Islwyn’s Labour MP Chris Evans has described the public sector cuts announced by the Government as too deep and too fast.
Mr Evans also branded the cuts as a dangerous gamble with the economic future of Islwyn.
Responding to the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, Mr Evans expressed concerns about people in Islwyn staying in their jobs, their homes and staying safe.
He said: “What the Government is saying is that it wants to take more money off children than it does off the banks. That cannot be right.
“It cannot be right for the Government to reduce the number of police officers on our streets.”
“Islwyn is reliant on public sector jobs and services; local people here are going to suffer more than most once the cuts kick in.
“In Islwyn, 30% of people work in the public sector – above the national average. Without the stimulus that the public sector provides to the local economy, even more jobs are likely to go on top of those announced in the government’s spending review.
“The Chancellor has offered us no plan for growth, only cuts and more cuts. This is no way to run an economy.”
Meanwhile, the Welsh Assembly Government funded employment initiative JobMatch, which operates across the Heads of the Valleys region, has vowed to do all it can to help people in the face of the cuts.
Steve Dobson, performance and communications manager at JobMatch, said: “We’re on the front line when it comes to witnessing the effect of unemployment, not just on the economy in general but also on the morale of both individuals and communities.
“While job losses may be a necessary evil to get the economy back on track, some of the deprived areas that we work in already have such high levels of unemployment that’s it’s difficult to see how these regions can regenerate while job losses continue. JobMatch will however continue to offer its support, which has already helped almost 5,500 people into employment in the Heads of the Valleys region.”
Welsh Assembly Government’s response to the cuts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZNuIchopoE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-KzVhHM0qg