Joanne McCartney AM

Joanne McCartney AM calls for tax on bankers’ bonuses to tackle spiralling youth unemployment in Enfield.

Local London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney has called for a tax on bankers’ bonuses to fund work placements for unemployed 16-24 year olds to prevent another ‘lost generation’. The call follows a 152 per cent rise in the number of young people out of work for over six months in Enfield.

According to January’s unemployment figures, released on Wednesday, there are now 235,177 people looking for work in London and 10,551 in Enfield.  This is an increase of 9.5% and 12.8% respectively in the last year alone.

Joanne said: “These unemployment figures in our borough are tragic, especially for London.  The government and Mayor Boris Johnson need to use all their powers to get Londoners back to work. I am calling for a tax on bankers’ bonuses to fund work placements for young people.”

Joanne continued “It is time that bankers took responsibility for their actions and paid their fair share to help London’s young people.  Young people did not cause this recession and it’s not right that ordinary people are being forced to pay for the bankers’ mistakes.”

The figures published today reveal that in Enfield:

• There are now 10,551 unemployed people looking for work
• 2,670 of them are under 24
• 870 have been out of work for more than six months

In Haringey:

• There are now 10,436 unemployed people looking for work
• 2,170 of them are under 24
• 685 have been out of work for more than six months
• There are only 555 job vacancies in Haringey

Across London:

• There are 235,177 people out of work
• 55,410 are under 24
• 16,655 have been out of work for more then six months
• There are 32,580 job vacancies in the capital – seven jobseekers for every vacancy

Local Labour Assembly Member Joanne McCartney emphasises the meagre saving that Boris Johnson’s council tax cut will save Londoners – just 26p a month – enough to buy one onion.

The Mayor today announced that he will cut City Hall’s share of council tax by £3.10 a year – 26p a month, 6p a week, or less than a penny a day.

By contrast, the Mayor put up the price of a zone 1-4 travelcard by £8.75 a month this year. He has put up bus fares by 50 per cent, from 90p to £1.35. Fares have risen by an average of 26 per cent since Boris Johnson was elected.

Cutting the City Hall portion of council tax by one per cent will cost the Greater London Authority £9.35 million.

Local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney said: “I’m supporting a 7% fares cut that will save Londoners £1,000 over 4 years, which will really help them during these difficult times.  This tiny cut is clearly just a publicity stunt as it won’t help people struggling with this recession.”

Joanne continued “It’s clear the Mayor is making this fanfare gesture to try and hide his extortionate fare rises.  This gesture is insulting to people’s intelligence and their financial struggles.”

Boris Johnson’s 6p a week council tax cut saves Londoners enough to buy:

• One box of organic eggs a year

• One cooking apple a month

• One tin of Tesco value beans a month

• One onion a month

• One packet of salted peanuts a year

London Mayor Boris Johnson this week came under pressure from local Assembly Member Joanne McCartney over soaring six figure City Hall salaries, police cuts and huge fare rises.

As the Mayor faced questions on his final £14.6 billion budget of this term, Labour Assembly Members highlighted:

• New figures showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of City Hall advisers earning over £100,000 a year

• Boris Johnson’s decision to cut 1,700 police officers in the last two years

• New House of Commons figures showing a huge 26 per cent increase in bus, tube, tram and bus fares since 2008

Labour members of the Assembly proposed to reverse the huge pay rises of mayoral advisers; to cut transport fares by 7 per cent; and to put extra police in high crime areas, on the transport network and into schools; and to tackle unemployment.

Local Labour Assembly Member Joanne McCartney said: “The Mayor’s budget reveals just how out of touch he is with ordinary Londoners. Huge above-inflation fare hikes with nothing to curb extortionate rents, nothing to limit redundancies and nothing to tackle job insecurity. He clearly fails to understand what matters to people in this city or to understand the impact the financial squeeze is having on families and commuters.”

“I find it quite extraordinary that at a time when we’re seeing huge rises in youth unemployment across Enfield & Haringey, this Mayor thinks it appropriate to increase the pay of his executive team. There’s over 20,000 people looking for work in my constituency and only around 1,500 vacancies. Meanwhile a staggering 24 City Hall officials are now on £100,000+ salaries.”

“Again, when residents are worried about escalating rates of muggings and residential burglary, this week the Mayor admitted that police numbers had fallen by 1,700 in two years under his watch.”

“We’re asking the Mayor to acknowledge that a new approach is needed and to take our suggestions for the budget which would mean fairer pay scales, more police officers and lower fares for ordinary Londoners.”