FMQs: Salmond ‘failing’ jobless youngsters

By TOM PETERKIN
Published on Friday 24 February 2012 01:30

ALEX Salmond clashed with his Labour counterpart Johann Lamont yesterday over the SNP Government’s policies for tackling youth unemployment.

Ms Lamont claimed that economic policy had “clearly failed” citing recent figures which disclosed that 102,000 16 to 24-year-olds are jobless.

At First Minister’s Questions the Scottish Labour leader accused the SNP leader of wasting time on the independence referendum and failing to address job losses.

She said: “The First Minister needs to realise that these are real people and real jobs. The First Minister’s Plan MacB, the one he boasted about to all who would listen, has clearly failed.

“So can he tell us today why one in three of all jobs lost in the United Kingdom in the last three months were Scottish jobs?”

Official figures published on 15 February show that unemployment in Scotland increased by 16,000 to 231,000 between October and December last year.

But Mr Salmond retorted saying four strands of Labour’s five-point plan for the economy relies on action from the UK government. He said: “The unemployment problem in Scotland, indeed across these islands, is extremely serious. Of that there is no question whatsoever.”

He called on the UK government to provide increased capital spending and more funds for small and medium-sized businesses.

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14

Leisure_suit_Larry

Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 10:05 AM

#2 - Ah, the Sarry heid , I'm wondering what the changing "local" population think of that name in this PC country.

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13

Leisure_suit_Larry

Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 10:03 AM

Fine coming from labour who imported 100,000 E Europeans slashing apprenticeships overnight and displacing 10's of thousands of native workers. The WHOLE political class have sold the native workers out.

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12

overshot

Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 05:10 AM

Ms Lamont. How many apprenticeships have been lost with the contract going to South Korea?

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11

Newferryman

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 08:47 PM

The Hootsman says that there was a clash. It must have been after FMQ as there was no clash during it. Just more drivel being spouted by Lamont with no serious debate on tackling the real issue.

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10

Brond

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:38 PM

It was nice to see Johann come out of hiding for FMQs.

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9

samcoldstream

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 11:35 AM

The fact remains that many of the powers the leader of the Labour Parliamentary group seeks to bring down youth unemployment are reserved to Westminster.

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8

Sneeky

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:31 AM

It would seem that no matter how you word the exchenge between Margaret Curran and Michael Moore on the Condems failing to tackle youth unemployment in Scotland it just gets put to "Pending Moderation".

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7

Sneeky

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:22 AM

Pending Moderation

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6

Sneeky

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:18 AM

Pending Moderation

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5

Sneeky

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:14 AM

Surely then Ms Lamont agrees that the economic levers that are required to remedy the situation should be handed to Holyrood. Control of Taxation would allow the Scottish Governement to incentivise companies to set up and expand in Scotland. We need to have control to break away from the Neo-liberal Austerity-blitz that is happening under the Condems!

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4

Tiny

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 07:47 AM

Once Scotland is independent we can only hope that an opposition can be found. How the unionists must wish FMQ's did not exist, every week it highlights the huge gap in competentcy between the SNP and the rest.

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3

The Harder They Come

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:44 AM

The honest truth is that Lamont is lamentable, she's actually worse than Gray. What happened to the big promises on the new leadership, the 'big tent', the thinking a new. Labour are not only trying to hoodwink the Scottish pubic, they are fooling themselves. Until they sack their current communications team, they are going nowhere.

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2

Tennis C. Williams

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:12 AM

I would be very careful if I were Salmond. I remember Johann's days as a bouncer at the Saracen Head public bar in Glasgow before she became an MSP. It was there she had her first clash with a certain Eric Joyce when he refused to leave the establishment after closing time. He never did come back after that beating.

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1

The Shitesman

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 01:48 AM

Another Uncle Tom special.

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