Helping People and Stimulating Economic Growth

• A £2 billion tax on bank bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs for young people - which they would be required to take up - and build 25,000 more affordable homes.
• Bringing forward long term investment projects - schools, roads and transport - to get people back to work and strengthen our economy for the future.
• Reversing January's damaging VAT rise now for a temporary period - a £450 boost for a couple with children - immediate help for our high streets and for struggling families and pensioners.
• A one year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance - to help homeowners and small businesses.
• A one year national insurance tax break for every small firm which takes on extra workers - helping small businesses to grow and create jobs.

Key facts about the economy

• Before the world recession of 2008, Labour reduced national debt.
• David cameron said he would match Labour's spending plans.
• When Labour left office, unemployment was falling and economic growth was rising.
• Because the ConDem government has cut spending too quickly and too deeply it has choked off all economic growth and unemployment is rising sharply.
• Lack of tax revenues and a rising benefits bill means that debt has not even been reduced - despite all the pain.

Women's State Pension Age

The Government's Pensions Bill proposes an acceleration in the equalisation of the state pension age for women. It will start to rise in 2016 and be equal by 2018. This breaks the promise in the Coalition Agreement which said that the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66 would not be sooner than 2020 for women. This broken promise hits women aged around 56 and 57 particularly hard. They are being made to accommodate these changes with less than 7 years to do so.

• 4.9 million people in total are affected - 2.6 million women and 2.3 million men.
• 500,000 women born between 6th October 1953 and 5th March 1955 will have their state pension age delayed by more than a year
• 300,000 born between 6th December 1953 and 5th October 1954 will have their state pension age delayed by 18 months or more.
• 33,000 born between 6th March 1954 and 5th April 1954 will have their state pension age delayed by exactly two years.
• For these 33,000 women, the loss of income is more than £10,000.

Women's Jobs

Whilst unemployment is devastating for anyone, regardless of their gender, access to the jobs market has been the single greatest factor in securing economic autonomy for women and has therefore been instrumental in reducing economic inequality between women and men. Any significant reduction in the numbers of women in employment threatens to undermine progress in reducing this gap, which still persists today.

• The number of women on out of work benefits is at the highest level since 1996.
• The Office for Budget Responsibility expects 310,000 public sector jobs to be lost as a result of public spending cuts. The evidence suggests that these job losses are hitting women particularly hard given that 65% of public sector jobs are done by women, including 75% of jobs in local government, which has seen some of the biggest cuts.
• The government is making a big cut in child care support for working mothers. According to the Daycare Trust 450,000 households face up to £1500 a year cut in help with child care costs.
• Sure Start budget has been cut by 20%. As many as 250 children's centres could close within a year.

Women's Income

Tory/LibDem plans hit women twice as hard as men in cash lost per week.

• Women lose around £8.80 per week compared to men losing around £4.20 per week due to the combined tax, benefit and tax credit changes announced by the government.
• Over £6 billion is being cut in direct financial support for children - that's more than twice as much as is being taken from the banks.
• Women are more likely than men to be hit by cuts to attendance allowance, carers' allowance and the state second pension.

Women's Safety

There are worrying signs that the government is not seriously addressing violence against women and girls.

• Proposed plans to relax DNA testing rules could make it more difficult to convict rapists.
• 20% cuts to central government funding to the police has seen domestic violence units in police forces across the country slashes.
• The government attempted to grant anonymity to defendants of rape but had to abandon proposals due to opposition from Labour MPs and women's organisations.

Energy Prices Are Sky High

Energy prices are up by 20% this year, and nearly 50% over the last four years. OFGEM says the average dual fuel bill is now £1345 per household.

Energy companies have seen their profits soar in the last six months, with their profit increasing from £15 per customer in June to £125 now (October 2011).

Standard tariffs have risen £175 between June and November this year

The Government is cutting help for people

The winter fuel payments are being cut by £50 for the over 60s and £100 for the over 80s

Labour's Warm Front grants of up to £2700 for insulation and boiler replacement helped 2.16 million households over ten years. The Tory/LibDem government has slashed the budget for this from £320 million to £110 million and they will abolish it completely in 2013.

Labour said we would bring in a new mandatory social tariff in 2011, forcing energy suppliers to charge less to their most vulnerable customers and be targeted on low income pensioners. The Tory/LibDem government is refusing to commit to this.

The Government Just Tells People To Shop Around

David Cameron just lectures people about the need to shop around. "It is possible to save up to £200 from an annual fuel bill by shopping around for the lowest rate."

Energy Secretary Huhne blames customers for not bothering to spend enough time hunting for the best deal. "They frankly spend less time shopping around for a bill that's on average more than £1000 a year than they would shop around for a £25 toaster."

