All 1 Debates between Imran Hussain and Edward Leigh

Local Government Funding

Debate between Imran Hussain and Edward Leigh
Wednesday 3rd February 2016

(8 years, 10 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Edward Leigh Portrait Sir Edward Leigh
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Obviously that is the argument that those representing urban areas will make. I do not deny that the Minister has a delicate balancing act to make, but let right be done. Let there be justice. How can we have such an extraordinary discrepancy? People think of rural areas as fundamentally prosperous. I represent Gainsborough, a small industrial town, and the south-west ward of Gainsborough is one of the most deprived wards in the entire country under any measure.

Imran Hussain Portrait Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)
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Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Edward Leigh Portrait Sir Edward Leigh
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No, I must finish now. Rural areas nowadays are not like some Gainsborough or Constable painting. There are real areas of deprivation, and we ask for justice. We know that it is not practical to have absolute parity per head across the country, but it is totally unacceptable that, in a time of tightening, we are not bearing the burden equally. Are we not one nation? The settlement is totally unfair to the rural taxpayer and our rural authorities. It must be revisited.