Just like the 1980s?

Last week the House of Commons Library published the latest unemployment figures. They are as one would expect, pretty grim. Unemployment is up across the board, and the South has been affected much the same as any other region.

Just like the 1980s!

Job Seeker Allowance claimant levels have risen considerably in the five years since 2006. The increases across the South East in particular have been severe, as the figures below show:
Increase in JSA claimant levels, 2006-2011 (source: House of Commons library)

Crawley +114.7%
Milton Keynes South +100.1%
Dartford +87.7%
Thanet South +75.4%
Portsmouth North +72.1%
Gillingham & Rainham +68.0%
Hastings & Rye +67.9%
Chatham & Aylesford +62.8%
Sittingbourne & Sheppey +62.6%
Reading West +55.3%
Rochester & Strood +51.6%
Dover +48.0%
Hove +34.4%
Brighton Kemptown +19.7%
Brighton Pavilion +12.1%

All fifteen of these constituencies were Labour seats until 2010. They are the communities in the South East that Labour needs to win back if we are to win the next election.Labour’s five point Jobs Plan, outlined by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls at the Labour party conference last month and set out below, demonstrates that Labour has a Plan B for growth.

It is a sensible and well thought through plan of action.However, as well as providing hope – and a plan – for those out of work, Labour must also ensure it addresses the concerns of those still in work. Job security – actually, job insecurity, is a rapidly rising concern. Cost of living increases mean that the monthly pay cheque needs to go further and further.

Inflation figures are likely to heap further pain on already overstretched household incomes. Labour’s frontbench must remind themselves that when they talk about a growth strategy as the means of getting people back into work, they also highlight that the very same growth strategy will give security to those already in work.

Source: Southern Front