Like many others, I warned last year about the danger of a 'double dip' recession. Today's figures suggest that, unfortunately, our fears were well-founded. Ed Balls, in his first major statement as Labour’s shadow chancellor, as highlighted the dangers:
“It is clearly a matter of great concern that Britain’s economic recovery has now ground to a halt. As the independent Office of National Statistics has confirmed, even after the effects of December’s bad weather, the UK economy saw no economic growth in the final quarter of 2010.
“With families and businesses already facing both rising unemployment and rising inflation, the fact that the economy is now shrinking means the Conservative-led Government’s claims to have saved the economy and secured the recovery will ring very hollow indeed.
“With consumer confidence low and public spending starting to be cut at the end of last year, it is no surprise that construction and services are the sectors hit hardest in these figures. But they are all the more worrying because they cover the period before the Government’s VAT rise and sharp public spending cuts have even begun.
“It is now becoming even clearer that when David Cameron and George Osborne complacently congratulated themselves in the autumn for securing economic recovery, this was in fact the result of decisions taken by the Labour government to get the economy moving again.
“The Government inherited an economy that was strengthening, with growth of 1.1% in the second quarter - thanks to decisions we took to support jobs and get the economy moving. It also meant last year’s deficit came in £20 billion lower than previously forecast.
“Now we are seeing the first signs of what the Conservative-led government’s decisions are having on the economy. The fact is cuts which go too far and too fast will damage our economy. And shrinking growth and rising unemployment is not only bad news for families but will actually make it more difficult to get the deficit down.
“As the head of the CBI said only yesterday, this Government has no plan for growth and it is taking political decisions regardless of the damage they will cause to job creation and business. Simply slamming on the brakes is not a credible economic policy.
“It is not too late - George Osborne and the Treasury must urgently re-think their reckless plan to cut the deficit too far and too fast and start putting growth and jobs first.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
David Cameron claimed the British economy was out of the danger zone and recovering
“Britain's economy is out of the danger zone and recovering.”
PMQs, 15 December http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101215/debtext/101215-0001.htm#10121530000010
Borrowing came in £20bn lower than forecast in 2009.
PBR 2009 forecast 2009/10 borrowing at £177.6bn. The latest HMT figures puts outturn borrowing at £156.3bn and is available at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psf_statistics.htm
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Save Edinburgh's services for the unemployed!
I've just received this letter from Edinburgh Council UNISON branch about their campaign to keep funding for employment programmes in Edinburgh. It looks like an important campaign to support, and you can find out how in the letter.
SAVE EDINBURGH’S SERVICES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED!!
The Scottish Government is planning to cut nearly half of its budget for employment programmes in Edinburgh. This is funding which historically has come to the Edinburgh Partnership and is used to support the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and to fund specialist programmes designed to fit the needs of local communities and priority groups.
Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, has confirmed that this funding from the Scottish Government (£2.25 million this year) is being cut. This cut will be in addition to the budget reductions already suffered by the City Council. This huge loss will remove local services which would help 3,500 people.
• These losses will be concentrated in the most disadvantaged areas of the city – Craigmillar, Muirhouse and Pilton, Wester Hailes and Sighthill – and on specialist programmes which help people with multiple problems.
• The impact on opportunities for unemployed young people will be severe.
• Also threatened is the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and its pioneering ways of getting public agencies to work together effectively to reduce unemployment.
Of all Scotland’s cities it’s only Edinburgh which is receiving this treatment.
Mr. Neil has suggested that there may be other sources of government funding and these are being pursued with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney MSP, so it’s vital that they get the message now that this is wrong and unacceptable.
So Please Act Now:
Let's get the Scottish Government to stop picking on Edinburgh, see sense and restore this funding for those who need it most.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:
1. Sign the e-petition at http://www.petition.co.uk/save-edinburgh-jobless-services. This will be sent to Scottish Ministers Alex Neil and John Swinney.
2. Contact your MSPs. Please send a message urgently to your constituency MSP (you can get the address from the following website: www.theyworkforyou.com ). Send the same message to each of the List MSPs for Lothian. Their email addresses are given below, along with text you can use for your message.
3. Ask your councillors to support this campaign. Whatever the final decision from the Scottish Government the City of Edinburgh Council will have to decide what can be funded next year. You can find your councillors from this webpage: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/councillors/search
4. Widen support for the campaign. Please send this on to everyone you know who may be interested. Ask organisations you belong to or work for to support it and to write to ministers and MSPs.
