Comment on retail employment figures
Jack Dromey, Shadow Minister for Local Government and Chuka Umunna, Shadow Minister for Small Business have called on the Government to back Labour’s plan to save our high streets following today’s release of retail employment figures showing that retail employment was down by 0.4% and there are 3,100 fewer full-time jobs in UK retail than the previous quarter.
These figures follow the statistics released on Tuesday which showed an 8% increase in retail companies falling into administration to 43 up from 40 in the same period last year.
Chuka Umunna MP, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Enterprise, said:
“The Tory-led government is bystanding while people lose their jobs, businesses suffer and our high streets stagnate. The VAT hike and the squeeze on family incomes has led to fewer people shopping in our shops and these figures show there are now fewer people working in them.”
“A temporary cut in VAT would help consumers and businesses now, kick-start the stalled recovery and so help us get the deficit down.”
Jack Dromey MP, Shadow Local Government Minister said:
“These figures show the damage the Government is doing to our high streets. The Tories have opposed Labour’s plan to give local people a real say over the future of their High Street. The Tory-led Government should change course – they need to support growth and jobs by backing Labour’s four point action plan to revive the High Street.”
