English Local Elections: 11/04/2017 Party Election Broadcasts: Labour

There have never been so many people in work -

that's what the Government keeps telling us.

But what's the reality of this Tory jobs bonanza?

Well, if you're one of the millions of people working on

a contract without fixed hours or days, then it's not so good.

Nor is it so great if you're one of the millions

who are barely surviving.

Mark and his wife are among those who relied on

tax credits to make ends meet.

And then the Conservatives started hacking away at them.

I'm a delivery driver. I do 35 hours a week for £8 an hour.

My wife gets £9 an hour for an 18-hour week.

Between us, we make around £20,000 a year,

but now the Tories have cut my tax credits by nearly 4,000,

it's impossible to make ends meet.

It's not even worth me doing any overtime, because that would

reduce my tax credits even more, so I'd be worse off.

It feels like I'm just existing, not living.

My wife and I, we hardly see each other.

When I come home from work, she's out working.

Don't see my kids either. We haven't had a holiday in years.

I'm not asking for much, just a proper living wage.

It doesn't need to be like this.

Labour will introduce a real living wage of no less than £10 per hour,

and Labour will invest £500 billion to create good quality jobs

in all parts of the country,

guaranteeing a decent job for everyone.

Sue has been a health care assistant for 12 years.

Since her last employer closed down,

she has had to take on a zero hours contract to remain in work.

With two children at school,

she feels it's destroying her family life.

It's impossible to budget or plan anything.

I might have a school event or I've promised to do something with

my kids, and then someone calls in sick and I have to cancel.

I can't say no to those hours,

as I don't know when I'll be offered any more.

The kids get so disappointed,

they don't understand why I'm letting them down.

It's not living, I'm always on call.

My personal life suffers and I have absolutely no security.

It's horrible.

Is it too much to expect that in 2017,

Mark and Sue and the millions like them,

decent people doing decent jobs,

deserve decent pay and decent working conditions?

Labour believes that they do.

Labour will put an end to job contracts that exploit people,

and Labour will give everyone stronger employment rights

from day one in a job,

because Labour will stand up for you.