THE MAN aiming to be Carlisle’s next MP says his party’s proposals to get people back to work are the only answer to the city’s unemployment problem.

John Stevenson, Carlisle’s Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate, says that with six people chasing every Job Centre vacancy in the city, the unemployed have been failed by the Government’s back-to-work initiatives.

He says it will take Tory policies – unveiled at the party’s annual conference in Manchester last week – to help the 1,804 people who, according to Government figures, were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Carlisle in September.

                John says that the Government’s numerous and piecemeal work programmes will never succeed in finding people work.

Instead, he says, it needs a single simplified back-to-work programme for everyone receiving out-of-work benefits – which is what the Conservatives are proposing.

This would be backed up with new and additional work pairings, apprenticeships, further education college places and vocational education for young people.

There would also be programmes to support self-employment, work clubs and volunteering opportunities to help people prepare for work and find jobs.

“We need to rebuild our broken economy, mend our broken society and fix our broken politics,” he says. “Help should be directed towards those in our society who are most in need. Modern Conservatives will reward those who take responsibility, and care for those who can’t.”

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