Labour’s Shadow Work and Pension Secretary, Douglas Alexander MP, stated today that the growth predictions made yesterday from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) were unjustified.
The OBR upgraded its economic growth forecasts for this year from 1.2% to 1.8% and also reduced the number of public sector jobs that were expected to be lost over the spending review from 490,000 to 330,000. It also said that it expected 1.4 million private sector jobs to be created by 2015-16.
Chancellor George Osborne said fears of a double dip recession had been dispelled and the UK was on a path to more “sustainable growth” after the OBR published its growth forecast. “The message from the Office for Budget Responsibility is that Britain’s economic recovery is on track. The economy is growing, more jobs are being created and the deficit is falling,” he told MPs.
However, Mr Alexander commented “I think there is a real risk that the real and present danger in the jobs market goes unnoticed,” He went further to say: “I am worried the government is too complacent about the risk of a slower and more painful return than many yet realise to the levels of employment and unemployment we have become used to.”
In a speech, cleared by both Ed Miliband and Alan Johnson, made to Demos today, Mr Alexander warned of a “jobless recovery” and claimed that the current surge in growth is largely as a result of the measures the previous government took to protect the jobs during the recession. Mr Alexander also appeared to blame Gordon Brown’s post-crisis strategy on the economy for the election defeat. He criticised the previous government’s tactics in approaching the deficit and its refusal to talk about cuts or admit spending cuts would have been necessary after the global financial crisis.
To read the whole speech please press the following link:
