Daily Express

CAMERON: TORIES WILL CREATE 2M NEW JOBS

- By Macer Hall

TWO million more jobs will be created in Britain by the end of the decade if the Tories win the General Election, David Cameron pledged last night.

The Prime Minister said his party would help businesses increase employment by 1,000 new jobs a day through cutting taxes and red tape while overhaulin­g the welfare system.

Mr Cameron made the Tory manifesto pledge after asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament – a first formal step in the campaign.

He warned that letting Labour back into government could put the economic recovery “at risk”.

“When we came into government in 2010, unemployme­nt had rocketed,” he said.

“Five years on, by working through our long- term plan, look at what we have achieved together: 1.9 million more jobs; more people in work in our country than ever before; more jobs created here than the rest of Europe combined; more people with the security of a regular pay- packet, providing for themselves and their families.

“All this is at risk in just over a month’s time.

“The choice is simple: we go back to square one and the days of big unemployme­nt or vote Conservati­ve and finish what we have begun: with two million more jobs in the next five years.” Speaking in Downing Street, he repeated a warning that a Labour government would cost every household an extra £ 3,000 in tax over five years.

He said: “The next prime minister walking through that door will be me or Ed Miliband.

“You can choose an economy that grows, that creates jobs, that generates the money to ensure a properly funded and improving NHS, a government that will cut taxes for 30 million hard- working people and a country that is safe and secure.

“Or you can choose the economic chaos of Ed Miliband’s Britain; over £ 3,000 in higher taxes for every working family to pay for more welfare and out- of- control spending. Debt will rise and jobs will be lost as a result.

“Ed Miliband pays lip service to working people while planning to hike taxes and increase debt. After five years of effort and sacrifice, Britain is on the right track.

“This election is about moving forward and as prime minister here at Number 10 that is what I will deliver.”

On the first day of campaignin­g, the Tories were boosted by a ComRes opinion poll which gave them a four- point lead over Labour.

Job creation is one of the Conservati­ve’s biggest success stories. Official figures show an extra two million jobs have been created in Britain since the coalition came to power in 2010.

The surge has taken the total number of people in jobs to a record high of more than 30.9 million. However, an estimated four million people in Britain are still claiming a raft of unemployme­nt, sickness and incapacity benefits.

Now the Tories are pledging that an increase in jobs will continue at the same rate until 2020 if they form the next government.

The two million jobs estimate is double the number forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibi­lity, the government financial watchdog.

According to Tory figures, roughly 750,000 new jobs would be created in London and south- east England. Around 300,000 were expected in the Midlands and 250,000 in the north of England. The Tories said unemployme­nt increased by nearly 500,000 under the last Labour government.

But Labour attacked Mr Cameron’s tax- raising claims as “totally false”.

Chris Leslie, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “This is a disastrous and embarrassi­ng start to David Cameron’s campaign.” Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg predicted the election will end in a fresh coalition. He said: “It’s my view that the era of single- party government is over in British politics.”

A survey by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft showed the Conservati­ves with a 36 per cent share of the vote, two points ahead of Labour on 34 per cent. The Lib Dems are on six per cent and Ukip on 10 per cent.

THE remarkable economic success of the coalition, led by the Conservati­ves, cannot be denied. David Cameron pledged last night to build on the employment record, saying that another another two million jobs would be created in Britain by the end of the decade.

The Prime Minister understand­s that the economy is at its strongest when businesses are encouraged to flourish by being given the freedom to develop and expand. By contrast Ed Miliband – who has displayed a steadfast commitment to attacking entreprene­urs and wealth creators through excessive regulation, punitive taxation and class war rhetoric – views businesses with wary suspicion, an approach that threatens the economic recovery.

Mr Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne have put Britain back on the path to prosperity after the catastroph­e of the Labour years. They will be hoping voters trust them to finish the job.

 ??  ?? David Cameron at a rally in Corsham, Wiltshire, yesterday that marked the start of the General Election campaign
David Cameron at a rally in Corsham, Wiltshire, yesterday that marked the start of the General Election campaign

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