𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Remember this pre-election pledge from a little over 18 months ago: “We will put the country back in the service of working people.” While many of you might recall how Sir Keir Starmer then struggled to define “working people or working class” to me when quizzed on the radio (some meandering waffle about “saving up for a car” or “looking forward to a holiday”) the intent behind his words was pretty clear. And while that makes the jobless figures released last week beyond embarrassing for the government regarding the general population, for our youth it is little more than a betrayal.

Outside of the darkest period imaginable during the Covid pandemic, unemployment is at its highest level for a decade, has increased by a quarter over the last 12 months and, as stated earlier, is acutely bleak for our younger generation, namely those aged between 16 and 24.

The level of unemployment for them is the highest in the European Union with one in six out of work and there is the added concern that almost a million of them (950,000) are classed uncharitably as ‘Neets’ – Not in Education, Employment or Training.

When challenged, ministers blather on about “doing more to get people into jobs” and “making it easier for young people to get into apprenticeships” without realising this simply serves to highlight both their naivety and ignorance.

Because this is the very same bunch of incompetents, most of whom would struggle to run a bath let alone a business, who have ushered in a series of measures that have plunged the workplace into stasis.

The appallingly misjudged hike in National Insurance contributions has killed recruitment and – without wishing to blitz you with too many figures – this is borne out when you learn there have been more than 700,000 redundancies since the last election and job vacancies have dropped by 73,000 in the past year. All of which was forecast by employers, but this tone-deaf government was probably too busy burning the rubber from the tyres of another U-turn to heed the warning.

And talking of those about turns, is another on the way? Bullied by their union paymasters, Labour promised to equalise the national minimum wage by the next election. Workers aged over 21 must be paid a minimum of £12.21 an hour, while those between 18 and 21 currently get £10 an hour, but pressure is mounting to ditch a policy seemingly designed to make it harder for our youth to get into work.

Commissioned to review the youth jobs crisis, Labour grandee Alan Milburn warned last week: “We risk a generation on the scrapheap, the system isn’t working.”

Regrettably, just as with our youngsters, he is right: neither are working. And when you factor in this insane rush to allow as many people as possible to work from home, which has resulted in countless jobs being quietly farmed out overseas where labour is markedly cheaper, the picture becomes even gloomier.

Meanwhile, as our politicians dither the mental health of this age group continues to decline as so many are denied the structure, support and discipline a job provides. For them in, particular, Labour isn’t working.

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Heard about the PM’s new website? it’s.not.me.gov.uk

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Nigel Farage should consider the wisdom of his Famous Five

To much fanfare, “Farage’s Famous Five” took their bow last week with what he’s calling his ‘shadow cabinet’ comprising, from left to (very!) right, Zia Yusuf, Robert Jenrick, Nigel Farage, Richard Tice and Suella Braverman. Given even the Conservatives now admit they failed the nation in many areas towards the end of their tenure, it’s fair to question the wisdom of having a duo of prominent members of that previous administration.

Or, with apologies to Oscar Wilde, “to pick one discredited Tory may be regarded as misfortune; to pick two looks like carelessness”.

Oh dear, looks like we need a taxi for Steve Reed

While in charge of the housing construction brief he promised to “build, baby build”. The figures for homes built in the third quarter are the lowest in 12 years. Now running local government, he championed measures to deny 4.6 million people the vote in local elections only to be overruled by legal advice and must now splurge £63million to make good the costly error.

Taxi for Local Government Secretary Steve Reed, please!

This is why trust in politics is at a record low

One of Sir Keir Starmer closest friends, Philippe Sands KC, was paid a share of £8million for working for Mauritius during the Chagos Islands row. While in no way implying any wrongdoing, is it any wonder trust in politics is at a record low?

Pro-Palestinian activists rear their heads and range from the comical to the downright sinister

Brilliant comic Matt Lucas is harassed and heckled on the London Underground network by a pro-Palestinian activist. It was totally unwarranted and the 51-year-old’s only ‘crime’ appears to have been he comes from a Jewish family.

This as the US anti-Semitism campaigner Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun says on a visit to the UK that hatred of Jewish people here has been allowed to “run amok.” Meanwhile, a group of useful idiots calling themselves the Brighton and Hove Apartheid Free Zone were filmed asking residents to boycott any Israeli products.

As we must hope these deluded dolts didn’t require the sat nav system Waze, use some mobile phones packed with Israeli components or any of the wonder drugs that keep us alive and were developed in Israel, their actions can be written off as almost comical. Worryingly, the others are far more sinister.

Why is the Bank of England even getting involved in this?

You can see the size of the economic crisis gripping the country from another planet. Therefore, is it too much to expect the Bank of England to focus on getting us out of this fiscal quagmire instead of issuing advice to genderfluid male staff saying they can wear eyeshadow and high heels to the office?