5. Keep in touch with the campaign. We welcome all interested organisations and individuals to join us. We can be contacted at SaveEdinburghJoblessServices@hotmail.co.uk.
6. Come to a campaign meeting – the first open campaign meeting will be at 12.30 pm on Thursday 27 January at the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace (off George IV Bridge).
THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE
EDINBURGH’S JOBLESS SERVICES
A briefing pack is available.
For further information email SaveEdinburghJoblessServices@hotmail.co.uk
or contact Matthew Crighton, UNISON representative at CCP, on 07851 348426
Suggested core message for MSPs:
“I am writing to tell you of my grave concern about the decision of Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities, to cut funding for employment programmes in Edinburgh. This loss of £2.3 million next year will remove local services which would help 3,500 people, unless it is reinstated. It will disproportionately hit the most disadvantaged communities in the city and those with most difficulties in getting work, including unemployed school-leavers.
It’s incomprehensible that the Scottish Government should do this at a time of high unemployment and rising hardship. Please use all your influence with Alex Neil and John Swinney to get them to reverse this decision”
E-mail addresses of Lothian list MSPs:
gavin.brown.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
george.foulkes.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
robin.harper.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
fiona.hyslop.msp@scottishparliament.uk
margo.macdonald.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
ian.mckee.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
shirley-anne.somerville.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
E-mail addresses of Edinburgh constituency MSPs:
sarah.boyack.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
malcolm.chisholm.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
kenny.macaskill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
david.mcletchie.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
mike.pringle.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
margaret.smith.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Background Information
Historically, in Edinburgh, a share of the budget for tackling unemployment and poverty in Scotland has come through the Edinburgh Partnership to CCP, and is used to support the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and to fund specialist programmes designed to fit the needs of local communities and priority groups .
In this financial year this amounts to £2.3 m which is 43% of the city's Fairer Scotland Fund allocation for improving employability and getting people into work.
The budget supports the dedicated employment projects in the three most disadvantaged areas of the city and also programmes for specific disadvantaged groups, for example the award-winning Passport project for people who are homeless, leaving prison or recovering from addictions.
On 23 December Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, wrote to Cllr Tom Buchanan at City of Edinburgh Council saying that this funding would not be continued. This was entirely unexpected.
Since then Alex Neil has confirmed the cut from his department but is asking Finance Minister John Swinney to try to find other sources to replace this.
Projects for young people, which will be hit at the moment that we hear that Edinburgh has the worst school-leaver destinations (highest number going into employment) in Scotland, include Youthbuild in Craigmillar, Barnardo's NETworks, Fairbridge and six others.
These services are provided by local voluntary sector projects which are effective because they are working close to the ground and rooted in local communities. They are an asset to the city but their survival is at stake.
SAVE EDINBURGH’S SERVICES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED!!
The Scottish Government is planning to cut nearly half of its budget for employment programmes in Edinburgh. This is funding which historically has come to the Edinburgh Partnership and is used to support the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and to fund specialist programmes designed to fit the needs of local communities and priority groups.
Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, has confirmed that this funding from the Scottish Government (£2.25 million this year) is being cut. This cut will be in addition to the budget reductions already suffered by the City Council. This huge loss will remove local services which would help 3,500 people.
• These losses will be concentrated in the most disadvantaged areas of the city – Craigmillar, Muirhouse and Pilton, Wester Hailes and Sighthill – and on specialist programmes which help people with multiple problems.
• The impact on opportunities for unemployed young people will be severe.
• Also threatened is the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and its pioneering ways of getting public agencies to work together effectively to reduce unemployment.
Of all Scotland’s cities it’s only Edinburgh which is receiving this treatment.
Mr. Neil has suggested that there may be other sources of government funding and these are being pursued with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney MSP, so it’s vital that they get the message now that this is wrong and unacceptable.
So Please Act Now:
Let's get the Scottish Government to stop picking on Edinburgh, see sense and restore this funding for those who need it most.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:
1. Sign the e-petition at http://www.petition.co.uk/save-edinburgh-jobless-services. This will be sent to Scottish Ministers Alex Neil and John Swinney.
2. Contact your MSPs. Please send a message urgently to your constituency MSP (you can get the address from the following website: www.theyworkforyou.com ). Send the same message to each of the List MSPs for Lothian. Their email addresses are given below, along with text you can use for your message.
3. Ask your councillors to support this campaign. Whatever the final decision from the Scottish Government the City of Edinburgh Council will have to decide what can be funded next year. You can find your councillors from this webpage: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/councillors/search
4. Widen support for the campaign. Please send this on to everyone you know who may be interested. Ask organisations you belong to or work for to support it and to write to ministers and MSPs.
