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Latest news from Mark Lazarowicz MP

Posted by Mark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, at 20:03, Mon 6 January 2014:

THE ECONOMY - PROSPERITY OR AUSTERITY?

In his autumn statement shortly before Christmas the Chancellor claimed that his ‘economic plan is working.’ I doubt that’s how most people see their own circumstances or the economy at present.

I recently helped out at a food collection in Leith for the new Leith food bank launched a few weeks ago. The Chancellor’s economic plan is certainly not working for the families who will be forced to look to it for help this winter.

Initiatives like the one in Leith show the strength of community spirit here in Edinburgh but it is an indictment that they should be needed at all.

According to Citizens Advice Scotland the number of people in Scotland turning to food banks is five times greater than a year ago and half of those helped are in work – they will be much less sure than the Chancellor that the economy is heading in the right direction.

The Chief Executive of Citizens Advice commented that ‘the upward trend is not filtering down’ and that ‘despite the good news on growth, millions are still struggling.’

The Chancellor’s announcement today that he is looking for even more cuts to welfare spending shows how a Tory government, if reelected in 2015, would even more misery for some of the most vulnerable in our society.

ENERGY BILLS

One reason for the cost of living crisis is that fuel bills have increased so sharply and the Government has failed to take any effective action to do anything about it. Labour’s announcement that it would freeze prices has finally forced the Government to act which has decided that so-called green taxes are to blame.

This is similar to proposals from the Scottish Government and along the lines of what the energy companies have been asking for. In reaction to the Government’s announcement the energy companies have said that prices will still rise – just more slowly they would have otherwise done.

Cutting back on support for energy efficiency measures is not the way forward. The only real way to cut bills is the price freeze proposed by Ed Miliband followed by tough reform of the energy market to make sure there is real competition rather than generating companies simply selling their energy to their own supply companies.

BEDROOM TAX

There have been widespread warnings about the dangers of a fresh housing bubble resulting from the Government’s Help to Buy scheme which applies to homes worth up to £600,000.

At the same time it has introduced the ‘bedroom tax’ which means that social tenants deemed to be under-occupying their home are seeing their housing benefit cut leaving them with the choice of making up the difference – if they can – or having to move to cheaper accommodation – again if they can because there is a desperate shortage of smaller properties in the social rented sector.

I am very sympathetic to young couples for instance who want to buy their first home and who may benefit from Help to Buy but I don’t believe that it should be available for properties up to £600,000. The contrast between that and the bedroom tax shows the wrong priority.

Labour is committed to abolishing the bedroom tax if it forms the Government after the next election.

SUPPORTING PEOPLE IN WORK AND INTO WORK - THE LIVING WAGE, AND THE EDINBURGH GUARANTEE

It is sobering that almost 60% of children in poverty in the UK come from households where at least one person is working. I am very pleased that Edinburgh City Council is a Living Wage employer and Labour has announced plans to build on the pioneering work of local councils like ours by offering employers that commit to pay the Living Wage (currently set at £7.65 in Scotland) tax breaks.

It’s also good to see that the Council is trying to support young unemployed school leavers through the Edinburgh Guarantee which aims to bring them together with employers and help them to find a job or training place.

Staff with the right skills and motivation are vital for businesses too and this shows what local councils can do to help. You can find details of the Edinburgh Guarantee on Edinburgh Council's website www.edinburgh.gov.uk

INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, AND HIGH SPEED RAIL

Any growth in the economy is welcome but it is important that it is both broadly based so that it begins to be felt by ordinary households and that it is sustainable.

I have set out my concerns about the way that household incomes are being squeezed leading to a growth of food banks and business for pay day lenders because some people are struggling to meet even basic bills.

For it to be sustainable there must be investment, and whilst small and medium sized businesses still find it difficult to get finance in many cases, this is an area where Government should be leading the way as it is able to borrow at low interest rates.

There have been two major Government announcements of investment in infrastructure this year but few projects trumpeted since this Government came to power have actually seen the light of day.

There has still been no firm announcement either from the Government over whether HS2 will come to Scotland but in the meantime the Government must ensure that engineering companies and other businesses in the supply chain throughout the UK are able to bid for contracts, and I raised this point in Parliament recently.

There needs to be clarity and continuity in Government policy on infrastructure investment and on business support. This is relevant to many sectors of industry, such as the energy industry where major private investors have been shy of funding new projects because of uncertainty about the direction of Government policy.

Offshore wind energy is one area where the UK is a world leader yet future targets announced by Government lack the ambition which would allow economies of scale that would in turn allow generating costs to fall.

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

In Edinburgh North and Leith we are lucky to have a number of bustling shopping streets full of small shops and other local businesses but, like ordinary households, they are being hit by rapidly rising prices such as energy bills.

I know people value the choice they get from small shops and the personal contact they have with people behind the counter so I was really keen to support the first ever Small Business Saturday on 7th December to encourage people to support small businesses in their local area.

The week before I spoke in a debate in Parliament on small businesses and as well as highlighting the challenges they face at the moment I pointed to the difference Government could make.

For example, the City Council is aiming to reserve 25% of new £20 million Council IT contracts for small businesses rather than one company as at present.

PHILIPPINES TYPHOON

Turning further afield it is striking how people here in Edinburgh refuse to look the other way when others are in need and have donated so generously to the appeal for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines just as they are prepared to help people in our own community through food banks and collections.

In Parliament I called on the UK Government to prepare to fund the reconstruction of communities shattered by the typhoon after the immediate phase where humanitarian assistance has been the priority.

HONOURING NELSON MANDELA

Generosity of spirit was so characteristic of Nelson Mandela whose death at the age of 94 has I am sure moved us all. It would have been so easy for him to respond with bitterness to the 27 years of imprisonment he suffered at the hands of the brutal Apartheid regime.

Yet he remained true to the ideal that he had spoken of at his trial in 1962 of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

Thanks to him a multi-racial democracy replaced racial segregation and as the first President of the new South Africa he played a crucial role in reconciling the country’s communities.

He was always generous in acknowledging the role that people abroad played in defeating apartheid. Many people in Edinburgh were involved in the anti-apartheid movement, such as trade unionists, members of the churches and the city’s universities as well as South African exiles who made their home here but continued the fight against apartheid.

He received the Freedom of the City when he visited Edinburgh in 1997 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference.

I was honoured to be able to say a few words in tribute to him in a special House of Commons debate after his death – you can find what I said here.

Mark Lazarowicz www.marklazarowicz.org.uk Twitter @marklazarowicz