MP slams school cash cuts as he appears on BBC show
EAST Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury slated the Government over school funding cuts in his constituency as he made his debut on the BBC’s Sunday Politics show.
Debating with Bolton West’s Conservative MP Chris Green, Labour MP Mr Amesbury raised the cases of Helsby High, which he said will lose £700,000 under the schools funding formula, Windmill Hill primary, which he said is to lose £35,000, and Sir John Dean’s College in Northwich, which is facing a ‘£500,000 shortfall’.
He also used his appearance to call for an end to the public sector pay cap and said he would welcome more women MPs in parliament.
On the issue of education funding, the former advisor to Andy Burnham, said: “Rather than give tax cuts to the incredibly wealthy and rich corporations, let’s invest in ● our children.
“A big school in my patch is Helsby High, that’s £700,000 (lost) according to the Government’s new funding formula.
“If you look at Windmill Hill, one of the most deprived areas in my constituency, that’s £35,000 taken away.”
He added: “We’ll invest and put £6bn extra into education – it’s an investment in our future.”
On the issue of the pay cap, he said: “It’s been seven years now people have had their pay capped, hard-working public sector workers.
“The current government have been right to thank them particularly in times of crisis including some of the tragedies we’ve seen in Manchester and London.”
Adding that an increase in wages made economic sense in terms of increased tax revenue generated by the spending power of everyday people with more money in their pockets, he said: “There’s been an average salary cut of £14k for working people in this country.
“Give them a pay rise, there’ll be more in terms of a tax take, more in terms of spend in the economy, it’s the right thing to do and it’s affordable.”
On calls for more gender equality in politics, Mike said Labour’s approach had been progressive but said he would welcome more women in the Commons.
He said: “The Labour party has had that (progressive) approach in terms of allwomen shortlists.
“We’ve got a record number of female Labour parliamentarians, some formidable people – not necessarily from graduate backgrounds.
“I’d like to see more women MPs, if necessary using proactive measures which we’ve used.”