KEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS IN WEST LOTHIAN

Michael Connarty MP was asked this week to comment on statistics reported in the local press that 5 people are applying for every job in West Lothian.

Michael Connarty MP this week said that the numbers going after every job were ‘predictable’ given the economic downturn, particularly in the building trade.

But he hit out at the banking industry, and the lack of support they are giving some small businesses. He said: ‘’I have heard of businesses are trying to get extensions to their loans and being asked to pay 21 per cent and asked to put their personal homes on the line. The banks are being unbelievably unhelfpul, I think they are being quite malevolent in the way they are dealing with small businesses.’’

However, he was delighted to see companies in his constituency benefitting from relaxed rules from Europe, meaning they now qualified for substantial grants to boost the local economy.

He added: ‘’The key to it all is to get housing moving.’’