But Energy Minister Hendry found it difficult to switch energy deal. "I went on line to compare my tariffs and I was so confused by the options that I decided to stick where I was, and I think I am probably not untypical in that respect.

'Which' magazine found that when people did try to shop around, energy companies often didn't give them accurate information.

Labour's Plan to Deal with Energy Bills

• An investigation into the mis-selling of energy and compensation for consumers who have been ripped off
• Bring in simple tariffs. At the moment 80% of people don't pay too much for their energy because tariffs are confusing and unfair
• Transparency on energy companies' trading data to ensure bills reflect the true price of energy.
• Reform of the energy market to break up the dominance of the Big Six energy companies.
• Using energy companies' soaring profits to help families and business with rising energy bills NOW.

The Government's Major Cuts

Royal Navy

• cut personnel by around 5000 to a total of about 30,000
• cut HMS Ark Royal immediately.
• cut either the helicopter landing ship HMS Ocean or HMS Illustrious
• cut four frigates, leaving 19 frigates and destroyers
• cut a Bay Class amphibious support ship

Army

• cut personnel by around 7000 to about 95,000.
• reduce by one the number of deployable brigades
• cut the number of Challenger 2 tanks by around 40% and our heavy artillery by around 35%
• 30,000 is the new limit for one off intervention (Iraq was 45,000 troops)

Royal Air Force

• cut personnel by around 5000 to 95,000
• withdraw the Sentinel surveillance once it is no longer required to support operations in Afghanistan
• remove Harrier from service which, with loss of HMS Ark Royal, means Britain will not have capability to launch fighter jets at sea until 2019.
• not bring into service the Nimrod MRA4 which will limit ability to deploy maritime forces rapidly into high threat areas, compromise maritime counter terrorism, remove long range search and rescue and delete one element of the Falklands reinforcement plan.

Ministry of Defence

• 42,000 front line and civilian jobs will go.

Broken Promises

In opposition, the Tories consistently called for a larger Army, calling specifically for an increase to the Army of three battalions. In Government, the Army will be reduced by around 7000 troops.

In opposition, Liam Fox called for the 'earliest possible increase in the number of helicopters, armoured vehicles and other key battle enablers.' In Government, failure to go ahead with the 22 Chinooks announced by Labour.

In opposition Liam Fox stated that any cuts to the Royal Navy would be 'a betrayal of our heritage and downright irresponsible in a dangerous age.' In Government, the surface fleet reduced from 23 to 19.

The Myth of the £38 billion Black Hole

The Government's explanation for the cuts in the Defence Review has consistently been that, "This Government has inherited a £38 billion black hole in our future defence plans." This is untrue. The report upon which this figure is based actually said that the size of the gap in projected procurement budget over ten years is £6 billion. The £38 billion is a figure that has been created by the Tories as a cover to make fast savings from the defence budget as part of their overall political strategy to cut the deficit early and quickly, what ever the consequences. The Defence Review was neither strategic or thorough. It was rushed through and was Treasury driven rather than based on the country's defence and security needs.

Labour's Position

People are living longer and this has implications for the State Pension Age (SPA), which is why Labour established the independent Turner Commission and built a consensus on:

• Linking the basic State Pension to earnings.
• Raising the retirement age to 68 by 2046.
• Equalising women's SPA with men's by increasing it to 65 by 2020 and then increase both SPAs to 66 by 2027.

The Tory/LibDem government has broken this consensus and broken its promise in the Coalition Agreement by unilaterally proposing to raise women's SPA to 65 by 2018 and then increase both men and women's SPA to 66 by 2020.

The Government's original Bill proposed raising the women's SPA so rapidly that some women currently in their 50s would have to work for an extra two years longer.

Under pressure from Labour's campaign, supported by thousands of women and concerned organisations, the Government conceeded that the rise in the SPA for women currently aged between 56 and 58 should be capped at 18m months

The Government made this concession at the last possible moment offering older people little notice as to this major change in their financial circumstances

It remains wrong to disproportionately penalise women between 56 and 58 who have worked hard their whole lives and now have no time to plan for their retirement.

Between 5 and 7 years is not long enough for women to make adequate alternative arrangements in their retirement planning.

Women are already at a significant disadvantage in terms of pension provision - the median pension saving of a 56 year old woman is just £9,100; the equivalent figure for men is £52,800 - almost 600% higher.

Labour's Achievements

When Labour came to power in 1997, the biggest challenge faced was to tackle pensioner poverty and improve the quality of life for older people.

Between 1979 and 1997 state pension declined from 20% of average male earnings to 14%, and in 1997, 29% of pensioners were living in poverty.

