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Sarah Teather and Brent Liberal DemocratsWorking Hard for Brent |
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Nick Clegg Meets Struggling Families In Brent
February 2, 2009 11:40 AM
Nick Clegg visited Sarah's local constituency office
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has visited Sarah Teather's local constituency office and Brent Citizen's Advice Bureau to speak with families struggling to make ends meet in the recession.
His visit came on the day that the Liberal Democrats revealed research showing a significant increase in the number of council tenants in London who have fallen into arrears with their rent.
Research obtained through the Freedom of Information requests to local authorities in England shows that London council tenants are being hit particularly hard:
• Nearly 40% of tenants are living in arrears, compared to a national average of 33%;
• The number of council tenants who have fallen behind in their rent in London is over 80,000;
• Over 11,000 council tenants in London have been threatened with eviction since October last year.
In April the Government are set to enforce a rent hike of 6% for Council tenants across London.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg said:
"The recession is hitting family finances hard, leading to more and more households falling behind on their rent. As the financial crisis worsens thousands of families could face homelessness as they struggle to pay the bills.
"Advice services like Brent Citizen's Advice Bureau will be critical as the recession deepens. Families across the country are struggling. The Government needs to take action now to help low paid working families by cutting income tax."
Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:
"Every day local people are coming into my constituency office with harrowing stories of how the economic crisis is effecting their lives.
"Despite these new figures showing how the poorest Londoners are struggling, the Labour Government are determined to press ahead with inflation busting rent increases.
"Gordon Brown hasn't done nearly enough to help low paid people struggling with the cost of living. It's absolutely vital that we offer a life line to people in Brent by slashing income tax."
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