GOVERNMENT schemes to tackle unemployment are not working, according to Labour’s shadow economic secretary to the Treasury.
Tulip Siddiq told GB News: “We’ve seen that 234,000 more people are out of work than before the pandemic and their real wages have fallen, as well.
“So, of course, I’m concerned, one of the main things I’m concerned about is that the employment schemes that the Government seems to have, they don’t seem to be working.
“People in my constituency are struggling because they can’t find jobs but yet the government’s talking about all these employment training schemes that they have. They just seem to be working.”
Asked about public sector strike in a discussion with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster during Breakfast on GB News, she said: “We’ve always said that people should have the right to strike, of course they should have the right to strike.
“That’s always what we said in the Labour Party. But this let me be absolutely clear about these strikes. The failure to stop this strikes lies squarely at the government’s door.
“Rishi Sunak should have got round the table with all the junior doctors that are striking the teachers that are striking and reach some sort of negotiation and that has not been done.
“People have the right to strike if the conditions are poor if the pay is poor, but it’s the job of government to get round the table with them and sort out some sort of compromise and we haven’t seen that happen.”
She added: “What I can tell you safely having spoken to teachers in my constituency and my children’s school is that no one goes on strike on a whim, it’s a last resort.
“They do it genuinely because they feel they have no choice and their voices haven’t been heard.
“So the government needs to get their act together, sit around the table and speak to the unions but also speak to proper teachers and speak to them about what the right pay should be.”
On the Government’s plans to keep older workers in employment, she said: “Anything that comes out that supports older people and pensioners, of course, we would be interested in seeing but I have to say before I commit to supporting it, I would like to see what the exact details are because we don’t want there to be a cap somewhere for people who are older and out of work.
“One of the things that we have said from the Labour Party is that we would introduce local targeted support and reform Jobcentres to make sure that people are back in work, especially those who are on long term sickness and haven’t been able to get back in.
“But in terms of the budget, if there is something that helps people save more, that’s something that we would consider supporting but I’ve got to see the details first.”
