areas that have been neglected in the past.

“Areas like Kirklees would have the opportunity then to rebuild their infrastructure, invest in the local economy, skills and training, digital access, and then you can create a prosperous local economy.

“On that basis you would be able to fund local government on a fair taxation system.”

Mr McDonnell recently appointed Thelma Walker as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.

He said: “There’s not many people who come straight into Parliament and make their mark – that’s what Thelma’s done.

“She brings real world experience to Parliament in ways more than some younger MPs would.

“She’s been given the job as my Parliamentary secretary, it’s a tough job, increasingly arduous as it involves a lot of Parliamentary work, but it also gives her a voice in some of the key decision making that we’ll be making about what a future Labour government does.

“It will give her the opportunity then to take the first step into ministerial office.”