MOORE : MINISTERS HAVE FAILED THE BORDERS ECONOMY

12.00.00am GMT Thu 21st Jan 2010

Local MP Michael Moore has slammed the Government over their failure to protect jobs in the Borders after figures published yesterday revealed that over 200,000 people in Scotland were out of work at the end of last year. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.4%, with 61,000 people losing their jobs over 2009.

The number of people in Scotland who claimed Jobseeker's Allowance in December also rose again, to 136,200. This is 600 more than in November 2009, with figures showing that the number of JSA claimants had risen by over 36,500 in the year to December.

In the Borders, 1681 people claimed Job Seekers Allowance in December; an increase of 35% on the figures from the same month in 2008.

Before the release of these latest statistics, Mr Moore challenged the Scottish Secretary to host a jobs summit in the Borders after similar events were held in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

Commenting, Mr Moore said:

'These latest figures demonstrate the extent of the Government's economic failings clearly. Thousands of people in the Borders and across Scotland have found themselves out of work in 2009 as a consequence of the financial downturn. All the signs suggest that 2010 is going to be just as challenging a year for many local businesses.

'The measures that Ministers have taken to protect jobs are inadequate and the administration of programmes designed to help people who have lost their jobs has in many cases been inept.

'With further redundancies in our local manufacturing sector announced earlier this week, it is time that the Government started to take the economic difficulties of the Borders seriously.'