Between 1997 and 2010 Labour made huge achievements:

• Average gross pensioner incomes increased by more than 40% in real terms, ahead of the growth in average earnings
• Over a million pensioners were lifted out of poverty.
• No pensioner need now live on less than £130 per week, compared to £69 per week in 1997
• The winter fuel allowance; free off-peak travel on local buses for 11 million over 60s; free TV licences for over 75s; free eye tests for over 60s; and increased tax thresholds to ensure that 60% of pensioners do not pay any tax - all made a difference.

As a consequence, when Labour left office, pensioner poverty was at its lowest for 30 years.

Health

NHS SCOTLAND WAITING LIST SCAM MUST BE ENDED

LABOUR CALLS FOR URGENT INVESTIGATION TO PROTECT PATIENT CARE AND STOP FIGURES BEING FIDDLED

Labour today demanded an urgent investigation into a reported loophole which allows people to be discounted from NHS Scotland waiting time targets by offering them unreasonable locations for their surgery in the knowledge the operations will not be taken up. The Sunday Times reports that officials at NHS Lothian have admitted that dozens of patients have been offered surgery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, involving a 400-mile round trip. All of them declined, allowing the board to exclude from a list of patients not treated within the 18 week target.

Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “It is ludicrous to even suggest that a patient endures an eight-hour, 400 mile round trip. It is utterly outrageous. “It is also deeply concerning that hard-working NHS staff are being forced, either by the SNP government or by health boards, to fiddle waiting time figures like this. “The SNP are quick to tell us that waiting times are the lowest in history, but these revelations cast a huge doubt over the integrity of the SNP’s claims."

MACMILLAN CANCER PATIENT SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS “HARSH STREAK” – MCGUIRE & BEGG

Reports from Macmillan Cancer Support that large numbers of Scottish cancer patients are worried about missing meals and losing their home because of proposed changes to welfare support are shameful, Scottish Labour warned today. The survey found that 73% of Scottish cancer patients face increased costs as a result of their disease, 8% of those said they skipped meals to save money, 16% had problems paying household bills, and 10% were scared of losing their home. Proposed changes to the Employment Support Allowance in the Welfare Reform Bill mean that patients with long-term conditions face severe restructions in the help available to them.

Labour MP for Stirling and shadow minister for disabled people, Anne McGuire, said: “It is utterly shameful that any patient would have to miss meals or worry about losing their home, just because they have cancer and the last thing they need is the government threatening to take away their help. “Everyone knows a family who has been touched by cancer in some way, and the proposal to cut back on support is deeply flawed. “There is a cold, harsh streak running through the government’s proposals here."

Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee and Labour MP for Aberdeen South, Anne Begg, said: “There is no doubt that government welfare plans hit those that have worked all their life, just because they have a long-term illness. People expect the state to be there for them when they need it most. "Ending the so-called Contributory Employment Support Allowance will mean hundreds of Scots lose income, just because they are ill. It is a particularly harsh measure. "People in Aberdeen, who are at the trial end of welfare reform schemes, will be hit first. Many people who have worked all their lives but fall ill for longer than a year are going to be penalised."

Tourism

MICHAEL CONNARTY TAKES CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE WAVERLEY PADDLE STEAMER TO PARLIAMENT Oct 31st 2011

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will provide support to help preserve the paddle steamer Waverley as a tourist attraction.

John Penrose: The paddle steamer (PS) Waverley is the largest operational vessel in the National Historic Fleet and as such is distinguished as being of pre-eminent national or regional significance. National Historic Ships, a body funded by this Department as the official adviser to the UK Government on historic vessels, has been supporting the PS Waverley Trust by offering support and advice on business planning, fundraising and accessing available grants. In addition, the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded PS Waverley £5,717,000 for two major restoration projects (£2,689,000 in 1996-97 and £3,028,000 in 2001-02), and has also met with the PS Waverley Trust to offer advice on accessing a small grants programme and support for business planning. Beyond this, the vessel is owned by an independent charitable trust based in Scotland and as such would fall under the remit of Scottish Ministers.

The West Lothian Question

MICHAEL CONNARTY SEEKS ANSWERS ON CLEGG'S COMMISSION ON THE WEST LOTHIAN QUESTION, BUT THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER FORGETS WHERE HE IS! (November 15th 2011)

Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab): If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg): I am sorry, Mr Speaker. I enjoyed the last answer so much that I temporarily forgot where I was. As Deputy Prime Minister, I support the Prime Minister on a range of Government policies and initiatives, and, within Government, I take special responsibility for the Government’s programme of political and constitutional reform.

Michael Connarty: I am pleased to note that the Deputy Prime Minister remembers what his Department actually does. One of the main topics of interest to people in my constituency is the commission that will consider the West Lothian question. Can the Deputy Prime Minister give us a firm timetable for consultation, and can he name all the parties that will be consulted, including the Labour party, the new Labour party leadership in Scotland and the trade unions, which are a fundamental part of the fabric of the Scottish people?

