Voters 'will understand' job losses and government's position says Osborne (From Daily Echo)
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Chancellor George Osborne joins Eastleigh by-election campaign to support Conservative Maria Hutchings
9:46am Wednesday 13th February 2013 in News
By Sian Davies, Senior News Reporter
CHANCELLOR George Osborne today said the electorate in Eastleigh would “understand” the difficult situation the government was in despite being faced with hundreds of job losses in the area.
Answering questions during a visit to a cable firm in the town, Mr Osborne acknowledged the planned closure of the Ford factory but insisted the Conservative policies were turning things around.
Speaking alongside party hopeful Maria Hutchings who is vying for the Eastleigh seat in the upcoming by-election, Mr Osborne was asked what he would say to voters who thought the government could not be trusted to stop jobs going abroad.
He said: “I think people here will under stand we inherited a very tough economic situation from the last government we are turning that around, you see jobs coming to this area as well.
“Here we are in a factory that has employed 60 people in the last few months.
“And you also see stores like Next moving into the town.
“So this government is dealing with those problems we are on the right track and it would be a great mistake to turn back.
“Coming to places like this gives me enormous confidence in the local economy.”
Mr Osborne made the comments whilst visiting the Prysmian firm in Eastleigh which employs 700 people and manufactures cables.
He was also asked about the controversial plans to build in excess of 900 homes in and around Botley, on which he said that it was vital for the community’s views to be heard.
The plans have provoked widespread protest with public marches and demonstrations. In the face of that opposition Mr Osborne was asked whether jobs and housing needs would take priority over the views of the local people.
He said: “We are all in favour of the right houses in the right areas what we are not in favour of is the wrong houses in the wrong areas “And what we want is local people to have their say in the matter and that is precisely what Maria has been campaigning on, it is an example of how connected she is with local issues.
We think that the plans mean that some of the homes are I the wrong areas and that has been what Maria has been campaigning on.
“What takes priority is making sure these houses are in the right area and the local people have a say in about where housing goes. The local community wants to see homes built in the right areas and not inappropriate ones.
Mr Osborne also gave a ringing endorsement of Mrs Hutchings as the Tory candidate, saying: “We are fighting to win. She is a strong local voice for Eastleigh.”
More stories from the Eastleigh by-election:
- Liberal Democrat Mike Thornton is new Eastleigh MP
- Clegg hails Lib Dem win in Eastleigh
- New Eastleigh MP's pledge to voters
- I'm overwhelmed by victory, says MPs wife
- Full list of Eastleigh by-election results
- Defeated Tory candidate made a swift exit
- Mike's night but UKIP almost took centre stage
- Lib Dem Mike Thornton is Eastleigh's new MP
Comments(18)
Lone Ranger.
says...
10:27am Wed 13 Feb 13
arthur dalyrimple
says...
10:46am Wed 13 Feb 13
MGRA
says...
10:54am Wed 13 Feb 13
Brimstone52 wrote:your stereotypes are very selective. you failed to mention the thousands of poles that filled jobs that no English person was qualified to take. Jobs in the marine industry, comms, engineering, design, facilitation, etc etc etc Agreed the case of the Bulgarians and Romanians is very very different and there is a real danger of us being overwhelmed unless controls are put in place, but in the case of the polish , its been an economic gain for the UK.....
The longer the issues of a lack of control of our own country and the associated excessive immigration are ignored or avoided the more drastic will have
to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office.
Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour.
We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else.
This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job.
The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members.
The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world.
The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.
bernard7
says...
11:47am Wed 13 Feb 13
Maria: "Is it about this big"
George: "No, about the size of my arm and you are getting closer"
Paramjit Bahia
says...
12:18pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Considering Osborne's tax reduction for the rich while punishing the poorly paid and grany taxes in fact started their free fall in opinion polls, bringing him to Eastleigh could turn out to be kiss of death for CONservatives.
Is Georgi boy going to be the saviour of NuLabour in Eastleigh?.... If Tories had any sense they should have kept this skelton safely locked away in some very secure cupboard, or in some safe room of oversea bank where likes of Cash Crofts hide their wealth.
Perhaps now arrogant out of touch posh boy may unwittingly end up doing something good fro Milliband's party and ordinary hard working people of Eastleigh after all...
Subject48
says...
12:22pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Maria: "I can have this much of the pie?"
George: "you can have all the pie if you win"
bernard7
says...
12:31pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Maria: "how much of the taxpayers money will i be able to claim on made up expenses if i win, a stack of £50's about this big"
George: (gesturing at the multi storey car park to his right) "no don't be silly, it will be about as big as that car park"
Forest Resident
says...
12:58pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Walter K
says...
1:13pm Wed 13 Feb 13
bigfella777
says...
1:22pm Wed 13 Feb 13
MGRA wrote:Her,here. I'm sick of this nonsense about foreign workers. Europes your oyster, go wherever you want, that's how it is, enjoy it.
Brimstone52 wrote: The longer the issues of a lack of control of our own country and the associated excessive immigration are ignored or avoided the more drastic will have to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office. Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour. We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else. This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job. The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members. The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world. The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.your stereotypes are very selective. you failed to mention the thousands of poles that filled jobs that no English person was qualified to take. Jobs in the marine industry, comms, engineering, design, facilitation, etc etc etc Agreed the case of the Bulgarians and Romanians is very very different and there is a real danger of us being overwhelmed unless controls are put in place, but in the case of the polish , its been an economic gain for the UK.....
hulla baloo
says...
