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22/06/2010

Budget will hit Durham hard

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Roberta has responded to the Chancellor's Budget statement today by saying that the measures it contains will disproportionately harm Durham and the North East of England.

  

Roberta said

 

"There is plenty in this budget to be concerned about, but I am especially worried about the impact of the Government's measures on Durham.


"George Osborne and his Lib Dem colleagues have attacked public sector employment in this budget and we know that more people in the North East work in the public sector than most other regions - the figure is currently 23% - so cutting public sector pay over the coming years will have a disproportionately negative effect on the North East economy.

  

"It is also disappointing that so little help seems to be forthcoming for the private sector in order to grow the economy.  Additional private sector jobs are essential not only for economic growth but to give those losing their job in the public sector an alternative source of employment.  Cutting support so deeply at this point in time could slow down economic growth and leave people no alternative but unemployment.  Clearly this would disastrous for the region.

  

"Durham is an administrative centre with many public sector jobs.  There seems to have been no thought about the impact the Government's plans will have on very local economies like Durham which rely so heavily on these jobs.

  

"The Tory/Lib Dem approach to tackling the deficit stands in sharp contrast to Labour's plans.  We had a plan to half the deficit but we would have done it sensibly and fairly.  This would have included an increase in National Insurance contributions rather than unfairly targeting middle-income families and the low-paid with the regressive VAT-hike.

  

"In addition to this the Chancellor suggested that up to 25% of departmental budgets are going to be cut which is likely to have an impact on public sector jobs too."

 

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