Coalition policies 'hitting Hull hard', Karl Turner tells Labour conference
COALITION policies are "hitting Hull hard" and taking the country "back 100 years", according to city MP Karl Turner.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Manchester, the Hull East MP said consumer debt and poverty were problems blighting Hull.
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Karl Turner
Mr Turner said: "A loss or reduction in household income is the number-one factor creating rising levels of consumer debt and poverty in the city.
"Government policies are hitting Hull hard. Youth unemployment is at record levels, long-term unemployment increases quarter-on- quarter and unemployment, overall, is at a 16-year high."
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This stark assessment was made during a Labour Left fringe event on the second day of the Labour Party's annual conference.
It came after Labour launched a new Youth Jobs Taskforce to tackle ten areas of the UK with the highest joblessness rates among young people.
The scheme – which does not include Hull – will see local Labour leaders team up with union leaders and experts to come up with new ideas to boost employment.
Mr Turner said the roots of debt and poverty were "complicated and complex".
He said: "In my constituency, almost one in three children live in poverty.
"Sadly, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has forecast that coalition policies will cause a further rise in child poverty, and estimates show 300,000 more children will be in poverty in 2015 than they do now.
"Independent figures from the IFS found families with children in Hull will be an average of £511 worse off this year.
"Debt and poverty go hand-in- hand. Poverty makes you vulnerable to taking out unaffordable debt and unmanageable debt compounds poverty.
"It is, therefore, no surprise that independent figures show soaring levels of debt and poverty under this coalition."
Mr Turner also welcomed a conference pledge from Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls to build 100,000 affordable homes and introduce a two-year stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in order to kick- start the economy.
It would cost £3 to £4 billion, cash Mr Balls said should come from the sale of the 4G mobile spectrum.
Mr Turner said it was "exactly the kind of policy that will see demand in our economy", creating the "jobs needed to bring people out of poverty and debt".
He said: "The Government should also reverse the VAT increase for a temporary period to help families struggling with energy and fuel bills.
"It is a sign of the times when Save The Children has recently launched its first UK food appeal and media reports say the Department for Work and Pensions is sign-posting struggling families towards food banks.
"This should not be happening in the 21st century and I am fearful that the coalition is taking us back 100 years."
Comments
by Owain55
Sunday, October 07 2012, 4:13PM
“Had Britain NOT been a member of the EEC/EU Humberside would not have got any EU funding at all and neither would the UK as a whole.”
by tonybo
Saturday, October 06 2012, 10:51PM
“You are right Karl we could do with another three and a half million immigrants to help our Health service .Education.and housing and social security,not to mention the benefits of having foreign criminals and translators for them its a good labour plan.Just think of all the jobs for lawyers and civil services to process their claims and of course all the diversity groups to make sure they get their dues what we have worked for. I think i might go for that Karl and i might say a little bit of positive discrimnation against the natives would not go amiss as we would like our guests to feel at home and i am sure our people would not mind giving them our jobs,and homes. I think our forefathers would be proud to think they gave their lives so new labour could give it all away”
by beverleybard
Friday, October 05 2012, 6:07PM
“Great to see Karl banging the drum for Hull but he seems to forget that the recent thirteen years of Labour government did nothing for Hull or many of its citizens.”
by Donna_Kebab1
Friday, October 05 2012, 1:36PM
“Well he can complain all he likes but who reduced the Humber Bridge tolls, who got Siemens coming here not Labour, they have always stopped people coming like Nissan and Mercedes. If you want to get something done in Hull don't ask the Labour party because they just block it.”
by ErnestDeadman
Thursday, October 04 2012, 12:43PM
“There he goes again a man on £66,000 plus expenses supported by the ex Deputy Prime Minister lard of Hull who is job hunting whilst getting £770 a day plus first class travel for him and his wife and looking for another £75,000. They talk about the poor and going back 100 years their Party's borrowing has brought the NHS to its knees they claim the Tories are trying to privatise it I think they are trying to save it in very nasty circumstances and who is responsible eh?”
by KiminHull
Thursday, October 04 2012, 9:28AM
“@qualitychap Hedon Road and the A63 are looked after by the Highways agency, not the council. When they got their funding cut they said keeping it looking nice wasnt a priority any more, despite objections from the council. More ConDem cuts hitting Hull.”
by SPBlakeney
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 10:59PM
“And for hell's sake Turner, get to the dentist. Theres more black holes in that grin than Labour's finances after Brown blew all Britains billions in '08 trying to bribe the welfare vote...”
by BevRoadNorth
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 10:54PM
“Owain, if the UK wasnt a member of the bEUreacratic joke into which the EEC has mutated, the money 'Humberside' received could have been spent directly in the UK without EU red tape, a begging bowl, bureaucratic delay and directed with a more intimate knowledge of where the money could better be spent. Humberside itself was a creation of the most rabidly Euro-obsessed Tory in history. The whole notion of channelling millions daily to that office block black hole of cash in Brussels is insane and frankly offensive. British Govts of all colours cling to Europe's skirts because they're generally incompetent with a lack of vision/guts to act, be it over economic policy, immigration, sovereign law, environment, health safety, fishery or defence. Saying that as your posting pointed out, if muppets didnt keep voting tactically to keep out the enemy party, and actually voted FOR something for change, a truer picture of what direction people want this country to go in would emerge.”
by bigsteve
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 10:35PM
“@ surgical12
."Can you imagine how bad things would be if Labour were still in!!"
not as bad as they are know”
by qualitychap
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 9:50PM
“motor mouth turner,at it again,concentrate on your own backyard,have you been down hedon rd lately ?,its an absolute disgrace,the roundabout outside king George dock and the hedon rd all the way in to the city centre,is overgrown and an unkept eyesore,no wonder tourists get out of the city as soon as they can and head to york and Leeds.
has this LABOUR run council,ever heard of first impressions,when visitors arrive off the ferries,they must think they have arrived in hell,Clive Sullivan way not much better either.”