August 17th, 2011

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil has called on the Tory and SNP governments to wake up to unemployment in Inverclyde.

The latest figures show the number of people out of work in Inverclyde has jumped by 200 in just two months. Worryingly, more than half are women.

The number of Job Seekers Allowance claimants is now 5.8 per cent, above the Scottish average of 4.3 per cent

Duncan McNeil, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, said: “These scandalous figures should be a wake-up call to both George Osborne and Alex Salmond, who seem completely devoid of any ideas on how to get people in the UK, Scotland or Inverclyde back to work.
“This represents a real unemployment crisis that is hitting women and young people the hardest and the inaction from London and Edinburgh is leaving people in this community struggling for work.
“Inverclyde is stuck between a Tory economic policy actively causing unemployment, and an SNP approach which isn’t doing enough to stop it.
“During the recent by-election, the First Minister repeatedly talked of his big plans to reindustrialise Inverclyde, yet we are still waiting while the dole queue lengthens.”