Letter from Parliament - Jim Dobbin MP

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Jim Dobbin MP

As we begin a new year I wish we could look forward to a growing economy and the creation of new jobs to boost our economy. Unfortunately we are heading for a triple dip recession which will damage our economic prospects even further.

Thankfully President Obama had some partial success when he convinced the American Tories or Republicans to pull back from following George Osborne’s futile austerity programme. A recovering America will help the British economy if the Chancellor and his coalition partners begin to stimulate the economy and produce jobs.

An article written for Compass by Shuvo Lola, who is managing director of a recruiting firm focused on banking, engineering and energy and climate change. His article is entitled, ‘Strikers, Scroungers and Shirkers - The People Really Holding Britain Back and Not Paying Their Way’.

I quote from his article: “The strikers are the big corporations sitting on piles of cash which they refuse to invest in Britain. The scroungers are the private landlords and multinational house-builders exploiting the housing benefit system, and the corporations reaping benefits designed to provide a living income to their workers. The shirkers are the tax dodgers - the big corporations and rich individuals who refuse to pay their fair share and evade or avoid their duty to their neighbours and the country. They are the rich, powerful and well connected. Many use their wealth and influence to ensure the system works for them. Taken together, they are depriving the country of at least £750 billion in potential investment and costing the Exchequer £170bn annually.”

The point I made in my last article that many more working people on tax credits would lose out, is now coming true. Ian Duncan Smith claimed that tax credits had gone up by 58%. Channel Four checked his figures and found them to be incorrect. The recalculated amount was initially 8% and more worryingly, dropped to 0.7% when the error in his calculation was corrected.

These exaggerations and falsehoods are a pattern adopted by Coalition Ministers.
The Council Budget for the third year in a row, following the Coalition Governments’ programme, will see further service reductions in every area. There needs to be more understanding by public and politicians about the severity of these cuts. The Council has financial targets to meet and is striving to prioritise essential services, but some will cause hardship. I hope the public remember the damage being done to the Public Sector and NHS by Cameron and Clegg.

Chrismas and New Year was a real family celebration for many. My entire, direct family gathered in my home for a few days. There were eighteen children and grandchildren sitting around the table and we had a great time and enjoyed the inevitable chaos.
Parliament re-convened on Monday this week.

I voted against the Welfare Benefits Legislation which is going to severely hurt many families and also people with a disability. Experts have said the entire benefit cuts package has not been thought through properly. It’s certainly going to be a rough year for many.