On the 25th November, Rishi Sunak MP, the Chancellor delivered his Spending Review. This failed to tackle the disproportionate impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on our region. Before this crisis, the North East was already suffering the highest unemployment rate in the country. The Government’s continuing mishandling of the pandemic is only making this
worse.

Labour will continue to urge the Government to recover jobs, retrain workers and rebuild business as part of a longer-term plan to tackle the systemic longstanding unemployment in the North East. I want to see this form the basis of a ‘green’ economic recovery, addressing the climate and environment emergency.