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MOONSHINE-PEDDLING Lib Dem minister Ed Davey came under fire yesterday for spouting repeated boasts about the government’s economic policies.
“There is nothing I and my colleagues are prouder of than this government’s record on jobs,” he purred in the Commons during a debate on the Queen’s Speech.
Mr Davey had to rely on his Tory bedfellows for support in the chamber — since not a single Lib Dem backbencher turned up to hear his speech.
“We have pulled our economy from the abyss,” the Energy Secretary proclaimed.
Labour shadow minister Caroline Flint sharply reminded Mr Davey that workers’ families were £1,600 a year worse-off than when the coalition came into office — and their average energy bill had soared by £300.
Over one-and-a-half million households were in debt to their energy suppliers, while the profit margins of the big six gas and electricity companies had doubled.
“The country is suffering from the biggest housing crisis in a generation,” she added.
“Recovery which does not benefit ordinary working people is no recovery at all.”
Left MP Jeremy Corbyn protested against the “disgrace” of social cleansing of many people from London and other cities because of sky-high private-sector rents and benefit caps.
Sheffield Labour MP Clive Betts criticised both the Con-Dem coalition and Labour governments for “long-term failure” to build more homes.
Urging more public spending on social housing, Mr Betts warned: “We are not going to build the number of homes we need unless we spend more money on them.”