Axe could fall on thousands of Yorkshire jobs, says David Miliband

The Shadow Foreign Secretary will today unveil a five-point plan to boost jobs after branding George Osborne's Budget a "massive gamble".

Research he commissioned from the House of Commons Library suggests 8,908 jobs could be lost in Leeds and 7,047 in Sheffield if the projected 610,000 public sector jobs are evenly spread across the country.

The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts those losses will be more than offset by the number of private sector posts created, but Mr Miliband said that was "heroically ambitious".

Mr Miliband's plan includes setting up a British Investment Bank to invest in infrastructure, get 60 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds into higher education, higher level vocational learning or an apprenticeship by 2025, and promoting a living wage – higher than the minimum wage.

He also criticised coalition attacks on the public sector, pointing to spin-offs from the BBC's move to Salford as evidence of how public investment could revive local economies.

Mr Miliband said: "No one can accuse this government of hedging its bets.

"By presenting the case for radical cuts as unavoidable, committing to the largest cuts plans in living memory and leading Europe in austerity measures, the coalition has gone for broke.

"The Prime Minister says it will 'change our way of life'. That's the problem."

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said the Government had already taken action to help the economy.

Ministers were bringing down the deficit to increase private sector confidence, keeping interest rates low and stopping the "jobs tax" proposed by Labour, he said.