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Tag: youth unemployment

  • Morning Star Editorial: The long economic crisis Britain’s not talking about

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about

     Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Kinnock (left) and Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrive for a visit to Tata Steel in Port Talbot, on the next leg of his summer tour meeting local communities outside Westminster, ahead of Parliament’s return next week,

    ANDY BURNHAM’S visit to Wales coincided with today’s announcement of current youth unemployment. In Wales 17 per cent of young people available for employment are without work. Figures are worse in London and north-east England. Overall they are higher by 30,000 than the same figures this time last year.

    Earlier in the week the Prime Minister announced he was convening the National Economic Council this October, bringing together the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss economic development. This council, re-established shortly after Burnham took over as prime minister, was originally set up by Gordon Brown in 2008 in the face of global financial crisis.

    We are not yet in such a crisis. But omens are not good. Values in the London stock exchange are up over a third on where they were a decade ago — for a period when there has been virtually no growth in Britain’s economy. And this is not mentioning Elon Musk, the AI speculators, arms spending and Trump’s wars.

    However, for the young people in Wales, and all other places, what really matters will not be what happens next year but during their working lives: the next 40 years. Here three reports published over the last month by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) are of particular importance.

    The first, by William Ellis and Carsten Young, is on “Why We Need a Better Fiscal Framework.” They calculate that, on current projections, interest payments on government debt, will increase from the current 7.6 per cent of tax income to anything between 21 and 47 per cent over the next 40 years — the money going to the very wealthy who hold the bonds and crushing anything that remains of the welfare state.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about

  • Unions hit out at ‘epidemic of insecure work’ as economic fallout from Iran war revealed

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-hit-out-epidemic-insecure-work-economic-fallout-iran-war-revealed

     General view of the Job Centre Plus on Benalder St in Glasgow

    UNIONS hit out at an “epidemic of insecure work” as the economic fallout from the Iran war was revealed for the first time today.

    Youth unemployment has risen to its highest rate in more than a decade with one in seven (14.7 per cent) 16 to 24-year-olds looking for work.

    Zero-hours contracts have hit a record high of 1.23 million — up 65,000 on the year.

    The first official statistics since the war broke out in late February also showed job vacancies down to their lowest level for 11 years outside of the pandemic. They fell by 28,000 to 705,000 in the three months ending in March.

    Youngsters looking for their first job face a fiercely competitive jobs market with 22.7 per cent now out of work for more than a year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.

    …

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The ongoing economic fallout from Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran risks dashing hopes of a stabilising jobs market.

    “There is an epidemic of insecure work in this country. 

    “That’s why the government needs to deliver on its promise to give all workers a right to a contract which reflects their regular hours and end the scourge of insecure work for good.”

    …

    Article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-hit-out-epidemic-insecure-work-economic-fallout-iran-war-revealed

  • Against the armed forces ‘gap year,’ militarism and the drive to war

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/against-armed-forces-gap-year-militarism-and-drive-war

     Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer talks to soldiers during a visit to the Netherlands marines training base, June 24, 2025

    Labour’s cynical recruitment drive normalises militarism, diverts attention from youth unemployment and public service cuts, and seeks to build consent for an increasingly aggressive defence agenda, argues GEORGINA ANDREWS

    THE Labour government has announced that it will launch an armed forces “gap year” for under-25s. It will initially be open to 150 recruits, expanding to 1,000 in the future, with a starting salary of around £26,000.

    It will include training in the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force for those looking for a career in the military.

    Presented as an opportunity to young people, this scheme in reality is to manufacture consent for warfare and militarism among youth as more personnel leave the military rather than join it these days.

    …

    This military gap year scheme is cited as tackling youth unemployment which has reached a staggering 15.3 per cent, meaning 702,000 young people are not in education, employment or training, up 60,000 from last year.

    Youth unemployment is intrinsically linked to cuts to public services, which are in crisis. Genuine job opportunities for youth are lacking, which might make this scheme tempting for some young people, and highlights the lack of genuine investment in youth and public services from successive governments. Young people demand jobs not bombs.

    Young communists oppose this gap-year scheme, which promotes careers in the military to young people instead of genuinely investing in youth and public services to tackle unemployment. Young people should be part of building strong and organised labour, peace and progressive movements to demand peace, fully funded public services, and the implementation of the ADR in their workplaces, campuses and communities.

    Vast military expenditure increases must end in favour of the demilitarised strategy on conflict, which promotes human security, co-operation and diplomacy, outlined by the ADR. Public services should be fully and adequately funded by an end to militarism and drive to war alongside other measures.

    The Communist Party and its youth wing the Young Communist League offer youth an alternative to militarism and drive to war, through Britain’s Road to Socialism. Let us build the united front against war and austerity for peace, jobs and socialism in our lifetime.

    Georgina Andrews is general secretary of the Young Communist League.

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/against-armed-forces-gap-year-militarism-and-drive-war

    Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
    Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
    Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
    Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.