Politicians slam Hammond’s ‘out of touch’ gaffe
Reporter POLITICIANS in the North East have slammed Chancellor Philip Hammond for his gaffe about there being no unemployed people.
The region habitually has the highest jobless figure in the UK - the most recent figure was revealed last week to be 5.5%, the joint highest with the West Midlands compared to a UK average of 4.3%.
North East UKIP MEP Jonathan Arnott said: “He should try telling young people and the unemployed in my constituency that there are no unemployed people.”
Mr Arnott, the party’s treasury spokesman, added: “The Chancellor isn’t exactly a newcomer to politics - he must have known the significance of his words, but didn’t immediately correct them in any way.
“It’s typical of the arrogance of a Conservative Party which claims credit for job creation following the EU referendum - when in fact, a more competitive pound is a bigger reason for the recent fall in unemployment.”
Mr Hammond made the comment on the Andrew Marr Show broadcast by the BBC on Sunday as he played down the threat posed to people’s jobs by new technology in the run-up to the Autumn Budget on Wednesday.
He later insisted the Government had not forgotten the 1.42 million people currently unemployed in the UK. However critics are calling for him to stand down as Chancellor
Mr Arnott said: “If he can’t understand the huge difficulties that persist for people in coastal communities, for young people struggling to get on the career ladder, or for people across huge swathes of the North and Midlands ravaged by the decades-long decline in our manufacturing, then quite frankly he’s in the wrong job. After a gaffe like that, no matter what he says in the Autumn Budget on Wednesday, he won’t be trusted.”
It seems that Mr Hammond’s gaffe has briefly united Britain’s political parties.
In an interview, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: “As chancellor, Philip Hammond needs to be on top of the numbers and, as he should know very well, there are actually 1.425m people unemployed.
“Worse, a large number of them are second or third generation out of work, suggesting that all that a large number of people are inheriting in Britain today is poverty.”
Meanwhile Labour MP for Wansbeck Ian Lavery tweeted: “Hammond says there’s no one unem- ployed... what an insult to those struggling to make ends meet. Talk about being out of touch.”
And his Labour colleague in Easington, Grahame Morris, tweeted: “The Chancellor Phil Hammond seems semi-detached to me – he doesn’t seem to know the number of people out of work or working the gig economy for meagre wages or young people struggling to pay the rent.
“The last thing we need in the Budget, are tax giveaways to the super-rich.”