Meacher attacks PM over job cuts

AN Oldham MP has accused the Prime Minister of allowing bankers who created the financial crisis to get away with it at the expense of ordinary public sector workers.

Speaking in Prime Minister’s Questions Michael Meacher called on David Cameron to justify public sector job losses against the increased wealth of bankers.

He said: “How can the Prime Minister justify the fact that hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, the victims of the financial crash, will unquestionably lose their jobs because of the huge public service cuts to come, when the bankers and superrich, the architects of the financial crash, whose wealth grew by £77 billion in this last year according to The Sunday Times rich list, stand to lose neither their jobs, their income nor their wealth?

“Is that what he means by everyone being in it together?”

Mr Cameron said: “The right honourable Gentleman fought the last election on £50 billion of unspecified cuts.

“ That is why the figures published show that public sector job losses would be higher under Labour in the next two years.

“He can say all he likes about bankers; the fact is, his party would not introduce a bank levy until the rest of the world had decided to do it. We have done it in seven weeks.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility —set up by the coalition to make an independent assessment of the public finances and the economy — has forecast more than 600,000 public sector jobs will be lost over the next six years.

The OBR has predicted 490,000 job losses by 2015 and 610,000 by 2016.

During PMQs yesterday Mr Cameron said unemployment would fall during the coalition government’s term.

Acting leader of the Labour party Harriet Harman warned of “abject misery” in the jobs market after leaked Treasury documents suggested last week’s emergency budget could drive up unemployment figures by as much as 1.3m.