MPs warn Labour over London seats

Labour MPs today warn that the party will lose further ground in London unless the capital receives a fairer share of public spending.

The MPs say resentment in the South-East at the high levels of Treasury spending elsewhere in Britain had cost Labour seats at the election.

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon, said the Government ignored London's needs at its peril.

"It's a question of fairness. London and the South-East are always going to pay more than they get, but the Government would be wrong to overlook London's problems,"-he said. "London is the economic-driving force of the country and there is a danger they will end up killing the goose that lays the golden egg."

Mr Dismore, secretary of the London group of MPs, said there needed to be a proper review of why Labour did disproportionately badly in London and the South-East. Across the capital Labour suffered swings two or three times greater than the national average of three per cent. Stephen Twigg was ousted from Enfield Southgate by the Conservatives on a swing of

8.6 per cent and Wimbledon fell on a swing of 7.2 per cent.

London is estimated to subsidise the rest of the country by at least £20billion but government funding for the capital has remained stagnant. By contrast the Labour heartlands in the North-East, Scotland and Wales have seen a huge rise in the amount they receive.

However, not all Labour MPs believe funding was a factor behind the election result. Stephen Pound, MP for Ealing North, pointed to immigration and Iraq as among the reasons for Labour's reverse.