An economy of contrasts
Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 09:08, Fri 9 August 2013:
Good morning,
Two completely different views of what's going on in the economy surfaced this week.
Official figures suggest the economy's improving. Car sales are on the increase, manufacturing output's up. House prices are also creeping upwards - though that will make things even more difficult for young people trying to get their foot on the first rung of the housing ladder.
But these figures stand in sharp contrast to research this week showing family incomes facing a real squeeze.
People in the North West are £1685 worse off a year under the present government.
That's not surprising when you look at what's been going on in the labour market. Wage freezes, zero hours contracts and cuts to overtime are all putting family incomes under huge pressure.
But prices for the basics - food, energy, fuel - continue to rise.
People are increasingly driven to the food banks, and to the loan sharks, as a result.
This mismatch between what's going on at macro level in the economy, and what it feels like to people in their day to day lives really came home to me this week when I went to meet a group of women trade unionists who wanted to talk to me about the effect of spending cuts.
The stories were dire. Not only were their members really struggling to make ends meet, they also told me about cuts to the essential public services that protect our communities, and especially some of the most vulnerable people.
Youth services, care for the elderly, housing support, have all suffered savage cuts.
Ed Miliband has said the next general election will be a "living standards" election. It's very clear that's the last thing the Tories want it to be about.
And no wonder when you look at the effect of their policies on people's everyday lives.
Kate
Kate Green
Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Shadow Spokesperson for Equalities
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Posted by Mr Clive Gibson, 09:53, Fri 9 August 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Labour has promised to carry on with the cuts and the same basic economic policy as the Tories even though it has been widely shown to be idiotic. The Tories are following it because it means 'shrinking the state' and a bigger share of the wealth for the rich who they represent.
What the Labour motivation can be is less clear? Unless of course they are really just the moderate wing of the Conservatives, which in fact of course they actually are.
Posted by Alan Potts, 17:45, Fri 9 August 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Kate I hear what you say & agree to an extent but as with most of your statements you never offer any constructive alternatives or proposals to over come the problem. Alan Potts