The Deputy Prime Minister: The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), will give more details about the commission in a statement before Christmas.

Independence Referendum

MICHAEL CONNARTY ATTACKS 'THE SULKING SIX' (January 10th 2012)

Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab): May I commend the Secretary of State for the balance with which he has approached this, unlike the leader of the sulking six from the SNP on my left? It is very important that we get it clear that this is not the end of the debate about the powers for Scotland; this is only about the referendum on being in or out, which I happen to think is 13 years too late, as it should have been on the ballot paper in the first devolution referendum. Is it clear that we can continue with the debate, for some of us aspire to give more powers to Scotland within the United Kingdom?

Michael Moore: I absolutely agree that there is a legitimate debate to be had about the powers that Scotland has within the United Kingdom. We have spent a long time on this in this House and their lordships will now consider the Scotland Bill, which will significantly enhance the powers of the Scottish Parliament, creating much greater financial accountability and giving it much greater economic powers. I believe that the debate on devolution will continue; all of our parties, be it the Labour party, the two parties in the coalition or the SNP, will continue to debate it. However, when we have extended the powers of the Scottish Parliament it has always been on the basis of a vigorous debate, where parties set out their stalls, there is a coming together as we develop consensus, as we did in the constitutional convention and in the Calman commission, and then legislation based on that consensus. That offers the best model for giving further powers to the Scottish Parliament, but we now have huge uncertainty because of this prospect of an independence referendum. I want to get rid of the uncertainty. Let us get on with the debate about Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom.

Citizens Advice Bureau Scotland briefing on young people and employment reveals shocking results of failed government policies

“When employers see I have been unemployed for this long, they won’t even look at me.” (Unemployed 20 year old)

Citizens Advice Scotland’s latest report, Being Young Being Heard, outlines the impact of the recession on young people in Scotland in their own words. Key findings include:

• One in five young people are now unemployed - more than three times the unemployment rate among older workers.

• In the three years up to August 2010, the number of young people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in Scotland increased by 79%, and more than doubled in seven local authorities.1

• The highest pockets of youth claimant rates are found in the West of Scotland, particularly in North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, and Inverclyde. However, the biggest increases in youth unemployment during the recession occurred in East Lothian, Midlothian, and East Renfrewshire.2

The experience of unemployment

“I want to work, yet it’s like nobody will give me a chance. It’s making me depressed and has knocked my confidence big time.” (Unemployed 20 year old)

Young people in the research recorded the impact of unemployment on their lives. The longer they remain unemployed, the greater the impact on their confidence, wellbeing, and opportunities later in life. Unemployment can have a severe effect on the mental health of young people. According to research conducted by the Prince’s Trust, 42% of unemployed young people feel their life lacks direction and 32% feel depressed.3 Future effects of unemployment at a young age include homelessness and a risk of becoming unemployable.

Difficulties finding employment Young people in the survey felt that a lack of experience is holding them back in the job market, and yet the only way they can get experience is by getting a job. As a result, many young people are finding the jobmarket more difficult to enter than previous generations have experienced. Recent graduates are having to fight for diminishing numbers of graduate level jobs, and as a result often have to take unpaid internships, minimum wage employment, or face unemployment. This has a knock on effect on other young people looking for work.

Recruitment freezes in the private sector and public sector cuts impact most severely on young people entering the jobmarket. Young people are competing for a reduced number of jobs against tens of thousands of recently unemployed workers with more experience.

Redundancies and dismissals

Young people have been disproportionately affected by redundancies and dismissals in the economic downturn. In the first half of the recession, the increase in youth unemployment was over twice the rate experienced by adults aged 25-49 and three times as much as those aged over 50.4 A number of factors make young people more vulnerable to redundancy:

• Employers can view young workers as less skilled and experienced

• Younger workers may be cheaper to make redundant due to fewer years worked

• Young people can be disproportionately affected by a ‘last in; first out’ redundancy policy

In work problems

Young people, like many adults, experience problems at work. However, some of these in work problems can be more severe because of a lack of knowledge about employee rights. Citizens advice bureaux regularly advise young people who are paid below the national minimum wage despite not being an apprentice. Young people report that they have had their hours of work and/or wage reduced, which has led to financial difficulties. Young people report of employers who disregard their employment rights, with practices including withholding pay, forcing them to work long hours, and unfair dismissal.

CAS recommends that:

• The UK Government ensure that targeted and personalised support for young people is provided in the Work Programme.

• A Fair Employment Commission be established to oversee employer activity, investigate complaints, and take enforcement action against rogue employers.