Labour’s five-point plan for jobs and growth in the West Midlands
1. Create up to 8,500 jobs for young people and build 1,900 new homes
2. Bring forward investment projects like new school buildings
3. Temporarily reverse the Tory-led Government’s VAT rise - a £450 boost for
families with children
4. Cut VAT on home improvements to 5% for a year
5. Give up to 170,000 small firms a tax break to take on extra workers
There is a better way in the West Midlands
Our jobs plan includes
a tax on bank bonuses to fund up to 100,000 jobs for young people; bringing forward longterm
investments in infrastructure like roads and schools; a temporary VAT cut which would
give families with children a boost of around £450; a one year cut in VAT to 5 per cent on
home improvements and repairs to help small businesses; and tax breaks for small businesses
taking on extra workers.
The Tory-led Government refuses to listen to people’s concerns. Far from being the safe haven
George Osborne claims it is, Britain’s recovery was choked off last autumn – well before the
current crisis in the eurozone. We now know that there has been zero growth in our economy for
nine months. Japan is the only G7 country that has grown more slowly over the last year.
The decision by the Bank of England effectively to print more money shows that the
Government’s reckless plan is not working. In fact two years ago the Chancellor George Osborne
said doing this was “the last resort of desperate governments when all other policies have failed.”
But there’s only so much the Bank of England can do on its own. The Government needs to act
too. The real problem is that the Government is cutting spending and putting up taxes too far and
too fast. And the result is that families have been hit hard, the economy has ground to a halt and
more people are now out of work.
Unemployment is at its highest level in 17 years, with over 2.5 million people without a job. One in
five young people are out of work and there are now more women unemployed than any time
since 1988. And while 111,000 jobs have been lost in the public sector in the three months to
June, just 41,000 jobs have been created in the private sector.
Like every other country we’ve got to get our deficit down and that means tough decisions
on tax and spending cuts. But the Government doesn’t seem to understand that more people on
the dole – claiming benefits rather than paying taxes – will just make it harder and harder to get
the deficit down.
The International Monetary Fund has now warned that if things get any worse the Tory-led
Government will have to change course and slow down the cuts and tax rises. Business groups are
also calling on the Government to do more to get the economy growing again.
There is a better way – a real plan for jobs and growth to get our economy moving again and
help get the deficit down in a steadier and more balanced way.
And we must now lay the foundations for a new bargain in the future based on something-forsomething
values which reward responsibility, help us pay our way in the world and fulfil the promise of Britain. If David Cameron and George Osborne really understood how tough things are for families, pensioners and businesses they’d stop sitting on their hands and take action now.
There is a better way
– a real plan for jobs and growth to get our economy moving again and help get
the deficit down in a steadier and more balanced way.
By trying to cut spending and raise taxes too far and too fast this Tory-led Government is getting our
economy into a vicious circle. By choking off the recovery and putting tens of thousands of people
on the dole, claiming benefits rather than paying taxes, the Government will make it harder to get the
deficit down. David Cameron’s austerity plan is hurting, but it isn’t working.
The Tories: Too Far, Too Fast
• The Tory-led Government’s decision to cut the deficit too far and too fast choked off the
economic recovery last autumn - well before the eurozone crisis of recent months.
• In the last nine months the UK economy has not grown at all.
• Over the last year Japan is the only G7 country to grow more slowly than the UK.
• Slower growth and higher unemployment means the Government is now set to borrow
£46 billion more over the next few years.• Unemployment is rising again and is currently
at the highest level in 17 years.
• The number of women unemployed is at its highest level since 1988.
• Almost one million young people are unable to find a job, the highest number since
comparable records began in 1992. But one of the first acts of the Tory-led Government
was to scrap Labour’s Future Jobs Fund which helped young people into work.
• The private sector is failing to fill the gap left by the Government’s public spending cuts
that go too far and too fast. more borrowing £46 billion young people unable to find a job one million
The effect of the Tory-led Government’s cuts in the West Midlands:
• The Tories have scrapped Labour’s Future Jobs Fund which helped 12,090 people in the West
Midlands into jobs.
• The number house building starts fell by 430 in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the same
quarter a year ago.
• 234,000 people in the West Midlands are unemployed as of October 2011.
• The Tories have scrapped Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency for the
area, despite the fact that in the last year of the Labour Government:
- Advantage West Midland’s regionally based and managed venture capital funds made 54
investments, totalling £5.1 million. This levered in £17.4 million of private funds
- Three major low carbon vehicle projects of national significance were launched, and the
region (with the East Midlands) has been recognised as the UK’s Low Carbon Area for
Advanced Automotive Engineering.
This is a really worrying time for families; struggling with higher food prices and gas bills and worried about their jobs and their children’s futures.
There is a better way
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