Jobs boom that gives the lie to Project Fear
We’re the envy of Europe says minister
‘Security and peace of mind’
BREXIT doom-mongers have been proved wrong because more people are in work than ever before, the Work and Pensions Secretary declared last night.
Esther McVey yesterday said Britain is now the ‘envy of Europe’, with 1,000 people a day finding work.
However, before the referendum, the architects of so-called ‘Project Fear’ claimed 500,000 people would lose their jobs if we voted to leave. Miss McVey told the Daily Mail: ‘There has been much debate surrounding Brexit but the reality is the fundamentals of our economy are strong and with record employment levels, which are the envy of many of our European neighbours.’ Figures show more than 3.2million people have secured a job since the Tories came to power in 2010, raising the employment rate to a record high of 75.3 per cent.
A range of other records have been smashed, with new highs for women and ethnic minorities in work, and unemployment now at its lowest rate since 1975.
Miss McVey said: ‘Over 1,000 people have moved into a job every day since 2010 and credit has to be given to the businesses who have created those jobs and the individuals who are taking those opportunities.
‘With employment at a record high and with far fewer children in workless households, more families across the country are now benefiting from the security and peace of mind that comes from a regular job and income. And it’s really encouraging to see that the majority of these jobs are permanent and highskilled positions.’
Miss McVey added: ‘ We also have record job vacancies, over 800,000, and through the support and guidin ance of Jobcentre Plus work coaches, we will be focusing our attention on helping more people into work and helping people progress up the career ladder.’
The Treasury produced a series of gloomy reports in the run up to the Brexit referendum, claiming a Leave vote would plunge the country into recession. In May 2016, officials published a document titled ‘the immediate economic impact of leaving the EU’, which said half a million people would lose their jobs within two years if the country backed Brexit.
George Osborne, then chancellor, said: ‘A vote to leave would represent an immediate and profound shock to our economy. That shock would push our economy into a recession and lead to an increase in unemployment of around 500,000.’
The latest employment figures make a mockery of the claims, with the economy continuing to defy the doom-mongers.
The employment rate – the proportion of people in work – currently stands at 75.3 per cent, its joint highest level ever, with 32.2million people work. A record 15.5million women have jobs, with the female employment rate at a high of 70.9 per cent. The proportion of ethnic minorities in work is at a high of 64.8 per cent.
The latest statistics show that the number of workless households has fallen by 881,000 since 2010 and around nine in ten children now live in a household where at least one working-age adult is in work.
Miss McVey, who started her ministerial career at the Department for Work and Pensions in 2012, was the most high-profile Tory casualty of the 2015 general election.
However, she returned to parliament last June and was promoted to the Cabinet in January.
THEY are statistics that shame the Project Fear scaremongers.
More than 3.2 million people finding work in Britain since 2010 – an average of 1,000 a day. the highest female and ethnic minority employment rate since records began. Unemployment at its lowest since 1975. More than 800,000 job vacancies still outstanding.
What happened to George Osborne’s dire forecast that a Brexit vote would cause ‘an immediate and profound economic shock’ and put half a million people out of work?
Meanwhile those diehard Remainers tony Blair and Peter Mandelson are still plotting furiously to overturn the will of the people. Mr Blair has called on Germany’s Angela Merkel to ‘do everything possible’ to keep Britain in the EU, while Lord Mandelson has been lobbying ministers here to ‘modify’ the referendum result by staying in the single market.
how is it that they were such great champions of democracy when New Labour was in power – but are so contemptuous of it now?
THE MOST pernicious aspect of the GKN takeover is that it was forced through by unscrupulous speculators who bought up 25 per cent of the stock in order to fix the vote and make a quick profit. So the Mail welcomes the news that Business Secretary Greg Clark is ready to change the rules around takeovers to stop it happening again. Will he now go further – and use his power to veto the GKN deal on national security grounds?