‘Government mismanagement’ costing thousands of jobs, says Sheffield MP

Thousands of jobs in Sheffield are being lost thanks to the Government’s mismanagement of the economy, a city MP has claimed.
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Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, was commenting after figures published today show that the UK’s economy had shrunk by 20 per cent, officially entering recession and suffering the largest fall in output of any country in Europe.

Figures for Sheffield also show that the number of jobcentre claimants in Sheffield has already doubled during the pandemic, with 23,150 people in the city claiming work-related benefit compared to 11,865 in March.

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And Ms Haigh said the problem was only likely to get worse, with multiple large retail and food chains – including Frankie & Benny’s, Clarks, John Lewis, Boots, Burger King, Pizza Express, and Debenhams – announcing major redundancies that will push thousands more out of work.

Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley.Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley.
Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley.

She said: “As a result of government inaction, the UK is suffering from the worst recession in Europe along with the worst excess death rate. Ministers are failing to protect the economy, just as they failed to protect public health.

Labour consistently warned Ministers that a severe recession would be inevitable if they failed to support industries that have been particularly badly hit by the lockdown. Sadly, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak failed to heed these warnings, pressed ahead with a blanket withdrawal of the furlough scheme, and refused to provide targeted support to struggling sectors.

“Whether due to incompetence or ideology, millions of people will suffer because of this reckless government.

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“Ministers must act now to prevent further job losses and invest in the economy to create well-paid, secure work for those who are already unemployed.”

Ms Haigh added that Sheffield’s low-wage economy meant that the city’s workforce was likely to be particularly badly hit by the recession, with sectors characterised by insecure work such as retail and food seeing thousands of job losses.

Across the UK as a whole, the number of claimants has also doubled during the same period, increasing from 1,275,575 to 2,679,885. In South Yorkshire, the figure rose from 31,045 claimants to 59,640.

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