MP refuses to apologise for unemployment claim

Birmingham MP Liam Byrne claimed that unemployment in the West Midlands had risen by 25 per cent since last year – a figure that is not backed up by official figures and has been disputed by Tories in the West Midlands.

He wrote on Twitter: "Andy Street thinks he's categorically done enough to be re-elected.

"This morning we learned our region's unemployment has RISEN 25%.

"What planet are they on?"

However, research by fact checking site fullfact.org appears to show his claims to be inaccurate. The site says the unemployment rate in the region decreased from 6.7 per cent to 5.9 per cent between 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Instead, it was found that the claimant count across the seven councils of the West Midlands Combined Authority increased by 26 per cent between August 2018 and August 2019 – although this was likely to be due to the recent roll out of Universal Credit.

The claim has caused the Birmingham Conservative Group, led by Councillor Robert Alden, to demand an apology.

He wrote: "For Liam Byrne to claim that unemployment has risen by 25 per cent when in fact it has fallen from 6.7 per cent to 5.9 per cent shows yet again just why he cannot he trusted with the job that would have responsibility for the West Midlands economy.

"Rather than try deceit and scaremongering over jobs, he should be celebrating the fact that under Andy Street and the Conservatives the West Midlands economy is growing faster than anywhere outside London and last quarter grew at double the national average."

However, the Labour MP has refused to apologise, telling the Conservative group to stop "quibbling" over statistical definitions.

"Let's be clear, the claimant count consists of claimants of Jobseekers Allowance and Universal Credit claimants who are looking for work," he said.

"The number of people claiming has gone up by 18,695 in one year – that's 25.4 per cent.

"So if the Tories worked as hard on getting people back to work as they did quibbling about statistical definitions, we might have a lot more people in jobs across our region right now."

Mr Byrne is involved in a head-to-head battle with Dudley councillor Pete Lowe for the Labour nomination, with the final candidate set to be named in November.