Business of the House

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Although I welcome the announcement by Siemens this morning about potential jobs in Hull, it comes against the backdrop of huge job losses in the public and private sectors in Hull and the Humber. I also note the announcement this week that the employment rate in my constituency is 7.1%, against a national average of 3.6%. May we therefore have a debate on the regional nature and the gender nature of the job losses that we are seeing across the country?

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity if the hon. Lady’s Front-Bench colleagues choose to debate the general issue of unemployment on the Opposition day that I announced a few minutes ago. We have, I hope, assisted the situation by abolishing the tax on jobs proposed by her party, which would not have assisted employment in Hull. We have doubled the enterprise allowance and have taken other measures to promote employment. She will have seen that there has been a rise in job vacancies and a fall in the number of people applying for jobseeker’s allowance. I hope that we will have an opportunity to debate the Government’s economic policy; we will in the Budget debate, if not before then in Back-Bench time or on an Opposition motion.