Sink or swim? Living standards crisis in South Basildon and East Thurrock

This week, I will be visiting residents in the constituency and focusing on the issues facing many regarding the living standards crisis affecting so many people in South Basildon and East Thurrock.  It is no surprise to many residents I have spoken to over the past few weeks that the current government has failed those on lower and middle incomes while the people at the top reap the rewards in tax cuts and bonuses.

While the government claims there has been a slight upturn in the economy, the rise in costs of food, petrol, transport and other services has led to a sharp downfall in people’s real living standards. Cuts to local government grants have left people in a “sink or swim” situation as Eric Pickles takes another batch of money away from local services in the for of cuts to local government grants. The flawed priorities of Tory led Basildon council leave people even worse off as the Conservative administration chose to fund initiatives to count the borough’s grass for six figure sums while scrapping hot meals and the borough’s day centres for the elderly. Austere times create a politics of priorities and, in failing to challenge their friends in coalition government, Basildon council have badly lost sight of what are the real needs of the people of the borough.

One Basildon family I will be catching up with this week are a fine example of why an incoming Labour government has to be firmly on the side of hard working people. Despite being told she would be better off on benefits, a young working mum continues to work (including many night shifts) to provide for her daughter. The benefits she receives top up her salary and she is managing to stay afloat. This is in large part due to a strong and supportive family who help with many basic needs including some childcare and help with transport and shopping. Without this family support she surely would be floundering in the seas of Tory cuts and misplaced priorities.

For what are the Tories doing to help others in this situation? Other young single parents who may not have that reliable family support? The Tories have introduced a bedroom tax to push people further into poverty or away from their communities. The “spare” room that may have let a child sleep over with a neighbouring family while mum or dad covered another night shift. The rooms that provided space and quiet for the teenager to focus on their revision for forthcoming exams. The rooms that house the equipment for the woman who cares for her disabled husband at home saving the government a fortune in care costs. A national disgrace. And locally the council claw back money from people via their council rent, charging for cleaning services that do not materialise, for light bulbs that do not get replaced when they reach the end of their shelf-life leaving already busy residents to clear up communal areas and live in increasingly vulnerable areas.

In the past three years the Tories have ripped the heart out of many communities and enforced their own rules of “divide and conquer” against its citizens. A Labour government in 2015 will be on the side of hard working families, providing a compulsory jobs guarantee, supporting SureStart centres currently under threat, helping small businesses to grow and employ staff on a living wage while tackling the zero hours employment culture that keep people away from the job security they rightly deserve.