The Liberal Democrats have warned that the Conservative Party’s plans to spend £2.5 billion on National Service would lead to cuts to vital services in Somerset and Devon.
The Conservatives have said their plans would be paid for by slashing funding for local areas through the Shared Prosperity Fund from 2028-29, which funds projects that boost jobs and living standards, improve public services and build pride in local communities.
This fund has provided over £9million of funding for Somerset from 2022 to 2025 – and over £1 million of funding for Mid Devon.
The Liberal Democrats said it showed the Conservative Party had completely the wrong priorities, and called on the government to reverse their plans to slashed troop numbers by 10,000 instead.
Rachel Gilmour, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Tiverton and Minehead, commented:
“The Conservative Party has already done so much damage to people’s living standards and public services in Devon with all their chaos.
“Now they want to slash funding for local services to pay for their hare-brained plans for a National Service, which are nothing but a desperate distraction from the government’s record of failure on the NHS and economy.
“If the Conservatives were serious about defending Britain’s security, they would reverse their plans to cut the Army by 10,000 troops.”
ENDS
Notes: Funding by area provided through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/ukspf-allocations
Promoted by David Wulff on behalf of Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrats) both at 8-9 Mountbatten Road, Tiverton, EX16 6SW.
