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Brown attacks cuts to disabled services



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GORDON Brown has intervened in the row over cuts to organisations which help the disabled in Aberdeen.
The city council is withdrawing £650,000 in funding to the Glencraft factory, which employs blind and disabled workers, as part of a £27 million package of cuts.

Bosses say they have been left with no choice but to close, with the loss of 56 jobs.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, Mr Brown was asked by Anne Begg, the Aberdeen South MP who uses a wheelchair, if the council was cutting services for the disabled "in such a cavalier fashion" that it could be taken to court for breaching disability laws.

Mr Brown attacked the Lib-Dem and SNP-run council and said: "I think people will be particularly sad to hear members of the disabled community in Aberdeen are the biggest victims of the cuts brought in by that administration. I hope public opinion will express itself and say disabled people should not suffer in that way."





The full article contains 171 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 26 March 2008 10:11 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

The Answer,

Glasgow 27/03/2008 00:19:44
Are these 56 jobs public or private sector ?
2

Farky,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 09:14:27
Any cuts in social services may well be down to the fact that the Broon government has cut the amount of block grant given to Scotland!

Isn't that right Gordon!
3

Mr Scotland,

27/03/2008 11:03:30
Indeed number 2 - he and Wendy have engineered their own misery on this. They cannot reasonably argue anything other than they forced the cuts in the first place.

OWN GOAL!
4

Mr Scotland,

27/03/2008 11:07:04
In addition the previous Labour led Scottish exuctive forced massive cuts in the supporting people budget and made the aberdeen project more bnneeded than it was before due to their petty penny pinching ways.

It is time for labour to be taken out and shot as they are clearly suffering from a case of BSE and Blue Tounge (tory strain)
5

Brian M,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 17:25:41
public opinion on Brown-nose is that he is trying to wrap himself in the flag of england (the union rag is seen and used by most of the english as their flag) for his own ambitions
6

Duncan in Edinburgh,

27/03/2008 18:30:05
#2 and #3 what utter lies. The block grant was increased over and above the level of inflation, as it has been every year since devolution began. I am sick to death of hearing that it was cut - that is an out and out lie. The decision to freeze council tax was the SNP's decision. The decision to axe these disabled people's jobs was the SNP and Lib Dem's decision.

Shame on you for pretending otherwise.
7

Andrew Allan,

27/03/2008 18:32:15
This is an awful thing to happen, but what can you do when westminster reduces the settlement to run services in Scotland, isn't it the duty of us all to treat everyone, as much as possible, in an equal manner, and I'm guessing this place isn't the only place to lose money, and yet Mr Brown heads straight for the soundbite. Why isn't Mr Brown making a noise about all of these other places losing out, yes Mr Brown its because your government have withdrawn the money which would of funded them, and you say you will withdraw even more when the Scottish government help out the least fortunate.
8

Jwil,

27/03/2008 22:29:36
More misinformation by Brown. There is nothing that this man will not stoop to. And he was going to start a new era of morality in politics.
9

Liberal for life,

Dunblane 28/03/2008 17:05:25
As someone who had a blind uncle employed at the Glencraft factory up until he retired a few years ago and can recognise the value of such a facilty I think this is a disgraceful cut - swimmers can go elsewhere in the city to find a pool but what alternatives are there for the blind and disabled people who are keen to work and contribute to society rather than vegitate at home.

The LibDem and SNP councillors in Aberdeen city need to take a long hard look again at this particular decision and if it means going back to the residents and asking if they are willing to bear the subsidies required then that is what they should do. Its shameful to say the least.
10

Nebulous,

Aberdeen 31/03/2008 21:00:57
What is amazing is that something like 38 jobs for disabled people (the rest are able bodied) cost so much to maintain. £650,000 and they still couldn't survive on that.

11

Il Penseroso,

Inverurie 05/04/2008 23:39:54
Duncan Edinburgh You well know that the money to Scotland was arrived at by creative accounting, i.e. less than previous years. As for Anne Begg moaning in cuts to "social services for the old and infirm". What perfidy to her kind! That little money grabbing vixen dolled up in her auld clathes and bonnet at today's march in Aberdeen(certainly not her westminster clothes)voted with her partner in crime Frank Doran MP last week to close thousands of Post Offices in the UK. I always thought that P.Os provided a social service to those very people, the old and infirm! Hypocrisy rings a bell!
12

Il Penseroso,

Inverurie 05/04/2008 23:50:25
#9 Liberal for Life Take a look at my reply to your grump about the cuts to the Cyrenians. Like most Liberal thinkers you are in denial of the real world.Ask your uncle who was once employed by Blindcraft what he thought of the professionalism of the Directors. Best opinion has been they were blind to the proper functioning of a business enterprise and were subsidised out of all proportion to the structure of their asset value. The N.I.B. will give you their view of Blindcraft's operation.

 

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