Labour: A brutal price

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 11:52 AM

Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s shadow work and pensions cecretary, commenting on today’s unemployment figures:

"The brutal price our young people are paying for this Government’s economic policy is now crystal clear. The verdict is in: this Government is failing an entire generation.

"Today the Government have been given a million reasons to change course on the economy. Our country has not confronted youth unemployment on this scale since records began. And since January there has been an 83 per cent rise in young people on the dole for six months or more. The news that a million young people are standing idle must shock this out of touch Prime Minister into an economic re-think, and fast.

"Whoever the Government tries to blame, the fact is Britain’s economic recovery was choked off a year ago and unemployment started rising again well before the recent eurozone crisis. Today’s figures show unemployment up by a huge 129,000 to the worst figure since 1994. Their decision to cut too far and too fast is hurting and just not working.

"This sacrifice is without sense. There is a better way. Labour's five point plan for jobs and growth would get young people off the dole and into jobs and stop the scars of youth unemployment returning to communities all over Britain. Today we are now stuck in a vicious cycle, with more people out of work pushing up the benefits bill and making the deficit harder to get down, not easier."

Tags:
• unemployment