2:12pm Wed 13 Feb 13
bernard7 wrote:There is a story here about chlamydia and I also have the clap.
This is fun.
Maria: "how much of the taxpayers money will i be able to claim on made up expenses if i win, a stack of £50's about this big"
George: (gesturing at the multi storey car park to his right) "no don't be silly, it will be about as big as that car park"
Stephen J
says...
2:12pm Wed 13 Feb 13
bigfella777 wrote:Yep. Agreed. The fact that we're often too insular even to see, let alone exploit the opportunities that Europe presents is no one's fault but our own. EU membership is not all one-way traffic, unless that's how we choose to see it.
MGRA wrote:Her,here. I'm sick of this nonsense about foreign workers. Europes your oyster, go wherever you want, that's how it is, enjoy it.
Brimstone52 wrote: The longer the issues of a lack of control of our own country and the associated excessive immigration are ignored or avoided the more drastic will have to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office. Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour. We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else. This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job. The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members. The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world. The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.your stereotypes are very selective. you failed to mention the thousands of poles that filled jobs that no English person was qualified to take. Jobs in the marine industry, comms, engineering, design, facilitation, etc etc etc Agreed the case of the Bulgarians and Romanians is very very different and there is a real danger of us being overwhelmed unless controls are put in place, but in the case of the polish , its been an economic gain for the UK.....
St Retford
says...
2:59pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Brimstone52 wrote:Yer daft racist.
The longer the issues of a lack of control of our own country and the associated excessive immigration are ignored or avoided the more drastic will have
to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office.
Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour.
We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else.
This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job.
The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members.
The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world.
The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.
ohec
says...
4:59pm Wed 13 Feb 13
St Retford wrote:No you are wrong he is not a racist he is a realist and a loyalist, there is no shame in looking after your own in fact that should be a priority, i have no objection to anybody coming here as long as they are productive and not a drain on society but the fact remains that as a country we are overpopulated and our recourses are stretched to the limit we need a complete stop to immigration no matter where they come from.
Brimstone52 wrote:Yer daft racist.
The longer the issues of a lack of control of our own country and the associated excessive immigration are ignored or avoided the more drastic will have
to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office.
Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour.
We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else.
This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job.
The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members.
The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world.
The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.
English Democrat
says...
8:50pm Wed 13 Feb 13
sotonbev
says...
11:24pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Subject48
says...
11:02am Thu 14 Feb 13
8:50pm Wed 13 Feb 13
I put up an e-petition over a year ago which was virtually ignored by the same press making racist comments about Eastern Europeans. My petition was for a geared rating over five years on Employers National Insurance for any E.U. or foreign worker, making it more costly to employ someone who is not from the resident English population, that is to deter employers from going abroad to get workers who will work for less wages. If they have proven to have contributed tax and N.I. for five years this would not apply. You will find me on your ballot paper vote for me and you vote for the protection of local jobs. The English Democrats are Multiracial by the way. Mike Walters”
Are you saying that English national do not want to do the same work as an eastern European would do for less money, and this is somehow the eastern European’s fault?
Remember minimum wage still applies in either case.
Mr. Walters, have you ever had to work in any of the factories/warehouses in any of the industrial estates for a minimum wage? I would be thrilled to hear of your extensive experience of the working class/underclass job market.
I dare you to go and work there for a week, take your average working class/middleclass out of school teenager with no gcse's and ask both yourself and them if they would be happy to do the same job if it paid £1 or £2 more.
If you have your way this will only inflate manufacturing/servic
e costs. This will in turn make the end product more expensive. All this will achieve is make the consumer buy from someone else (eastern Europe/Asia) because it will be cheaper to do so rather then buy from UK.
Companies, instead of relocating business sites to operate in a cheaper job market environment, choose to import a cheaper more efficient work force. If paying more for labour would offer a better quality product or service then this idea would be viable but it’s simply not the case.
UK being a consumer would rather buy a cheaper product then pay more for a UK produced one. It’s the reality.
I seriously doubt if any of the "xnephobic" and "eurosceptic" posters bother to buy British made products if they are available. It’s much easier to blame the nasty sneaky eastern European for the state of the economy then to blame yourselfs as a society and the attitude adopted.
Brimstone52 says...
9:54am Wed 13 Feb 13
to be the solutions when a reforming party do get into office.
Lib/Lab/Con have signed up to being "business friendly". That means ignoring the needs and desires of the population at large, forcing down wages and importing ever cheaper labour.
We've had the Poles and others prepared to undercut our own low paid workers. The Poles will be undercut by Bulgarians and Romanians. The Bulgarians and Romanians will be undercut by someone else.
This means that those in work will have to support ever more unemployed Europeans in addition to native British people unable to get a job.
The expansion of the European Union will not stop at Europe's boundaries. There is already talk of allowing those African countries along the Mediterranean coast to become members.
The EU bureaucrats, safely ensconced in their nice cosy offices in Brussels and elsewhere, will change it's name and open us to the rest of the world.
The moron Blair and his cronies have already given us a taste of what is to come.