Bob Blackman’s criticism of Labour’s Employment Rights Act, following his written question to the Department for Business and Trade about its impact on young people’s employment prospects, follows a familiar opposition script: find a worrying statistic, blame the current government, and ignore the role your own party played in creating the problem.
His argument is that Labour’s employment reforms, higher employer National Insurance contributions and increased costs for business are discouraging employers from hiring young people. There is some merit to that concern. Many economists accept that making recruitment more expensive can make businesses more cautious about taking on inexperienced workers.
What Blackman fails to acknowledge is that the Conservatives had fourteen years to address the structural problems facing Britain’s young people, and failed.
Weak productivity, years of underinvestment in further education and skills, a faltering apprenticeship system, soaring housing costs, sluggish business investment and the economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit all developed under Conservative governments. These long-term failures did far more to undermine opportunities for young people than legislation introduced only recently by Labour.
For Harrow residents, this criticism carries particular significance. Bob Blackman has been MP for Harrow East since 2010, covering almost the entire period in which these national problems became entrenched. While he now condemns the lack of opportunities available to young people, he spent fourteen years supporting governments that presided over stagnant growth, widening skills shortages and declining prospects for many entering the labour market.
During that time, Blackman remained highly visible and actively engaged with sections of the local community that have formed an important part of his political support, helping him retain his seat even as the Conservative Party suffered significant decline nationally. That inevitably raises a question: how much of the same energy and political focus was devoted to tackling the challenges facing young people in Harrow? If youth unemployment and limited opportunities are now a matter of urgent concern, residents are entitled to ask what sustained action was taken over the past fourteen years to address them.
The rise in young people not in education, employment or training is a serious issue that deserves scrutiny. But suggesting Labour’s Employment Rights Act is the principal cause does not withstand serious analysis. At most, the legislation may affect hiring decisions at the margins; it cannot explain problems that have been building for well over a decade.
Blackman is right to hold the Government to account, but accountability cuts both ways. Before pointing the finger at Labour, he should acknowledge the legacy of the governments he supported. Harrow’s young people deserve a debate based on evidence rather than selective political memory.
His argument is that Labour’s employment reforms, higher employer National Insurance contributions and increased costs for business are discouraging employers from hiring young people. There is some merit to that concern. Many economists accept that making recruitment more expensive can make businesses more cautious about taking on inexperienced workers.
What Blackman fails to acknowledge is that the Conservatives had fourteen years to address the structural problems facing Britain’s young people, and failed.
Weak productivity, years of underinvestment in further education and skills, a faltering apprenticeship system, soaring housing costs, sluggish business investment and the economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit all developed under Conservative governments. These long-term failures did far more to undermine opportunities for young people than legislation introduced only recently by Labour.
For Harrow residents, this criticism carries particular significance. Bob Blackman has been MP for Harrow East since 2010, covering almost the entire period in which these national problems became entrenched. While he now condemns the lack of opportunities available to young people, he spent fourteen years supporting governments that presided over stagnant growth, widening skills shortages and declining prospects for many entering the labour market.
During that time, Blackman remained highly visible and actively engaged with sections of the local community that have formed an important part of his political support, helping him retain his seat even as the Conservative Party suffered significant decline nationally. That inevitably raises a question: how much of the same energy and political focus was devoted to tackling the challenges facing young people in Harrow? If youth unemployment and limited opportunities are now a matter of urgent concern, residents are entitled to ask what sustained action was taken over the past fourteen years to address them.
The rise in young people not in education, employment or training is a serious issue that deserves scrutiny. But suggesting Labour’s Employment Rights Act is the principal cause does not withstand serious analysis. At most, the legislation may affect hiring decisions at the margins; it cannot explain problems that have been building for well over a decade.
Blackman is right to hold the Government to account, but accountability cuts both ways. Before pointing the finger at Labour, he should acknowledge the legacy of the governments he supported. Harrow’s young people deserve a debate based on evidence rather than selective political memory.