Local MP calls for immediate investment in Port of Leith

Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz has called for immediate government investment in the Port of Leith. Participating in yesterday’s Westminster debate on unemployment in Scotland, he called for new investment in infrastructure by Government both north and south of the border to create new jobs, pointing to plans to develop the Port of Leith as a potential focus for Government-backed investment.

The North and Leith MP said: “Youth unemployment has risen sharply locally and there is also a problem of underemployment – people aren’t able to get as much work as they would like, whether with their employer or where they are self-employed.

“House building is always a sign of activity in the economy as a whole and there have been only 8 new homes built in Edinburgh North and Leith in the last quarter. Yet once again in his autumn statement the Chancellor failed to provide funding for new affordable housing.

“There were no plans either for High Speed 2 to extend to Scotland. In other sectors where the Government has announced investment – often more than once – little has happened on the ground. The Chancellor heralded new capital investment again today, but it needs to happen now not in some dim and distant future.

“A £119 million development of the Port of Leith is on a list of shovel ready projects here in Scotland. Both the UK and Scottish Governments need to get on with projects like this to create jobs so that young people desperately seeking work are not left disillusioned.”

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