LET’S EARN OUR WAY OUT OF THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS THROUGH HIGH QUALITY, HIGHLY PAID JOBS

The cost-of-living crisis has been going on for far too long, for far too many people in Derby. Youth unemployment is all too commonplace, public service jobs have been slashed and the pernicious attacks on Derby's poorest communities has led to a surge in demand for foodbanks in the city

Every time I hold an advice surgery and even when I am out shopping people tell me how they are struggling and that things are getting harder, not easier for them. The prices of essentials such as food, clothes and heating are rising much faster than wages thanks to the slowest economic recovery in over a century.

That is why the government’s talk of recovery rings hollow for local people in Derby who are still struggling with the cost of living crisis. The workers, pensioners and unemployed people I speak to know that one set of figures on an economist’s spreadsheet isn’t going to help them pay their bills.

This is the nature of the economic recovery under this dreadful Tory-Lib Dem government: tax cuts for millionaires while people on lower and middle incomes get left behind.

The government’s dismissal of the cost of living crisis demonstrates how out of touch it is with the reality facing people in places like Derby. The government can’t deal with the long-term challenges we face because it’s committed to a race to the bottom built on low pay, low skills, low prospects and low productivity.

Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, there has been a surge in the number of insecure jobs, with the number of people on zero hours contracts tripling since 2010. And too many of these jobs are low paid, with employment growing twice as fast in low paid sectors as in higher paid sectors.

A hundred years ago today Keir Hardie made his "Sunshine of Socialism" speech in which he referred to the accpeted view of the Conservatives and Liberals of his era who thought it "an offence against laws of nature and ruinous to the State for public authorities to provide food for starving children, or independent aid for the aged poor. Even safety regulations in mines and factories were taboo. They interfered with the ‘freedom of the individual’. As for such proposals as an eight-hour day, a minimum wage, the right to work, and municipal houses, any serious mention of such classed a man as a fool."

Keir Hardy described these views as "cruel, heartless dogmas." The incredibly sad fact is that these selfsame cruel, heartless dogmas are the mainstream opinion in the modern day Tory and Lib Dem parties.

As Keir Hardy identified 100 years ago, the way to make a real difference in people’s lives is to make sure the economy works for working people. That begins by creating decent, secure, well-paid jobs so we can all benefit from the recovery.

The next Labour government will build a highly skilled, higher wage economy. This will mean more jobs in skilled construction trades, better quality jobs in health and caring professions and more growth in the technology sector.

But this can’t be just imposed from Westminster – real change needs local people to make the difference and create the jobs we need. We will back city and county regions to become engines of growth so they can develop their own economic strategies, clearly focused on the creation of well-paid jobs for local people.

The cost of living crisis is far from over for people on lower and middle incomes. Too many people have been locked out of the economic recovery and are unlikely to feel the benefits under this appalling Tory-Lib Dem government. By creating more high-quality, well paid jobs Labour will ensure that we all benefit from our future economic prosperity.