What kind of recession in Edinburgh?

I came across a very interesting article by Iain MacWhirter today. The drift of his article, that Edinburgh is living in something of a fool’s paradise, because its dependence on public sector employment means that although the city appears to have been relatively unscarred by the recession so far, when the threatened ‘savage cuts’ do materialise, Edinburgh will be particularly badly hit, is very persuasive and for that reason very worrying.

My own impression is that the impact of the recession in Edinburgh has already been much more serious in some sectors than his article suggests. Being at home in Edinburgh during the Parliamentary recess allows me to meet many more local people on a casual as well as an organised basis, and this summer I have been making a particular point of asking people how they have been affected by the recession. The picture is certainly mixed. Builders, joiners, architects, property lawyers – anyone involved in construction has certainly been hit very seriously. Financial services, though, do not seem to have been as badly affected as most people feared. The tourism and leisure sector seems to be more varied – and some businesses find unexpected benefit from the recession. And although I know many IT workers have been hit, one freelance IT worker I met said it was a very busy August – but that’s because people weren’t away on holiday so were using his services at a time when they normally don’t.

And I’ve certainly noticed many more people coming to my surgeries who have become recently unemployed, with benefits and other problems as a result, even though unemployment in Edinburgh is still much lower than in many other cities. But if Iain McWhirter is right, then that could certainly change if we do end up with a ‘double-dip’ recession as many predict, and which I fear will happen as a result of the Europe-wide rush to cut budgets quickly.

This Friday, I will be having one of my regular meetings with Jobcentreplus where I will be able to get a detailed picture of the current unemployment picture in Edinburgh. I’d be very interested in any views or information of how the recession is affecting particular businesses or sectors of the local economy to inform me for that meeting. You can post your views here, or send me an email or write to me if you prefer.

Leith aid for floods crisis

I thought I would give a mention to a local organisation which is helping at the heart of the areas hit by the recent flooding. Newhaven based Edinburgh Direct Aid happen to have a direct involvement in some of in one the most affected areas, in Kashmir. They've launched an emergency appeal, and you can find details here

Please give generously to this and the other appeals - the public in this country have already done so, but much more is clearly going to be needed.

Back to the blog

I hadn't realised it was so long since I had lasted posted on this blog - we were busy in Westminster up to the end of July, and then I had a couple of weeks holiday, and I never got round to posting. But back to the blog now!

For the first time in a few years, we are back at Westminster for a couple of weeks this September. The main item on the first day back (6 September)will be the first stage in the new government's plans to introduce the 'Alternative Vote'(AV)combined with a reduction in number of parliamentary constituencies.

The government has been criticised, rightly in my view, for the way it has combined these two issues in one Bill, and has also refused to allow proper 'pre-legsilative' scrutiny of the Bill - something the LibDems in particular were very keen on before they became part of the government. The only real reason for rushing the legislation through and linking these in this way is because of the deal between the Tories and LibDems (the LibDems want AV, and the Tories want to change constituency sizes).

I, and Labour (and I suspect many of the smaller parties) won't support the way this is being handled. I am in favour of electoral reform, have been for many years, so I don't see why taking a few more months to do this properly can't be found. After all, that would allow a proper debate on other forms of electoral reform. AV is not proper proportional representation - it is (marginally) better than the present system, in my view, but I would like to see Parliament having a chance to at least debate proper proportional representation, and having a chance to vote on such alternatives rather than being presented, in effect, with AV or nothing.

I'll be coming back to this subject later, I'm sure.