The MP for Brighton Pavilion, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council and a number of local councillors doorstopped No 11 Downing Street today in protest against government cuts.

Caroline Lucas joined Green council leader Jason Kitcat and Green councillors Phélim Mac Cafferty, Lizzie Deane and Ruth Buckley-Salmon this afternoon to present a letter on behalf of the people of Brighton & Hove and Brighton Pavilion to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The letter outlines their concerns that the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement day and other government statements on welfare and council support are unfairly singling out the people of Brighton & Hove for government cuts.

Councillor Jason Kitcat said:

"This government and this Chancellor are doing harm to the residents and businesses of Brighton & Hove, singling us out for cuts two or three times more severe than other south east authorities.

"They’re also threatening the very existence of local government, with forecasts of cuts so deep that there will be no government funding left for local councils after 2020.”

The letter, signed by the above members of the city’s Green leadership, states:

"Unlike most other local authorities, Brighton & Hove has been singled out for the harshest of cuts. Figures ... show that Brighton & Hove has been targeted for the deepest cuts per head of population in the whole of the south east of England, cuts that are between two and three times greater than any other council in the region.”

"The people of Brighton & Hove do not deserve the government’s short-sighted, irresponsible and wholly unjust programme of cuts to our city."

Caroline Lucas MP said:

"It is completely unacceptable that the people of Brighton & Hove should have to face such severe government cuts in the name of an austerity programme that is now widely acknowledged to be failing.

"It's also completely unacceptable that they should be suffering so much more deeply than the rest of the region.

"We are certainly not all in this together – with Brighton & Hove being hit even harder than our neighbours."

The MP and Councillors ask the Chancellor to reappraise the level of cuts being imposed on Brighton & Hove, concluding the letter with:

“We urge you to reconsider the cuts outlined in your Autumn Statement today.”

ENDS