Budget Day Saw Rise in Cheltenham Jobless

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has commented on today's unemployment figures which show one in twenty Cheltonians (5.1 per cent) out of work for the first time.

Martin commented: 'It's sadly fitting that this rise in our local jobless rate is revealed on the very day Labour's budget failed to face up to the real economic crisis we all face. These are shocking statistics and reflect real distress and hardship for many individuals and families across Cheltenham. Unemployment is heading back to the level we suffered under the last Conservative government.

‘The Chancellor's response in Parliament today was wholly inadequate. The country is facing terrifying levels of national debt in the coming decades to pay for the stimulus package but we were given no idea how the bill was ever going to be paid. The Lib Dems have suggested looking again at big ticket items like the early replacement of Trident and the government's hugely expensive compulsory ID card scheme. To pretend that we can make the savings necessary just from efficiency savings is simply dishonest'.