Andy Burnham joins Sefton Central Labour MP and Sefton Labour Action Teams to launch Labour's family pledges

 

Shadow Health Minister Andy Burnham joined Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson and members of the Sefton Labour Action Teams to launch Labour's new pledge cards for local families - and while he was here he popped in to Greggs for a pasty ahead of the introduction of the Tory-Lib Dem government's 'pie tax'.

 

Andy, who was born in Aintree, gave out Labour's new pledge cards to shoppers in Central Square.

 

The cards feature five pledges which Labour will honour to help protect family budgets.

 

The pledges are:

• Stop the Government's raid on pensioners and block its £40,000 tax cut to 14,000 millionaires
• End rail rip-offs by capping fare increases on every route
• Force the energy firms to cut gas and electricity bills for four-millions over-75s
• Stop excessive fees charged by banks and lo cost airlines
• Defend working families from the raid on their tax credits by reversing the Government's pension tax break for those earning over £150,000

 

Labour's five pledges come after George Osborne's budget for the rich in which the Tory-Lib Dem government announced they were giving a tax cut of more than £40,000 to 14,000 millionaires while putting up taxes for nearly 4.5million pensioners.

 

Speaking in Maghull, Andy Burnham slammed the Tories and Lib Dems for being "out of touch with ordinary people".

 

Andy said: "The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are out of touch. It is proven when you see that they are giving a tax cut to millionaires while hitting pensioners right here in Maghull and Merseyside with the bill.

 

"They are allowing train companies to increase fares by up to 11% on some of the busiest routes and refusing to stand up to the big energy companies which is laving 80% customers paying more for their gas and electricity.

 

"The pledges that we give are the pledges we stand by and show just what action Labour will take to help people right here in Merseyside a during these tough times."

 

Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson said people in Maghull had welcomed the Labour pledges.

 

Bill said: "At a time when the Tories and Lib Dems are hitting ordinary families hard, the Labour Party is making clear its pledges to support ordinary working people and hard pressed pensioners.

 

"As well as the so-called 'granny tax' robbing from pensioners to pay to the millionaires, George Osborne's pie tax will hit us here in Sefton Central. Just in Maghull Central Square we have three bakeries which will be affected by this tax. These are three bakeries which employ local people.

 

"Another attack on businesses. Another attack on working people."