Vince Cable comes to town

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Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Vince Cable with Rochdale MP Paul Rowen

Business men and women from across the borough gathered in the Rochdale Liberal Democrat headquarters to meet with the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Vince Cable.

Today (Saturday 27 March) the people of the borough, who have felt the severe effects of the recession were given the opportunity to ask the Shadow Chancellor about things that were affecting them.

Mr Cable, described the recession as a ‘heart attack’, he discussed government decisions and stood by his view that the banks have been bailed out but have be left to go back to normal when really the government should be guiding them and restricting them from making the same mess again.

As the question and answer session proceeded, Mr Cable said the recession was in ‘intensive care’ he described the economy as ‘still alive but not in great shape.’ headquarter.

Mr Cable talked about the cuts in public spending which will take place over the next 4 to 8 years but he maintained that the Liberal Democrat party will not cut big chunks here and there, they will identify which areas to reduce and will do this sensibly.

He spoke to the audience about poor credit crippling companies and re-iterated that the government made a terrible mistake letting the banks go back to basics and argued that changes must be made to create a ‘level playing field.’

Mr Cable said it is key to keep investment going to help get businesses back on their feet.
One business owner in the room asked if Mr Cable thought it would have been a good idea to join the Euro, Mr Cable responded by saying if it had been the right exchange rate it might have been a good idea. He said: “In four of five years, if Europe has recovered and Britain is still stuck, I am sure a lot of people will take a fresh look at the issue.

Mr Cable spent time discussing banking problems with traders who are suffering, in particular a man in the construction business, who was struggling financially and wasn’t being helped enough by his banks, Mr Cable spoke of the targets the banks have to meet and said one possibility would be to look into using foreign banks who want business in England.

The Shadow Chancellor said there are many good businesses out there who want to make a go of things and expand to be better and more successful; the key he said is to be optimistic.

One member of the audience suggested that big schemes, such as ‘Building Schools for the Future’ should give a certain percentage of jobs to local people otherwise locals don’t have a chance at working on the big schemes in the borough or getting the big contracts.

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen  told the audience that he had, in fact, secured a commiment from Carillion, the developers of the contract, for 10% of the £180m to be spent locally through employment and resources.

After the session ended, Mr Rowen said he was pleased: “It was a very good meeting, I wanted people, particularly business people, to have an opportunity to question him about the economy and what should be being done.”