Ken Livingstone has been accused of “wasting money on diversionary ‘skills’ projects, while doing nothing to ensure an Olympic legacy of real jobs in East London.”
The comments, made by One London Assembly Member and Mayoral candidate Damian Hockney, came as the Mayor launched a jobs and skills strategy to help contractors recruit workers for the construction jobs and to provide training to the unemployed.
Speaking yesterday the Mayor promised the 2012 Games would “act as a catalyst for regeneration on a scale never seen before creating jobs and giving other Londoners the opportunity to learn valuable new skills.”
“The Olympic Delivery Authority deserves great credit for ensuring the London Games benefit workless Londoners and providing so many job opportunities at the local level. The 2012 legacy really has started and this strategy alongside the employment and skills programmes that I have instigated will improve the prospects of thousands and thousands of Londoners over the next decade and beyond.”
However Hockney claimed the strategy would “do nothing to give real employment to real people in east London.”
“Under pressure from the One London Party Ken Livingstone agreed last year to provide a quarterly ‘jobs audit’ for the Olympics, detailing exactly how many jobs have been lost and gained in the Olympic zone as a direct result of the Games. That was in May last year, and we’re still waiting for the first audit.”
“Last year, I made this prediction to east Londoners – ‘There will be plenty of jobs for burger-flippers, security guards and car parking attendants for the three weeks the Games last, but if you want permanent, full-time, well paid employment as a result of the 2012 Olympics, I have a nasty feeling that you’ll be disappointed’. Today’s announcement has only strengthened my conviction that there will be no lasting legacy for local unemployed people.”
