Lilidorei grant – the great government giveaway

The Northumberland Labour Group welcomes the news of a £260m government grant for the borderlands made in the Chancellor’s statement to the house on 13 March. However, Northumberland Labour group Chair Scott Dickinson has pointed out the sheer hypocrisy of the situation. Scott said: “I am delighted to hear our chancellor Philip Hammond has seen fit to give £260m to the borders to stimulate business and growth. In case people didn’t see it, the grant ring fences £5m for Lilidorei, the proposed children’s play village, at Alnwick Gardens. “In other words, £5m of your money is going to be given to the already quite well off Alnwick Gardens. “But rewind to a few years ago when the then Labour-led council wanted to lend Alnwick Gardens £8.5m to get the project off the ground. Uproar from the Tory ranks! “Is it me, or is giving £5m of tax-payers’ money away to this project just a bit hypocritical? “Our Tory friends have just voted in, on the grounds that they’ve had ‘some difficult decision to make’, a mean, cynical budget that will do absolutely nothing for the most vulnerable people in our county. “And nationally, the Tory government is presiding over levels of poverty not seen since the 1800s, food banks, homelessness and rising crime. “It seems hard to believe that, after criticising the previous Labour-led council for offering a loan to kick start the Lilidorei play village, they’re happy to support a £5m give away. “We could have had a repayment of £8.5m with interest and a boost to the council’s finances or we could just support giving the money away, ensuring we could do that by making further cuts in education, social care and housing locally and nationally. “I welcome the jobs this is going to create but giving away tax payers’ money, when the council could have enjoyed a repayment with interest on a loan just beggars belief. “it looks like a fabulous fantasy play village. The Tories in our council and in our country are in a fantasy land of their own.”