Youth Unemployment and Bank Bonuses

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Matt Hancock

Monday 23rd January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House notes with concern that unemployment has risen to its highest level for 17 years, youth unemployment has now reached a record level of 1.04 million and the number of young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance for over six months has more than doubled since January 2011; believes that cutting spending and raising taxes too far and too fast has choked off the recovery and pushed up unemployment and that it was a mistake for the Government to abolish the Future Jobs Fund; recognises that rising unemployment and the Government’s failing welfare to work programmes are leading to a higher benefits bill, which is contributing to the £158 billion of additional borrowing announced in the Autumn Statement; further notes reports that multi-million pound bank bonuses are set to be paid out this year, even in banks where the share price has almost halved; and in view of the most recent figures on unemployment, calls on the Government to take urgent action to kickstart the economy to promote jobs and growth and to reconsider its refusal to introduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses this year, in addition to the permanent bank levy, to fund 100,000 jobs for young people.

We have called the debate to raise the alarm on a crisis that is now on the verge of becoming a national disgrace—the disgrace of a few getting rewarded for failure while many more pay the heavy cost of the failure of the Government’s economic policies. However, the motion is not just a critique. It is also a call for action, a reminder to the Government that, despite the damage that has already been done, they still have a choice. There is an alternative—Labour’s five-point plan for jobs and growth could get people back into work, get our economy moving and get the deficit down in a balanced and sustainable way.

Every hon. Member who is present will have met victims of the unemployment crisis in their own constituency. They are families devastated by the arrival of the dreaded redundancy letter and afraid of what the future will bring, and parents determined to do the right thing and provide for their children but unable to make ends meet.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

The hon. Lady mentions unemployment in Members’ constituencies. Does she recognise that, based on the claimant count, unemployment in Leeds West has fallen by 106 since the election? Which of the Government’s policies would she recommend as being to blame for that?

[Rachel Reeves]

Youth unemployment in my constituency, like in most of our constituencies, is rising fast, whereas it was falling at the time of the last election.

Industry (Government Support)

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 16th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I agree with my hon. Friend.

[Rachel Reeves]

rose—

[Matthew Hancock]

It would be a delight to give way to the hon. Lady, who has made so many fascinating interventions this afternoon.

[Rachel Reeves]

The hon. Gentleman has quoted a fascinating statistic, but does it not fly in the face of what those on his Front Bench have been saying about how, because nobody wants to buy our debt—that is what one of his colleagues said earlier—we have to make cuts immediately? If interest rates are going down, surely there are lots of people who want to buy our debt.

[Matthew Hancock]

Interest rates are going down in the market because people can see a Government who are taking action and getting to grips with our problems, who have already made in-year cuts and who will finally put this country back on the path to fiscal sanity. That is exactly why interest rates are going down, which is a commendation on the action that the Government have taken so far.

The point that I will rest on is this. Across this country, businesses are paying interest rates that are in some cases extremely high. They need to borrow in order to invest for the future and get the private sector recovery that even some Labour Members talk about. The single best measure to do that is to have low interest rates and a stable economy, with confidence in the future. That is exactly what this Government’s programme is delivering, and I commend them on that. I strongly support the amendment to the motion, and I look forward to voting for it later.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I think that we can tell from the debate today that different Members, representing different areas of Britain, have different views about their RDAs. I plead with the Minister. Labour Members representing Yorkshire, the north-east and the west midlands have spoken with huge passion about their RDAs. They have related the stories that they hear day in, day out from businesses and the people they represent. Let us keep our RDAs and let them continue to do the work that they are doing in our regions. That is all that I ask.

[Matthew Hancock]

Given what the hon. Lady has just said, does she support the Government policy on RDAs, which is to allow local people to decide whether local economic partnerships should cover the region or a smaller area?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Hoyle)]

Order. Only one Member can be on their feet at any one time. Please allow the Member to finish before rising again.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Reeves]

The reason that I talk so passionately today about regional development agencies is that they are what the Government intend to cut.

The regional development agencies do not create jobs. I recognise that, and I believe that all Labour Members recognise it. Siemens and GE will bring those jobs, but they could bring the jobs to anywhere in Europe and anywhere in the world. It is the work of the regional development agencies with businesses, on skills and with people in my region that means that those jobs are coming to Yorkshire. That is why I and other Members on this side of the House speak with such passion about the work that the regional development agencies do.

[Matthew Hancock]

Does the hon. Lady agree that there is a short-term populism that pushes us towards more Government intervention? What we need is a thriving and effective private enterprise to lift our economies up and through to better times—not my words but those of Tony Blair.

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I hope that I have made it clear that I support the private sector’s coming to our region and bringing jobs with it. However, that requires a Government on the side of our communities and of businesses. That means encouraging jobs to come to this country when they could go to any other country in the world. If we were in Germany or China, we would be urging jobs to come to those countries. If we want a level playing field, we need a Government who support industry.

In Yorkshire, we look to Government for support—to honour the commitments on high-speed rail and on Sheffield Forgemasters. They are key to Yorkshire’s future and good for the British economy, too. Yorkshire Forward and regional development agencies have fought our corner in a way that Whitehall simply cannot. The support is critical and it is good for all of Britain. The short-term hatchet job pursued by the Government risks the recovery and will put Britain in the slow lane of the global economy, making reducing the deficit harder because there will be higher unemployment and tax revenues will be weaker. Growth is the essential ingredient that is missing from the Government’s strategy.

Now is the time for some more ambition. In the wake of the recession, we can build a fairer, stronger and more diverse economy, built on skills and high-end manufacturing, if the Government put in place the policies—