Tough times for youth wasting while they're young
Nick Clegg has been allowed to announce a £1bn scheme to get Britain's young unemployed in work, or at least learning skills so they can work.
It may be too little too late, but something has to be done - almost one in five 16 to 24-year-olds (1,163,000) are classed as NEETs - Not in Employment, Education and Training.
Unfortunately that figure, which came out this week, surprised few. But as we race headlong into a double dip recession, bringing on young people is unlikely to be at the top of any employer's mind.
I spoke to a lad due to graduate from Liverpool Uni next summer. He says the best he can hope for is something in the voluntary sector, for a few months, to bolster his CV.
That's with a degree. What hope is there for those who left school in their teens with minimal qualifications?
It's a sweeping generalisation, but they probably don't have the luxury of being able to work for free, like middle class university leavers find themselves doing.
To say a generation will end up on the scrapheap is premature, and an insult to young people whose enthusiasm and determination to want to work should be their biggest asset.
But chances are those in their teens now will have a difficult transition into adulthood. I don't envy the young.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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You'll be working yourself up into another racist rant about immigrants next. Or have you already poisoned the discussion to your satisfaction?
Perhaps this is a gypsy thing eh BlueLabour? Maybe we could blame them?