Northumberland Labour says the party which prides itself on managing the economy has failed.
Labour Group Deputy Leader Scott Dickinson said: “While The Chancellor continuously tells us the furlough scheme is the best in the world, this simply isn’t true. Every version of the scheme has left some people out and that simply isn’t good enough. Until he was forced to do so he provide no support for people who had to self-isolate and would be left with no income if they did so. His well meant but disastrous Eat Out to Help Out caused a spike in the virus that meant businesses had to close again. It was a classic case of the left hand of government not knowing what the right hand was doing.
“Many families who had never had to ask for support found themselves in food bank queues and many lost their homes. The result is damage to the economy. The answer is if you get it right for people, you get it right for the economy.
“The government let people down badly. Individuals, families and the economy suffered as a result. The job of the government should have been to protect family finances. Instead they did deals with their chums to buy PPE that wasn’t fit for purpose and wasted billions on a track and trace system that doesn’t work. They wasted our money and spent it recklessly, and we’ll be expected to suffer as a result.
“A Labour-led Northumberland will be prioritising residents by pressing national government to do the right thing by the people of this country, many of whom found themselves in terrible circumstances through no fault of their own.
“We will ensure that Northumberland becomes stronger and thrives and there is a promising future for each and every person who lives in the county.
“Our manifesto provides homes, jobs and friends for people in our county and all our energy will go into making Northumberland the very best place to grow up, live and grow old in.
“We’re strong believers in if you get it right for people, you get it right for the economy and these will be our watchwords in everything we do.”