Andy Newman, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Chippenham, has expressed concern at falling wages in Wiltshire. Mr Newman points to research from the TUC which shows that wage packets are £45.34 lighter in Wiltshire today than they were in 2007. This compares to £15.71 in Bristol and £11.31 in South Gloucestershire.
There are now signs of a limited economic recovery, although weak compared to other countries, but these figures show that the rural economy in particular has still not bounced back. Lib Dem and Conservative economic policies have delayed recovery, and made it weaker than it would have been.
Mr Newman says: “We are used to discussing reductions in benefits from the government, but these figures show a dramatic decrease in income for people in work. This is feeding the reliance on foodbanks, and pay-day loans”
The Conservative led coalition government has been a disaster for Britain. As David Blanchflower wrote earlier this year in the Independent
The economy Osborne inherited was growing nicely. Indeed, it grew 2.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 through to the third quarter of 2010; but since then, the total growth is 0.8 per cent – and that growth is entirely down to the 2012 Olympic Games. Four of the past five quarters have been negative. It is quite clear that trying to deal with the deficit hasn’t taken care of growth.
The Conservative Liberal coalition has failed to grow the economy, and only through more growth, more investment and more jobs will government income rise to reduce the deficit. Under the Conservatives and Liberals, not only is Britain becoming poorer, it is also becoming more in debt.
In contrast, when faced with the global economic crisis, the Labour government with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, and Alistair Darling as Chancellor, had introduced a number of specific and targeted measures that boosted the economy. The car scrappage scheme, the cut in VAT, quantative easing, all saved thousands of jobs. The intervention to save the banks safeguarded the livelihood and prosperity of millions of ordinary, hard-working people, by preventing an economic meltdown.
Not only has the coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats undermined the economy, their policies have made Britain a more divided and unequal society. The bedroom tax has penalised the poorest and most vulnerable, while tax cuts have been given to the super rich.
The tax cut for millionaires saw 13,000 people earning over £1 million get an average tax cut of £100,000, while across the UK, families will be an average of £891 worse off this year because of changes introduced since 2010.
Andy Newman for Labour 