Number of jobless in region drops to 129,000
SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies is among a host of high-profile Tories being targeted by a Labour grassroots campaign in the hope of creating a series of “Portillo” moments at the next election.
Momentum will train activists in the “persuasion” techniques used by US left-wing presidential challenger Bernie Sanders in a push to beat “controversial” Tory MPs, as well as well-known Cabinet figures.
The group claims to have been partly responsible for Liberal Democrat former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg losing his seat at the General Election in a result echoing the shock moment when Michael Portillo lost his seat in 1997.
National coordinator Joseph Ejiofor said: “Labour offered a clear and viable alternative in the recent General Election and now Conservative cabinet members like Boris Johnson, Amber Rudd and Justine Greening are no longer sitting in safe seats.
“We helped create a ‘Portillo moment’ for Nick Clegg in Sheffield Hallam in June, and we plan to do the same for senior Conservative MPs next time around.”
The “#unseat campaign” will begin with persuasion canvassing training sessions designed with help from activists involved in Mr Sanders’ 2016 US presidential bid, which will teach supporters how to build empathy with voters when out doorknocking, before heading out to test the methods. The events are expected to end with speeches from well-known Labour supporters and shadow cabinet members.
Left-wing author Owen Jones, who is backing the campaign, said former Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who voted against same-sex marriage, and Mr Davies, who has been accused of holding “anti-women” views, should be ousted. “That Philip Davies sits in our House of Commons is a cause for national embarrassment,” he said. “His repeated attempts to thwart and trash legislation to protect women from male violence reveal him as an unpleasant bigot. But we can defeat him.”
Mr Davies, MP for Shipley, said: “I couldn’t care less what left wing morons like Owen Jones think – it is what my constituents think that matters to me and at every election my vote has gone up.” THE NUMBER of people out of work in Yorkshire fell by 5,000 in the three months to June, according to new figures.
The unemployment figure for the region dropped to 129,000 or 4.8 per cent of those looking for work.
Nationwide the figures showed employment has reached an alltime high and pay growth picked up pace, easing the pressure on cash-strapped households confronted by higher inflation.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people in work across the UK rose by 125,000 to 32.07 million in the three months to June, with the employment rate climbing by 0.3 per cent to a record 75.1 per cent.
Annual growth in wages was 2.1 per cent for April to June, up from a revised figure of 1.9 per cent for March to May.
Once bonuses are stripped out, pay expanded by 2.1 per cent over the period, rising from two per cent.
However, once inflation is taken into account, total pay in real terms sank by 0.5 per cent both including and excluding bonuses.
It comes as the cost of living which has marched higher in response to the Brexit-hit pound held steady at 2.6 per cent in July, in line with the rate for June.
The jobs market remained a bright spot for the economy, with the unemployment rate dropping by 0.2 per cent to 4.4 per cent for the three months to June, its lowest level since 1975.
The number of people out of work dropped by 57,000 on the quarter to 1.48 million - a 12-year low.
Meanwhile, the so-called claimant count fell by 4,200 in July to 807,800.
Employment Minister Damian Hinds said: “These statistics show that record levels of people are in work across the country and earning a wage, which is great news.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Rising prices and stagnant pay are a toxic combination for working people.”