Valley families struggling to cope with low wages

THE government’s Office of National Statistics figures for the wages of Colne Valley residents make grim reading.

The facts contradict claims made by my MP that many “good” jobs have been created and local people are prospering under Tory rule.

The mean average income of all workers fell from £25,976 in 2010 to £24,872 in 2016. When we take into account inflation, the real figure is substantially worse. This fall in spending powers is having a devastating impact on family budgets.

There is an accompanying trend of even greater falls in income for the half of workers on less than the average wage. This has a knock-on impact for local businesses that rely on people having wages to spend. No wonder shops are struggling with falling customer spending in Huddersfield town centre.

Another figure of great concern is the startling statistic that in 2010 when the Conservatives came into power incomes actually rose by 4.3% in Colne Valley, but last year in 2016 they fell by 5.2%.

This is due to a combination of static hourly rates and falling working hours. How will families cope with higher prices and lower incomes?

The message is clear. We need an economic policy that serves the many and not the few. It is clear that the snap election was called by Theresa May before the grim economic reality for working people really starts to really bite. THE most disturbing aspect of this election is the number of people who seem to think that the main qualification for an able Prime Minister is the readiness to commit the mass murder of millions by pressing the ‘nuclear button.’

Do these people not realise there will be no victors in a nuclear war ?

Do they not grasp the fact that even to consider the need to use nuclear weapons is an admission that the ‘deterrence’ justification for having such weapons is flawed?

As an emergency planning officer I was involved in preparing South Yorkshire for the unpreperable – a nuclear attack. Planning locations for the mass