AN Oldham MP has blasted the government’s claims the country is thriving since the roll out of Universal Credit.

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon said: “It certainly won’t be a surprise to people in the constituency that these claims are far off the mark.”

He pointed to the total number of unemployed claimants in his constituency now stands at 3,170 – or 6.7 per cent, compared to 2.9 per cent nationally.

Mr McMahon continued: “What’s more is that unemployment is 685 higher now than this time last year and 735 younger workers aged 18-24 are out of work, 165 higher than last year.

“The UK economy is not a strong one, and worryingly it’s built on weak foundations of an over-reliance on service industries and centred round London and the South East.

“Our goods industries and every other region in the UK including the North West have been completely hollowed out.

“Brexit, in whatever deal (or no deal) will cause stress to the economy and the government have done nothing to address how fragile our regions are. We also