Prisk warns drop in manufacturing threatens thousands of jobs

Shadow Business Minister, Mark Prisk, has warned jobs are on the line after new statistics revealed that UK manufacturing output has fallen for the twelfth consecutive month.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that manufacturing output dropped by 0.9% in February - and the British Chambers of Commerce has separately reported that manufacturing exports are at a 10-year low.

Mark stressed, "These figures are a reminder of what's happening in the real economy despite the Prime Minister's grand words at the G20 summit."

And he slammed Labour for failing to deliver real action to help people through the recession:

"Ministers should remember that as the economy shrinks, more and more people are losing their jobs.  Since they promised action last autumn, hundreds of thousands of people have faced redundancy and the longer we wait for action the worse things will get."