Coalition aware of economic fallout on Muslims, says Cable

The Coalition Government recognises that Muslims are among the worst hit from the economic crisis but is seeking to alleviate the situation, Business Secretary Vince Cable told the Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed J Versi, in an exclusive interview.


“We know that people’s living standards have been affected and…some groups have been particularly affected,” said Cable and also acknowledged that the “Muslim communities in the UK are among them.”


“We can’t accept that. So what the Government has to do and what we are doing, is first of all, we’ve got to have financial stability, because otherwise we’d have a catastrophe of the kind they’re having in Southern Europe,” he said.


In the interview, Cable spoke of the need to encourage growth, encourage business, small business in particular, with tax policies, new regulation, helping the skill development, helping with exports to get business moving and to create jobs.


Some European countries have already been forced to seek a bail-out. Fears are also that Britain may be among those heading for a double-dip recession. The crisis has led to significant rises in unemployment with ethnic minorities being affected the most, especially the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.


With the serious economic situation in Europe, the US and elsewhere, he warned that it was not going to be easy and would be slow but deflected criticism that the Government’s austerity measures are making the situation worse by insisting “we're doing the right thing.”