Business of the House

Tom Blenkinsop Excerpts
Thursday 23rd January 2014

(10 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Lansley Portrait Mr Lansley
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I think the hon. Gentleman should simply have listened to the reply given by my hon. Friend earlier today.

Tom Blenkinsop Portrait Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
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In Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, average weekly gross pay has fallen by 32.5% since 2010, and the number of under-25s who have claimed jobseeker’s allowance for more than 12 months has increased by 223% since December 2010. May we have a debate on the cost of living, and on yesterday’s news that the unemployment count in the north-east went up by 1,000?

Lord Lansley Portrait Mr Lansley
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There were regional variations in the employment data yesterday, but having predicted the loss of 1 million jobs, it ill behoves the Labour party not to celebrate the fact that there are one and two-thirds million more private sector jobs in this country than there were at the general election. I am afraid the Labour party is in complete denial about the inevitable fact that, as a consequence of its policies, the deepest recession this country has experienced took the equivalent of about £100 billion from the country’s wealth. It is not possible for everybody in a country to have more money at the same time as it has been made £100 billion poorer.