Coalition to blame as jobless figures rise, argues MSP
A NORTH MSP claims the current Westminster Government has not acted to lower unemployment in Caithness.
Highlands and Islands Labour representative Rhoda Grant says official figures show there has been an increase locally in the number of people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance in the first year of Conservative-Lib Dem coalition Government.
The number of unemployed people in Caithness in June was 652, compared with 593 for the same month last year – an increase of 59.
Mrs Grant said: “Caithness needs policies, such as Labour’s temporary reversal of the VAT increase, that will create jobs, enabling people to return to work which, in turn, will boost demand and economic growth.
“One year of Tory-Lib Dem coalition policies has done nothing to reduce the level of unemployment in Caithness, on the contrary, the level has gone up.”
*For more on this – including why local MP John Thurso believes Labour’s “fantasies” shouldn’t indulged – pick up the Caithness Courier on Wednesday.
