19th September

Government needs wake-up call on struggling economy.
 

Another week and another grim set of economic figures. Unemployment rose by 80,000 to over 2.5 million in the last three months and in Dudley the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance is up 10% on last year. Perhaps most worryingly, the number of people unemployed for more than twelve months is at its highest level since 1997. Meanwhile, Cameron and Osborne offer up paper-thin excuses.

Of the world’s biggest economies only earthquake-hit Japan has grown more slowly than the UK over the last year and in the next six months only Italy is forecast to grow more slowly than us.

The Government must start producing some answers. George Osborne can’t keep putting his fingers in his ears and repeating the meaningless mantra that ‘we’re all in this together’. What we need to see is a renewed focus on helping people who have lost their jobs and are struggling to pay the bills.

I’m deeply worried that these figures show that the Tory-led Government’s economic plan just isn’t working. George Osborne should send his Treasury civil servants away and tell them to come back only when they’ve drawn up a credible plan to tackle unemployment and get the economy moving again.

We know that the Government is considering getting rid of the 50p tax rate. But you have to wonder about their priorities. I can’t understand why a tax cut for the rich should take priority over easing the pressure on families and pensioners who are struggling to cover the cost of petrol, heating and food. Surely it makes more sense to cut the rate of VAT to 17.5%. That way you put money in the pockets of the people who are being hit hardest.

I accept that tough decisions must be made to get the deficit down but if the economy is not moving and unemployment is rising then there are fewer people paying tax, more people on benefits and that means billions more pounds in spending - making the deficit higher, not lower.

New figures reveal impact of coach subsidy cuts

In response to Government cutbacks to a scheme which gives pensioners and the disabled half price coach fares, I tabled Parliamentary Questions to get the Government to reveal the true impact of the cuts. Last week I received a response from the Department of Transport which showed that an incredible 77,000 people in Dudley will now face higher fares.

The Government announced the end of this programme without indicating how many people would be affected. Now they’ve now had to come clean. This decison could seriously affect the ability of pensioners and the disabled to get out and about and visit friends and family. One woman called my office last week to say that she makes several visits a year to her granddaughter down in Sussex and will now either have to make fewer trips or face paying hundreds of pounds more per year.

Before the election David Cameron pledged to protect subsidised travel for the over 60s and people will want to know why he’s broken that promise

Former Lib Dem Kingswinford Councillors join Labour

I was delighted to welcome former Lib Dem councillors Dave Tyler and Lynn Boleyn to the Labour Party on Saturday. They quit the Lib Dems in protest at the party’s broken promises on police cuts, tuition fees and public services. As an ex-policeman, Dave knows how important bobbies on the beat are to public safety.

Dave and Lynn have been fantastic councillors serving Kingswinford and their decision shows that support for Labour is growing all the time and that people are coming back to Labour.

Ellowes Hall’s new sports hall

I went down to the opening of Ellowes Hall’s superb new sports hall on Friday. The facilities are first rate and will allow the school to build on its excellent sporting reputation. The opening comes not long after the school celebrated record breaking GCSE results. Results have trebled – yes, trebled – since Andy Griffiths took thehelm just a few years ago! It’s now the best performing state school in the whole of the Black Country. He, his whole team and the pupils are doing a fantastic job and can be very proud of the school’s achievements.

As winter draws in the new sports hall will allow their all-conquering year 9 football team somewhere to train away from the elements. The boys have now gone over two years without losing a game and last season did the league and cup double. They could teach some of the region’s professional sides a thing or two.