‘Dickensian times’ will follow cuts to council’s funding
Cancer campaign goes global
A SOUTH Wales councillor has compared the problems which would be caused by the loss of public services to the plight of the Dickensian poor.
Rhondda Cynon Taf councillor Alun Cox was speaking after Welsh Government local government cabinet secretary Alun Davies compared councils complaining about funding to Oliver Twist.
The Plaid member said the AM was right to highlight Dickensian times because the poor will suffer from any losses of council services.
His comments came as full council discussed the provisional Welsh Government funding settlement, which involves a 0.3% increase in funding for the council, which is facing a budget gap of nearly £6m next year with a proposed council tax increase of 3%.
Cllr Cox said: “The Artful Dodger of the Labour cabinet is mistaken in his view of local councils.
“Some people are nobody’s enemies but their own. The reality is that the settlement from the Labour Government is a bad one.
“It (council funding) is not a priority for that government. That is, I think, a mistake.”
He said he shares the council leader’s criticisms A GLOBAL campaign has been launched to educate women on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
Know Your Lemons, backed by Tenovus Cancer Care, is being shared in more than 90 countries and translated into 16 different languages, helping to educate more than 200 million people.
Health experts behind the campaign say there are 12 signs and symptoms of the way in which the UK government tackles finance but said it is a system which he (Cllr Andrew Morgan) supports but that he does not.
He said if you do support the system as it is, you have to accept that now and again Wales is going to get underfunded because Wales doesn’t control its own finances.
Cllr Cox added “Alun Davies is right to draw attention to Dickensian times. The problems we will see will be akin to this.
“The poor will suffer. They are the ones who rely on our services.”
Councillor Morgan, the Labour leader of RCT council, called on the UK government to fully fund the costs of teacher’s pensions. of breast cancer overall, with some more common than others.
A striking poster, placed in 500 GP surgeries in Wales and based on patient research and advice from oncologists, uses 12 lemons to resemble the different ways a cancerous breast can look and feel.
Rhian Edwards, director of research and support at Tenovus Cancer Care, said: “Breast cancer is the most
He also highlighted the “huge pressures” on social care and children’s and adults’ services, but said: “We will not be going for high council tax increases to plug the gap.
“There is no getting away from it. Unless there is significant extra funding coming back we will have to make some difficult choices.”
Referring to Alun Davies’ comments, he said that he had signed a letter from the WLGA to the First Minister calling on the minister to retract his comments or resign.
Plaid Cymru’s leader on the council, Councillor Pauline Jarman, said: “This is not a good settlement by any measure.
“It is about time the Welsh Government was held to account for their austerity budgets.
“The Prime Minister should be held to account for saying austerity has ended.
“We need to write to the Chancellor and make urgent contact with secretary of state for Wales Alun Cairns to ask if he has been banging the drum for Wales.
“There is a serious obligation on him to fight Wales’ corner around the cabinet table.
“If he doesn’t do that he should resign.” common cancer in the UK and kills around 11,400 people every year, with one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives.
“We know early detection greatly increases a patient’s chances of survival and the Know Your Lemons image is a simple but highly-effective way of improving people’s knowledge about the signs and symptoms of cancer.”