Emma has accused George Osborne of ignoring the hardship his Government’s economic policies have caused in South Shields.
In Monday’s debate on the recent Budget, Emma told the House that the Chancellor’s claim that living standards were rising in Britain showed that he was “out of touch and deluded” and that the “hype did not match the reality”.
She explained that much of the rising employment claimed to have taken place in the North East was in fact made up of people employed on insecure zero-hours contracts, or people in insecure self-employment.
Emma also accused the Chancellor of treating the North East as “an afterthought” in his plans for a so-called Northern Powerhouse. She pointed out that the road projects included in the Government’s transport plans were a re-hash of plans that had already been announced, while projects in the North East were outnumbered by those in the South East and London by five to one.
You can read the full debate, including Emma’s speech, by clicking here.
Speaking after the debate, Emma said:
“The Chancellor has some nerve to tell people in Shields they are better off than they were five years ago. People know their own lives, and they know how much money is in their pockets – they will not believe this Chancellor’s boasting.
“Hidden behind the hype are cuts even more brutal than those we have already seen; a funding black hole that will threaten our NHS; and an economy where people work harder for less. We mustn’t let this Chancellor do five more years of damage.”