Unemployment soars in Croydon North
The number of people without a job in Croydon North has soared by over a thousand in the last year according to new figures.
The number of claimants in the north of the borough is 1,025 higher than December 2015, and 165 higher than November 2016, figures from the House of Commons Library show.
Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, blames the rise on the Tory Government, pointing to economic uncertainty created by their approach to Brexit, welfare changes, and cuts in further education that give people the skills they need to get a job.
Unemployment has risen among both adults and young people, and Croydon North now ranks among the 10% of constituencies with the highest rates of joblessness.
Steve Reed MP said:
Today’s wretched unemployment figures show how much damage the Tories are doing with their stumbling response to Brexit, cuts in support for the low paid, and cuts in training people for jobs.
Now Theresa May’s latest plans to isolate Britain outside the world’s biggest trading bloc will strangle the growth and investment we need to protect local jobs.
Croydon faces the prospect of rising unemployment and falling living standards. The Government needs to change course and put jobs and household incomes first.
Steven Reed is Labour MP for Croydon North and Shadow Minister for Children and Families. In 2018 his private member’s bill on reducing violent mental health restraint became law. In June 2019 he launched Labour’s civil society strategy outlining radical plans to empower citizens and communities.
Steve chairs the Cooperative Councils Innovation Network, co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for London, was Leader of Lambeth Council 2006-12 where he led the council’s children’s services to become best-rated in the country and pioneered the public-health approach to tackling violent youth crime. He worked in publishing for 16 years and was an elected trade union branch secretary.