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Councillor Patrick McAllister has responded to London Labour’s smear campaign against Bristol Green Party’s record in administration.
He said, “This letter from a Bristol Labour Party activist misrepresents the work of Bristol Green Party to pick up the pieces after Labour’s disastrous eight years in power.
“They claim that Labour was better for Bristol on housing, but it was Labour who left council flats covered in damp and mould while ignoring basic maintenance, leaving the Green to find tens of millions of pounds for emergency maintenance and fire safety measures. The fact that they have never apologised to residents is symptomatic of a deeper rot in the Labour Party, and their desperate attacks on the Greens cleaning up their mess will not hide this.
“Since our Green administration took power from Labour in May 2024, Bristol is the best social housebuilder outside of London, and has built more affordable homes in the last year than in at least a generation. And despite Labour’s lies about ‘the Greens selling off council homes’, we are proud to be investing in our housing, with thousands more social homes in the pipeline. While the letter also attacks Bristol Council for reducing affordable housing quotas, it is the Government’s own Planning Inspectorate that has blocked the Council from enforcing these quotas, which is why we are having to find ways around this!
“The letter also misrepresents Bristol Council’s financial management under our Green administration. As the Council’s Finance Chair, I know the truth: Labour left the finances in a total disarray, with low savings delivery, weak financial management, and a lack of scrutiny. Our administration has repaired these problems, ending hiring freezes that paralysed vital services like our libraries and planning department and working hard to find funds to invest in our museums and cultural services.
“The letter closes by having the cheek to criticise the rises in council tax, when the Labour Government expressly baked in 5% annual council tax rises for the next three years into its council funding assumptions! While Greens know that council tax is a regressive tax that needs reform. Again, Labour force a situation onto councils and then criticise the results – Bristol’s government grants have been cut from 18% of our core spending power last year to under 5% this year.
“This desperate smear campaign filled with falsehoods will not impress voters in London, many of whom want councillors who truly represent them instead of Keir Starmer’s bland vision of managed decline. We in Bristol Green Party are proud of our record and our work to make Bristol a better place – on Thursday 7 May, voters in London and across the whole country can choose to feel that pride as well.”