County News Summer/Autumn 2017 highlights the unfairness of Government funding for Lincolnshire.
We receive £292 each; London £536 each. We ‘miss out’ on £178 million yearly. Fairer funding for Lincolnshire and ending of the shortfall is called for.
Lincolnshire County Council has 58 Tory councillors; all others combined only 12.
Of the seven MPs for the county, six are Tory so a very substantial Tory influence throughout yet we still have this massive imbalance.
As only the current Tory Government has the power to redress the matter are LCC trying to hoodwink us?
Such combined Westminster influence should have produced a much better outcome for our county.
MPs’ details with majorities below.
Matt Warman (Tory) – Boston/Skegness 16,572
Edward Leigh (Tory) – Gainsborough 17,023
Nicholas Boles (Tory) –Grantham/Stamford 20,094
Victoria Atkins (Tory) – Louth/Horncastle 19,641
Caroline Johnson (Tory) – Sleaford/North Hykeham 25,237
John Hayes (Tory) South Holland/Deepings 24,897
Karen Lee (Labour) – Lincoln 1,538.
The party of government, Tory, sets the amount LCC receive. They found a couple of extra billion pounds for N Ireland (to secure DUP support) so why can’t they find the relatively miserly shortfall sum of £178 million for Lincolnshire?
Look how safe the Tory MPs’ seats are. Big majorities can breed complacency especially when retaining a seat seems not to be under threat.
Don’t our MPs consider their own residents to be worth at least the same as a London resident? Had MPs been effectively doing their job (for which they are paid handsomely, plus vast expenses), LCC County News would not have headlined this problem, nor would I be writing this letter.
Each MP (especially our own) should write a detailed, gobbledegook free and verifiable explanation of what they are doing to redress the outrageous £178 million imbalance, to be published in this newspaper for us all to read, transparency being required.
Whatever they are doing, it cannot be enough considering our current situtation and the combined strength of their position with the Tory Government at Westminster.
G Ogden
Surfleet
