Globe News
Wirral MP hits out at employment minister over jobless comments
5:01pm Monday 6th February 2012
A WIRRAL MP has clashed with a Tory minister who blamed high unemployment on a "lack of skills" after she visited the borough.
Alison McGovern, Labour MP for Wirral South, said Department for Work and Pensions minister Maria Miller was wrong to make the comments following her visit to the peninsula on Friday.
Ms Miller, on a tour of Job Centres, later told BBC Radio Five Live that there is no shortage of jobs but a "lack of an appetite" for some jobs and that people should have the skills they need.
She also said every family should be a "working family" and that people should overcome their "fear" of the possible problems going to work could create for their family.
Ms McGovern said the minister does not seem to realise the difficulty in finding work.
Ms McGovern said: "People - especially the young - in Wirral and the rest of Merseyside are finding it more difficult than ever to find work.
"There are ten people for every vacancy. Maria Miller is trying to blame them."
In Wirral, there are 8,686 Job Seekers’ Allowance claimants, with 10 people chasing every job.
Ms McGovern believes the minister should have considered Government cuts before making her claims: "It's a bit rich coming from a minister whose Government has presided over cuts that have seen thousands out of work for her to turn on people who are affected. It's the same old Tories I'm afraid."