Even though the Office for National Statistics says the “special factors” such as the unusually warm weather, the Royal Wedding and the Japanese tsunami reduced the overall figure; commentators are bound to point out that the Royal wedding was almost universally acclaimed as a fillip for the sagging economy. The truth is, consumer confidence is ebbing away as purse strings tighten and employers are starting to feel the pinch of an economy that is not yet dead, but rapidly getting there. The growth of just 0.2% over the last nine months is parlous and compares very unfavourably with the figures Gordon Brown’s strategy posted of 2.1% in the previous nine months.

Once again, the OBR will have to downgrade its forecast – the fourth time since it was established just over a year ago.

Osborne’s supporters are casting around for objects of blame, but the real comparison is with Germany and France, both of whom have enjoyed good growth in the same period as a result of their economic policies and in reality it is the polices of the government of starving the economy and imposing higher tax on purchases that are causing the steady slide to another recession.

When Alistair Darling reduced VAT to 15 per cent during the financial crisis, consumers spent £9bn more than they otherwise would have done. A similar reduction would enhance consumer confidence and get the economy going again. Osborne is getting it wrong – the figures don’t lie.

Osborne remains bullish however, saying “The positive news is that the British economy is continuing to grow and is creating jobs. And it is positive news too at a time of real international instability we are a safe haven in the storm. Our economy is stable at this time because this Government has taken the difficult decisions to get to grips with Britain’s debts. Abandoning that now, as some argue we should, would only risk British jobs and growth.”

Meanwhile, the government is following Gordon Brown’s lead by introducing more Quantitative Easing into the economy, something that has largely gone uncommented on, except from the increasingly isolated Vince Cable.

In response to a Parliamentary Question, the Director General of the Office of National Statistics reported that there were 11.6 jobseekers in Bristol East for every Jobcentre Plus vacancy. This represents a 61% increase since June last year, proving that it is getting more and more difficult for people to find work. Bristol East is ranked 148^th of 634 constituencies.

In Bristol South, there are 9.4 jobseekers per vacancy, in Bristol North West  4.6 and in Bristol West 3.7 but regardless of the constituency, the challenge for people across the city who are making every effort to find work has increased substantially over the past 12 months.

On seeing the figures, Kerry commented: “This is just not acceptable. The Coalition’s decisions over the past 12 months have resulted in more people in my constituency being out of work, and fewer vacancies for which they can apply. At the same time, their household bills will be increasing with the higher VAT rate and inflation at such a high level.

The Government’s choice to cut too far and too fast has backfired. Their decision means economic growth has flatlined and not enough jobs have been created, while they scrapped programmes to help people find work. The Government gambled on a private sector recovery that is not materialising because they are failing to support it.

The Tories and Lib Dems just do not understand how difficult they have made the lives of people who want to work but cannot find a job with this level of competition for each vacancy. My constituents take their responsibilities seriously and want to pay their bills, but this Government’s irresponsible policies are costing them, and costing the country with more Jobseeker’s Allowance payments.

All over the country, there are more unemployed people than there are jobs; the Government needs to abandon their reckless policies and take positive action to support jobs and growth in our city.”

People across Bristol are proud of what we’ve achieved and the help we’ve given to people living lives of poverty in developing countries: Kerry McCarthy MP

Kerry McCarthy MP is urging people to go online and back a new campaign to turn a promise to tackle global poverty into a law.

The www.globalpovertypromise.com website is part of a campaign to put the Government’s promise to raise international development aid to 0.7% of national income by 2013 into legislation.

Kerry said: “People across Bristol are proud of what we’ve achieved and the help we’ve given to people living lives of poverty in developing countries. We’ve campaigned to Make Poverty History and kept our promises through this global recession. I am urging people to go online and join me in backing ‘globalpovertypromise.com’.”

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s International Development Secretary, said: “Kerry has been a passionate campaigner on global poverty and a long standing advocate of action to help people in the developing world. She was my parliamentary aide for two years, and she brought me to Bristol to meet local faith groups, NGOs, fair trade campaigners, school pupils and diaspora communities. I know how committed she and many others in Bristol are to this cause.

“Aid increases and debt cancellation have helped to get 40 million more children into school, while the number of people with access to AIDS treatment has increased from just 100,000 to over 4 million. The proportion of the world’s population living in poverty has fallen from a third to a quarter thanks to a combination of both aid and trade.

“The Tories say they want a consensus on international development but when you scratch the surface, you find that they have changed their branding but not their beliefs. When they were last in Government, the Tories halved the British aid budget while Labour has trebled it. Now they refuse to back our plan to put our promise into law.”