5. Keep in touch with the campaign. We welcome all interested organisations and individuals to join us. We can be contacted at SaveEdinburghJoblessServices@hotmail.co.uk.
6. Come to a campaign meeting – the first open campaign meeting will be at 12.30 pm on Thursday 27 January at the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace (off George IV Bridge).
THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE
EDINBURGH’S JOBLESS SERVICES
A briefing pack is available.
For further information email SaveEdinburghJoblessServices@hotmail.co.uk
or contact Matthew Crighton, UNISON representative at CCP, on 07851 348426
Suggested core message for MSPs:
“I am writing to tell you of my grave concern about the decision of Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities, to cut funding for employment programmes in Edinburgh. This loss of £2.3 million next year will remove local services which would help 3,500 people, unless it is reinstated. It will disproportionately hit the most disadvantaged communities in the city and those with most difficulties in getting work, including unemployed school-leavers.
It’s incomprehensible that the Scottish Government should do this at a time of high unemployment and rising hardship. Please use all your influence with Alex Neil and John Swinney to get them to reverse this decision”
E-mail addresses of Lothian list MSPs:
gavin.brown.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
george.foulkes.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
robin.harper.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
fiona.hyslop.msp@scottishparliament.uk
margo.macdonald.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
ian.mckee.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
shirley-anne.somerville.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
E-mail addresses of Edinburgh constituency MSPs:
sarah.boyack.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
malcolm.chisholm.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
kenny.macaskill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
david.mcletchie.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
mike.pringle.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
margaret.smith.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Background Information
Historically, in Edinburgh, a share of the budget for tackling unemployment and poverty in Scotland has come through the Edinburgh Partnership to CCP, and is used to support the Joined Up For Jobs strategy and to fund specialist programmes designed to fit the needs of local communities and priority groups .
In this financial year this amounts to £2.3 m which is 43% of the city's Fairer Scotland Fund allocation for improving employability and getting people into work.
The budget supports the dedicated employment projects in the three most disadvantaged areas of the city and also programmes for specific disadvantaged groups, for example the award-winning Passport project for people who are homeless, leaving prison or recovering from addictions.
On 23 December Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, wrote to Cllr Tom Buchanan at City of Edinburgh Council saying that this funding would not be continued. This was entirely unexpected.
Since then Alex Neil has confirmed the cut from his department but is asking Finance Minister John Swinney to try to find other sources to replace this.
Projects for young people, which will be hit at the moment that we hear that Edinburgh has the worst school-leaver destinations (highest number going into employment) in Scotland, include Youthbuild in Craigmillar, Barnardo's NETworks, Fairbridge and six others.
These services are provided by local voluntary sector projects which are effective because they are working close to the ground and rooted in local communities. They are an asset to the city but their survival is at stake.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Leith Academy remembers
On Friday, I paid a visit to Leith Academy. Although the school is just outside the boundaries of my constituency, it is one where many of the students (and staff) live in Edinburgh North & Leith, so it was good to get an update from the head teacher and a visit to some of the classrooms. I was particularly interested in seeing the newly installed Board of Remembrance which honours all pupils from Leith Academy who lost their lives in the Second World War, as I had been in Parliament in Westminster on the day of its official unveiling.
The Board was made possible through the research of pupil Glynn Mullen who, along with youth worker Robbie Huxtable, researched the details of all former Leith Academy pupils who lost their lives during the conflict. Glynn was inspired to undertake the research after noticing the names of those who had died in the First World War were remembered, yet only a plaque with no names stood in honour of those who died in the later conflict.
It was fantastic to meet a young man who has committed so much time to researching the history of Leith and his school. Over the centuries, many Leithers have served in the forces, and whilst it is always humbling to remember those who gave their lives for their country, it is reassuring to know that they will not be forgotten by the next generation. Here and here are links with more details of Glynn’s work.
The Board was made possible through the research of pupil Glynn Mullen who, along with youth worker Robbie Huxtable, researched the details of all former Leith Academy pupils who lost their lives during the conflict. Glynn was inspired to undertake the research after noticing the names of those who had died in the First World War were remembered, yet only a plaque with no names stood in honour of those who died in the later conflict.
It was fantastic to meet a young man who has committed so much time to researching the history of Leith and his school. Over the centuries, many Leithers have served in the forces, and whilst it is always humbling to remember those who gave their lives for their country, it is reassuring to know that they will not be forgotten by the next generation. Here and here are links with more details of Glynn’s work.
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