Jeremy Corbyn to warn austerity is 'putting children's lives in danger' in call for Budget boost
3 min read
Jeremy Corbyn will today call on ministers to boost funding for children's services in Monday's Budget with a warning that cuts are putting children’s lives in danger.
The Labour leader will say that the potential closure of dozens of children’s centres could cause “long-term damage” to young lives and lead to more children in care, excluded from school or falling prey to criminal gangs.
Mr Corbyn will call on ministers to use Monday’s Budget to provide the funds for councils that are “urgently needed to keep children safe” and end the “tragic false economy” of cutting support services.
His speech at a children's centre in Norwich comes as Norfolk County Council weighs up shutting 46 of 53 children’s centres within the area by this time next year.
Reports say 23,000 children under the age of five have used these centres in the past year.
The warning comes days after 120 organisations including charities, teaching unions and medical colleges warned services from Sure Start to schools and NHS mental health are at breaking point.
Mr Corbyn will also warn of a “growing crisis” in mental health services, claiming that just one in four young people are able to access help from the NHS.
“Cutting the services that protect and support children and young people is a tragic false economy that will blight the lives of millions of children and young people,” he will say.
“These cuts risk more children ending up in care, excluded from school or falling prey to gang violence. This is a national emergency.
“If austerity is over as Theresa May has claimed, the Chancellor must use the budget next week to provide the funds urgently needed to keep children safe.”
RECORD OPERATION CANCELLATIONS
It comes as the party reveal that a “record number” of children’s operations were cancelled last year.
Research by Labour found that 18,647 were called off in 2017/18, for reasons such as equipment failure, staffing shortages and a lack of critical care beds.
Among those cancelled were operations to treat broken bones, breast cancer and acute tonsillitis.
Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “These cancelled operations risk harming children further in the long term and it’s shameful that cancellations have reached this level.
“The fact that thousands of children’s operations – including for broken bones, removing rotten teeth, eye surgery and even breast cancer – have had to be cancelled on this scale reveals yet again an NHS pushed to the brink by the Tories.
“Our children deserve better than this which is why the health and wellbeing of every child will be Labour’s priority.
“The Chancellor must act in the Budget on Monday by giving the NHS the funding it needs now and reversing the devastating cuts to public health services that are setting our children’s health back.”
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