Shadow Chancellor: 200,000 jobs have already been lost under Labour
Labour’s economic policies are damaging the UK economy and driving up unemployment – only Conservatives can restore growth, says Andrew Griffith
If the UK economy were a malfunctioning car, the dashboard would be lit up like a Christmas Tree. This morning’s labour market figures are the latest set of accounts for Labour’s economy, and I find myself asking: is this really what Labour wants for Britain? If my 26 years of business experience taught me anything, it’s that you can’t escape the bottom line for long.
Unemployment is stuck at 4.9 per cent, with 1.78m people out of work. The number of employees on company payrolls fell by another 26,000 in August, taking the total jobs lost since Labour took office past 200,000. All told, more than 9m people of working age are now economically inactive, more than one in five.
These are staggering numbers, and behind them sits a terrible human toll. For every unemployed person looking for work but unable to find it, there is a story of rejection and disappointment. Young people are hit hardest: facing the reality that the first rung on the career ladder has been sawn off by a government whose front bench contains almost nobody who has ever filed a payroll.
The problem is Labour have got their fingers in their ears. The ‘smoked salmon offensive’ of their opposition years was lauded by many, but as we now know, that was clearly smoke and mirrors. Businesses and employers told ministers precisely what would happen if they made hiring more expensive and riskier, and ministers went ahead regardless.
It is the predictable consequence of a jobs tax that hit the poorest parts of the country hardest and an Employment Rights Act that I warned would become the Unemployment Act. When I wrote for City AM in November, I highlighted research from the Conservative Party showing this legislation could lead to 326,000 job losses; well, we are already at 200,000.
Economic self-destruction
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it is an act of economic self-destruction. Britain sits 15th out of the 19 G20 nations on growth, next year will see Britain’s highest tax burden on record, foreign direct investment is at a record low, and the cost of government borrowing is at a 28-year high, with debt close to 100 per cent of GDP.
Another eye-opener in these figures is that public sector wages are now rising at 6.3 per cent, compared with 2.9 per cent in the private sector. Labour said they would choose winners, but instead, as they hobnob with their TUC colleagues in Brighton this week, it’s clear a very small group of union paymasters are the only people winning under Labour.
A very small group of union paymasters are the only people winning under Labour
This is not where we should be as a country. Labour had no plan for government, which – after they had 14 years to come up with one – is embarrassing. But recklessly damaging our country because they refuse to take off their ideological goggles is inexcusable.
We saw this last week in John Healey’s first speech as Chancellor. Branded as being about growth, he said nothing about ruinously high energy costs or the welfare reform that our country needs, and which would allow him to rule out further tax rises. He is continuinuity Rachel Reeves, and our country cannot afford it.
As Chancellor, I would do things differently. We are making concrete plans, and every single one of our Conservative policies will be tested against three questions. First: will it help Britain grow? Secondly: will it make people better off? And third: can we afford it?
Every Labour government leaves with unemployment higher than when they came in. The lights on the dashboard will keep flashing. Only a Conservative government will put things right.
Andrew Griffith is shadow Chancellor