A SHOCK survey has revealed almost a quarter of Blackburn homes do not have a breadwinner.

The latest figures have been revealed by the Labour Party amid claims the Government has rigged unemployment statistics. The statistics mean 6,000 families in the borough do not have anybody in employment.

The startling figures cover households with people of working age and are in direct contrast to recent government claims.

Conservative leaders announced just months ago that the number of people out of work was at the lowest for 15 years.

And according to the Government, unemployment in the North West fell by 29,000 in the last year.

But the opposition hit back at the announcement, saying the figures were rigged and the true picture was a lot worse across the country. Labour bosses compiled their set of results using a Government Labour Force Survey and the official census.

The opposition say the Tory figures do not take into account unemployed people who do not qualify for benefits.

Blackburn MP Jack Straw has blasted the Government's employment record. He said: "These figures reveal the true extent of unemployment in Blackburn, in a way the Government's fiddled figures never could.

"They show up the Tories' failure to bring lasting prosperity to thousands of families in Blackburn."

The Shadow Home Secretary added: "We are all paying the price of unemployment - in higher taxes, bigger social security bills and more public borrowing.

"Labour wants to see a nation at work, not on benefit. Our windfall levy on the excess profits of the privatised utilities will fund a new deal for the young and long-term unemployed in Blackburn."

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