Local MP hails Basildon and Thurrock success during Prime Minister’s Questions
Stephen Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock has spoken in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions about his constituency’s economic success under the Conservative Government.
Addressing the Prime Minister, Stephen Metcalfe rose to the floor and asked: “Unemployment down 40%, youth unemployment down 45%, long-term unemployment down 44%, business start-ups up 31% and 800 apprenticeship starts—all in the last year in South Basildon and East Thurrock. What does my right hon. Friend think that says about our long-term economic plan?”
The Prime Minister, replying to Stephen answered: “I am delighted at the news that my hon. Friend brings. It is remarkable how in almost every constituency in this House the number of people claiming unemployment benefit is down and the number of young people claiming benefit is down. There are 224,000—almost a quarter of a million—more people in work in the east of England as a whole. Those are statistics, but every one of those statistics is about someone who is going out and earning a wage, supporting their family and managing to achieve a better standard of living. That is what we must continue with, and that is why we must stick to the long-term economic plan.”
Stephen Metcalfe later commented: “I was pleased to bring Parliament’s attention the good news that more people in my constituency now have the security of a regular pay packet and all the benefits that brings.”
“Following the disaster of Labour great recession, my constituents have seen dramatic changes, with their local area moving from strength to strength.”
“In many ways, South Basildon and East Thurrock has become a marker of the country’s wider economic successes. In the coming months, we cannot allow Labour to get their hands on our economy, and ruin all of the progress we have made.”
