Shadow Chancellor is announcing the latest
stage of his nationwide tour aimed at highlighting Labour's plans
to revive the economy and raise living standards in our cities
and towns.
He said Labour is stepping up its campaign to expose the impact
of Tory austerity measures on our communities, as he announced a
seven-date tour across the UK.
The Shadow Chancellor will visit constituencies in London,
Gloucestershire, Essex, Lancashire and Yorkshire, between now and
Christmas.
The tour starts today (Saturday) in the London seat of Chingford
and Woodford Green, where Labour is seeking to overturn a Tory
majority of 2,438, then on to Labour-held Stroud in
Gloucestershire later this month.
McDonnell will follow up the summer dates, with autumn events in
the Essex Tory-held seat of Colchester and the Labour-held
constituency of Colne Valley in West Yorkshire. In November, he
will visit the Tory-held constituency of Middlesbrough South and
Cleveland East.
In the run up to Christmas, McDonnell takes his roadshow to
Tory-held marginals in the coastal seats of Scarborough and
Whitby in North Yorkshire, and the Lancashire resort of
Morecambe.
The Shadow Chancellor will use his winter visits to the Yorkshire
and Lancashire coasts to set out Labour's plans to tackle poverty
and social deprivation in coastal resorts, after a near decade of
Tory austerity.
The latest details of the 'coast to coast' campaign come almost a
year after its launch in Hastings.
McDonnell has met business leaders, trade unionists, campaigners
and councillors during visits to a series of constituencies,
including Broxtowe and Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, Pudsey in
West Yorkshire, the Lancashire seaside resort of Blackpool,
Airdrie in Scotland, Stoke in Staffordshire and Gravesham in
Kent.
The Shadow Chancellor is visiting communities that have been
neglected by the Tory government, up until the next general
election.
Shadow Chancellor said:
"When Labour goes into government, everyone goes into government.
"Different areas have had different experiences over the last two
generations and after a successful first year of Labour's Road to
Rebuilding the Economy tour, we are now taking our campaign
further afield.
"British towns, coast to coast, have lost their traditional
industries. Nothing has filled that gap and they have been let
down badly by the Tory government, which has inflicted over nine
years of austerity on these communities.
"Starting with Chingford and Woodford Green, Labour will set out
its plans to revive the economy and create jobs.
"Over nine years of austerity have hit these communities in
Essex, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Yorkshire very hard.
"Our struggling high streets are one of the clearest symptoms of
the government's failure to invest in our communities.
"Labour's five-point plan for British high streets will help
breathe life back into our struggling town centres.
"And Labour will deliver a fair deal for Britain's coastal
communities.
"We will increase income tax on the top 5%, the people who can
afford it, who can pay a little bit more. But also tackle tax
dodging and reverse some of the giveaways to the corporations.
"Labour will tax the rich and giant corporations to end
austerity, fund our public services properly, and rebuild our
economy so it works for the many, not the few."
Ends
Notes
Town seminars, June to December 2019
15 June: Chingford and Woodford Green
29 June: Stroud
5 October: Colchester
19 October: Colne Valley
9 November: Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East
23 November: Scarborough and Whitby
7 December: Morecambe
