We Need More Than Gimmicks and Headline Grabbing Initiatives To Tackle Unemployment

I have blogged many times about the need for urgent action both to tackle the 90% rise in unemployment in North Durham and to address the fact that a record number of young people are not in education, employment or training. Without action, we face the possibility of this dreadful recession creating a 'lost generation' of young people.

We need o much more than the kind of programme Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday. At least he admits there is a problem but, the truth is, that the programme he announced does not go anywhere near far enough. Indeed, it has since emerged that the action announced by Gordon Brown amounts to an exercise in media management on behalf of the Prime Minister.

He said that he was creating 85,000 training and job opportunities for young people. However, it seems that many of the 'extra' places are being offered to those already in work, including 36,000 who already work for Morrisons. Some of the training would probably have been offered anyway. It seems that a tiny minority of the places will go to unemployed young people, or those young people not in education or training. It is a step in the right direction but little more.

The scheme announced by Gordon Brown is too timid and too lacking in ambition to solve the major problems we face. We need meaningful action to tackle the jobs crisis and meaningful action to help people back into work.

We need so much more than this Government are prepared to offer. That is why, if elected as MP for North Durham, I will ensure that creating jobs and helping to create real and meaningful apprenticeship, training and employment opportunities for young people is an absolute priority.