Local MP Jon Trickett holds Government to account on youth unemployment
Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett has made his first appearance on the opposition benches since the election to demand of the Government what steps they will take to tackle youth unemployment.
When the Tories left power in 1997, youth unemployment was at a record high in constituencies such as Hemsworth and despite just coming out the worst recession since the 1930s, the Labour Government refused to see a generation of young people lost to mass unemployment.
One of the first measures the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition has taken is to axe the Future Jobs Fund. This fund amounted to over £1 billion to help support 18-24 year olds who had been unemployed for six months or over. The slashing of funds for young people is a clear signal of the new Government’s attitude to helping the most vulnerable in society.
In an oral question to the Minister of State for Work and Pensions yesterday, Jon asked what steps he planned to take to reduce levels of youth unemployment. The reply from the Conservative Minister showed that they had no plans until 2011 when they would begin to deliver help through private and voluntary providers. In his reply, Jon argued:
The Tories are the party of mass unemployment; they had left thousands of young people in long-term unemployment in the mining areas and elsewhere in this country when they were turfed out of office in 1997.
Will the Minister confirm last week’s authoritative report that said that the fiscal strategy that the coalition is adopting will lead to there being another half a million people – many of them young – in the dole queues
The Minister declined to answer the question and instead attacked Labour’s record on unemployment. Jon Trickett said today:
The Tories have an absolutely disastrous record on youth unemployment as many people in my constituency are well aware and are still feeling the effects of to this day. I am appalled that the Tories and Lib Dems are reversing the Labour Government’s efforts to tackle youth unemployment and I will fight every step of the way with the unemployed of my constituency to ensure they have the best access to the highest quality jobs.