I know that many people in our community are worried about unemployment. The picture locally is very mixed. Unemployment has certainly gone up, but there are certainly some hopeful signs that we are beginning to get over the worst of the economic problems which have caused the increase in the jobless total. For example, the most recent official unemployment statistics showed that the number of people unemployed in the UK has dropped by 7,000 including a fall in youth unemployment.  However, the Scottish unemployment figure went up.

It is true that unemployment in this current recession is a lot lower than it was during the economic difficulties under the Tories.  During the last recession in 1992, there were 21,000 people in Edinburgh unemployed. The latest figures show less than half that number - just over 10,000 - out of work at the moment. It shows the value of investing in help and advice for those looking for work and the danger of wholesale cuts in front line services which would hit the most vulnerable hardest. And that’s what would happen if we made the spending cuts which David Cameron and the Tories want.

The current UK government has made it a priority to support those who have become unemployed or young people looking for their first job and the figures seem to show it is producing results. The Government has just announced that it is investing an extra £5 billion to help people get back into work and will offer a guarantee of a job, training or work experience for anyone under 25 who is unemployed.

This is part of the Future Jobs Fund which is creating over 100,000 jobs for young people who have been unemployed for 6 months or more. It means that young people gain skills and experience which will help them find work in the long term but they are also doing work that benefits the local community such as working with the elderly and disabled or renovating public buildings and green space. These are to be real jobs, with real wages. I hope that the local Council and local community organisations will take the chance to apply to the Future Jobs Fund to make sure local unemployed people – particularly the young unemployed – can get jobs.

We have to make sure that there are skilled jobs for them as well as older workers as the economy revives. I was pleased to see the announcement recently that a new wind farm is to be built in the Firth of Forth which could generate up to 30% of Scotland's electricity and looks likely to create thousands of new jobs in building, installing and maintaining the turbines. It's this kind of high-tech industry that we should be encouraging which is more likely to offer long-term skilled jobs. The money for investment in initiatives like this or the Future Jobs Fund is coming from the windfall tax on top bankers' bonuses. We need a better balanced economy less dependent on the financial sector and with a stronger industrial base. Manufacturing not funny money is the key to the future.