Liam Byrne MP warns of 'life on the dole' after dire unemployment forecast
Liam Byrne MP has warned people in the West Midlands to prepare for "a life on the dole" as he predicted unemployment may rise by 40 per cent next year.
Labour's candidate for West Midlands Mayor made the dire forecast following his own analysis of figures from the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), which he says "imply that unemployment may rise by 60,000 in the region" in 2021.
Mr Byrne, who backed Remain in the EU referendum, called on Ministers to "fill the gap" left by Britain "losing European money" due to its departure from the bloc.
He said: "After all the sacrifices we’ve made this year, it is unacceptable for government to stand by and let the reward for thousands of people be a life on the dole.
"We have the potential in our region to become the green workshop of the world, making the electric vehicles, zero-carbon railways and zero carbon jets of the future. But we need investment to make this happen.
"Because we’re losing European money, the government promised to fill the gap. Well we can see the job losses coming down the track - but we can’t see the investment required to fix it."
Nationally, the OBR has forecast an increase in unemployment from just under five per cent to 7.5 per cent by the middle of next year, which would mean 2.6 million people out of work.
In the West Midlands unemployment is currently around 135,000, with jobs having been protected by Chancellor Rishi Sunak's furlough scheme.
Next Spring the Government has pledged to publish details of the new Shared Prosperity Fund, which will be worth an average of £1.5bn a year and will replace the European Regional Development Fund and European Skills Fund.
An initial £220m has been earmarked for pilot schemes.
