§ Mr. Terry Davis (Birmingham, Hodge Hill)I should like to present a petition which has been collected by the Birmingham Labour party and signed by nearly 10,000 people who live in the city of Birmingham. They include my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker), who regrets that he is unable to be here to present the petition himself.
The citizens of Birmingham are worried about the loss of £ 125 million by the city council. I should emphasise that the council has not mislaid the money— it has been robbed by the Government as a direct result of their changes to local government finance since 1979.
According to the city treasurer, these changes by the Government have taken a total of £125 million from the city council and have culminated in a loss of £47 million this year alone. That means that the city council has been forced by the Government to levy a rate which is 30p higher than it would otherwise have levied. That is on top of an increase of 23p as a result of the policies of the local Conservatives who used to control the city council.
This year, the city council has been forced to increase the rates by 43 per cent.—
§ Mr. Michael Brown (Brigg and Cleethorpes)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I seek your guidance? When the hon. Member started to present his petition, I distinctly heard him hint that he was presenting it on behalf of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker), who has signed it. Is it not correct that an hon. Member may not sign a petition which he is presenting? I seek your guidance as to whether the petition is being presented on behalf of the hon. Member for Perry Barr.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. It is in order for the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Davis) to present a petition on behalf of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker).
§ Mr. DavisThe hon. Member for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown) raised a foolish point as, if he had listened more carefully, he would have heard me say that my hon. Friend the Member for Perry Barr is one of the signatories of the petition. I am not acting on his behalf. If my hon. Friend had been here he would have presented the petition, but he is not. I am presenting the petition on behalf of my hon. Friend as a citizen of Birmingham and 10,000 other citizens of Birmingham who have been robbed of £125 million by the Government.
The city council has been forced to increase its rates by 43 per cent. this year although it is spending £25 million less than the Secretary of State's civil servants admit is needed to preserve services in Birmingham.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman must not make a speech but describe what is in the petition.
§ Mr. DavisI am describing the petition and what it is about. I shall not read all of it because that would take a long time. I am simply summarising the points of concern to the citizens of Birmingham. Civil servants admit that the council should spend another £25 million to provide the services that are needed. I do not want to describe those services now, even if you allowed me to do so, Mr. Speaker. Suffice it to say that services in the city of 594 Birmingham must be improved. Even the Government admit that they should be improved, but they have taken money from the council.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman must put to the House what the petition says, not his views on it.
§ Mr. DavisThat is what I am doing, Mr. Speaker, as you will see when you read the petition. It concludes:
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House do pass legislation requiring the return of this sum which is urgently needed to provide basic services and jobs for the people of the city.In other words, the message of the Birmingham Labour party, Birmingham city council and the people of Birmingham is, "Give us back our money."To lie upon the Table.