Wirral's independent local news website
Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley slammed the Tories’ failure to grow the economy and level up Britain, as new analysis reveals that real wages are lower in every region of Britain than when the Tories came to power in 2010.
Across the country as a whole, real wages are down by an average of 5%, leaving people £1,600 a year worse off than they were in 2010.
In Birkenhead, wages have fallen by £3332, resulting in a cut of more than 10%.
Mick Whitley MP said that a crucial way of raising wages, improving living standards and dealing with the cost-of-living is growing the economy, something that the Tories have clearly failed to achieve.
Indeed, the Truss/Kwarteng go for growth budget in the autumn crashed the entire British economy.
If the economy had continued to grow at the same rate as it had been under the last Labour Government, there would be £30 billion more to spend on public services without having to raise a single tax.
The local Member of Parliament continued, “This latest analysis highlights the scale of the Tories’ economic mismanagement in the twelve years that they’ve been in power. Now, local people in Birkenhead are being forced to pay a terrible price for mistakes made in Westminster.
“The Prime Minister wants to distance himself from his party’s and his own record in charge of our nation’s finances. But he and the Conservatives have utterly failed to deliver the vibrant, high-waged and high-skilled economy that the British people deserve. Instead, we’ve had over a decade of falling wages, stagnating growth, and now the UK is bracing itself for the longest and deepest recession of any G7 member.
“The Tories should never again be allowed to paint themselves as responsible stewards of the British economy. Their record shows the very opposite is true.”
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said, “These figures don’t just underline a lack of growth under the Tories. They show the complete failure over 12 years to build an economy that actually works in the interests of working people.
“Married with the billions upon billions of taxpayer money that has been wasted on undelivered projects, crony contracts, unsafe PPE and Tory vanity projects, it shows just what irresponsible stewards of the economy the Conservatives are.
“Labour will stabilise our economy, and we will get it growing with our Green Prosperity Plan and our active partnership with British businesses.”
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