Wyre Forest Labour Proudly serving the people of Kidderminster, Bewdley & Stourport
In the Shuttle of 7th Sept 2017, Mark Garnier responded to Labour’s living wage claim in typically dismissive fashion quoting untruths.
Calls for higher living wage to boost lowest earners in Wyre Forest
This is Wyre Forest Labour’s response from press Officer Stephen Brown:
Mark Garnier is a lucky man. Lucky that he gets to represent this great constituency. And lucky because he always gets 2 bites of the political comment cherry in print. He has his propaganda channel in the form of his weekly Shuttle column which he uses to attack opponents and propagate Tory mantra as fact and without challenge; he also gets the right of reply in these articles, again without challenge. No such luxury in print is afforded to anyone else.
The facts
So – let’s clear some things up here with 10 facts about wages, austerity, debt, unemployment and the economy to bust the rubbish Mark continually spouts:
- Income Inequality fell under Labour between 2000 and 2005 and rose after the financial crisis and has not improved since. Working households are worse off especially the bottom 10% but the richest 10% have gained and the difference is set to be the highest on record.
- Labour’s crisis, as he refers to it, was, in fact, a WORLDWIDE banking crisis caused by Mark’s mates (he was a banker before being our MP so he’ll obviously deflect from that) which lead to a bank bailout and bankers being jailed (e.g. In Iceland whereas in UK they get a bonus and taxpayers handout) because they over-lent in an inflated price market to people who could not afford it.
- The Banks were under-regulated and abused that fact see 2.
- Before the financial crisis the Tories wanted LESS banking regulation.
- Govt debt as % of GDP in: 2007 was 36% £527billion; 2010 was 60% £902billion; 2016 was 89% £1.8trillion. The Tories have doubled the debt even though our debt levels were less than France and Germany up to 2010 and were historically very low (fact). What have we got to show for this increase in Tory debt? A transfer of wealth from poor to rich, see 8.
- Every Tory Govt in history has borrowed more and repaid less back than Labour. A little nugget most people are oblivious to thanks to press bias dominated by Tory supporting Daily Mail, Sun etc.
- Tories inherited an economy on the mend in 2010. Tory Austerity broke that leading to years of debt growth, poor wages, and since 2010 the richest 1,000 families are now £400billion better off at £658billion; which is up 14% in the last year alone because Brexit is as good for them as the Tories are. The rest of us are not so lucky. Did you get a 14% rise last year?
- This shows that Tory austerity is a political choice not a necessity. It is designed to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich and it is working just as the Tories planned.
- Due to Tory austerity our wages have stagnated at 2008 levels, something Mark is quoted as being ok about. His party opposed the minimum wage originally and Tory policy falls well short of Labour’s living wage policy of £10 per hour so we won’t be taking any lectures from Mark. Austerity means we’re more likely to have zero hour contracts, insecure and seasonal work, and under-employment in a weak economy. If unemployment was really as low as Mark claims, wages would rise because of supply and demand in a strong economy. He knows this but masks it and instead offers up platitudes about tackling low pay.
- Unemployment is so ‘low’ because the figures are now excluding thousands in Wyre Forest e.g. Sick & disabled. The actual unemployment figure is more like 7,000 not 758, so it’s really more like 16% not the 1.8% unemployment level claimed.
Be under no illusions, Mark is a wolf in sheeps clothing who wants you to believe he cares and is doing something. He holds a Ministers job with Minster pay, he employs his wife, he is privately educated and was a banker; he does not share yours or the low pay pain of Wyre Forest, nor does he understand it. He is on to a good crack.
Wyre Forest deserves much better
Labour’s living wage plan seeks to restore some equality to the wages of ordinary people. True equality won’t happen until the Tories and Mark are given the boot, and we have a Labour Govt, with investment in our economy, and better protection for workers. Wyre Forest made a choice in 2017 to stick with Mark, he may not be so lucky at the next election when he runs out of excuses and runs out of time. I for one hope the good people of Wyre Forest see him for what he is and and finally send him packing. Wyre Forest deserves much better.
Can Labour be blamed for the economic crisis?
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/14006/economics/can-labour-be-blamed-for-the-economic-crisis/
Every Tory Govt in history has borrowed more and repaid less back than Labour. A little nugget most people are oblivious to thanks to press bias dominated by Tory supporting Daily Mail, Sun etc.