UK News 08-12-1999 Increased Spending to Close North-South Divide who: Tony Blair what: Promises increased spending on health and schools where: LIVERPOOL when: Yesterday snippet: In stark contrast to the government report released on Monday, a new independent report says that "Labour is failing to close the gap between rich and poor", reports The Mirror this morning. The number of people surviving on very low incomes (defined as less than 40 per cent of average earnings) "rose in Labour`s first year of power by more than one million to a record 8.4million... and the number of children living in poverty was stuck on more than two million". One of the authors of the New Policy Institute`s reports said yesterday criticised Tony Blair`s claims that there is no inequality between the regions. And Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said: "To deny the existence of a north-south divide is spin of the worst kind". Meanwhile, Tony Blair has ended his two-day tour of the north of England by promising "large increases in public spending to come on top of the £21 billion already allocated for the NHS and schools," reports The Independent, describing it as an "upbeat message". The Mirror is considerably more enthusiastic, calling this a "staggering new multi-billion pound spending spree" which "left the Opposition flat-footed". [... more]

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