LAST week’s unemployment figures (Echo, June 18) show that the North-East is suffering badly from this recession and we need decisive action to turn the situation round.

In the North Durham parliamentary constituency, unemployment has increased by 1,316, over the past year. That is a shocking increase of 101 per cent.

Unemployment has a devastating effect on families and communities.

I strongly believe that much more needs to be done to tackle this problem and get the North-East back to work.

The Government needs to swiftly introduce an urgent package to fight unemployment and create jobs. It should include tax cuts for companies that create jobs, the removal of all tax on savings for basic rate taxpayers and investment in retraining schemes.

David Skelton, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, North Durham.