Local MP Alan Mak has criticised the Labour Government for failing people in the Havant Constituency after unemployment rose and 1,154 more households signed on to Universal Credit welfare benefit since July 2024.
Since Labour entered office, Keir Starmer has talked down the economy and hit businesses with higher taxes and burdensome new regulation.
As a result, unemployment has jumped to 4.7 percent, its highest level in four years, real wage growth has fallen to just 1.1 per cent, and the number of people on payroll has plummeted by over 164,000 jobs since the Autumn Budget.
This means more families struggling to pay the bills and more people signing on for benefits, including 1,154 in the Havant Constituency where the total is 9,584.
The last Conservative Government oversaw the number of people in work increase by over four million, the unemployment rate nearly halved from 8.0 per cent in 2010 to 4.2 per cent in June 2024, while real wages had grown for 13 months in a row.
Mr Mak said: "After Labour attacked businesses with higher taxes and more regulation, it was a sad inevitability that it would result in fewer opportunities here in the Havant Constituency and more people signing on to Universal Credit.
"Only the Conservatives understand that it is businesses who create jobs and growth, not the Government. But with more tax rises coming this Autumn to pay for Labour’s failures, it is people and businesses who will be left paying the price."
