And the situation in Hastings and Rye reflects that achievement. This month's unemployment figures show that unemployment has fallen by nearly 2000 since 1997. Government investment in the town is clearly showing dividends and employment is higher than it has ever been.

The fact that nationwide we now have a million fewer people on benefits is something to be proud of. we want to see a society where every family has someone in work, because we know that's the best route out of poverty, the best way of achieving personal fulfilment and economic independence.

It's easy to forget the bad old days of the 80's and early 90's when unemployment was considered by successive Tory governments to be "a price worth paying". In 1982 a staggering one in eight of the workforce were out of a job. The price paid in human terms was enormous. In 1997 when we inherited a claimant count of 1.35 million our foremost ambition was to ensure that people would be able to get back to work. We've achieved that and more.

We've proved that creating jobs and introducing a minimum wage to make work worthwhile, expands the economy and makes life better for everyone with more money to invest in health and education. Economists agree that Labour's handing of responsibility for interest rates to the Bank of England, combined with labour market policies such as the New Deal and Jobcentre Plus, which put benefit payments and job searching under one roof, have helped push unemployment far lower than many people thought possible while still keeping inflation low and stable. Unbelievable that the Tories (who after all fought tooth and nail against the minimum wage) now say they would abolish Jobcentre Plus and the New Deal if they came to government. Really - they never seem to learn!

It may be the case that given the problems in the global economy it will be difficult to maintain this trend in the year to come. However the British economy remains the strongest in Europe and with substantial local investment continuing we are all optimistic.

The Government recognise of course that some areas have a historic problem of attracting and maintaining employment opportunities. That's particularly the case in seaside towns such as Hastings with very little local industry other than tourism, which has suffered over the years as holidaymakers choose to spend more time abroad. That's why we are benefiting from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund which will provide us with over £2m for this year and the next two years to tackle these problems.

There's also hard core of jobless people who don't have the skills to fit the jobs available, meaning that some jobs are being filled by workers from outside the town. I very much hope that the opportunities that the new College will provide will significantly improve skills so that we can provide employers with the skilled personnel they need and attract even more investment to the area.

Our aim is to redefine Britain's welfare state for the twenty first century, giving people skills through transferring resources from welfare to education. We are on the side of decent hard working people who want to their own two feet and contribute to their community. With the help of the Working Neighbourhood Fund and other investment, Hastings is really going places and I hope that all our residents will be able to play their part in our success story.