With all his efforts focused on the people who are cheapest to employ, is cynicism fuelling Keir Starmer’s latest jobs push?
There are plenty of people in later life – like This Writer – who would relish the chance to use our wealth of experience to help restore the UK’s stagnant economy.
In my case, this is because the website’s earnings have plummeted due to the efforts of social media platforms whose algorithms are deliberately focused on denying me the viral hits I need to build my readership. Starmer and his government have been ignoring this issue since I first raised it with them in July.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
So I have diversified the site, with a new ‘leisure’ strand and opportunities for people and businesses to advertise direct with the site or run sponsored posts on it.
But these take time to gain traction, so I have been applying for work as well. So far, I’ve had no luck. It seems possible that my age – and my wealth of experience, is against me.
If you have a news story about politics, contact Vox Political via email: [email protected]
And the government is focusing on people aged 18-21. Why?
A friend in the hospitality trade enlightened me: “It’s because they’re cheaper,” he said. “It’s a well-known strategy to get young people on the ladder and give them experience. That’s why the Minimum Wage is lower for people starting out.
“The downside is that everybody has to put up with the mistakes they make while they’re learning, and people who know what they’re doing don’t get a look-in.”
So now you know too.
Starmer’s latest plan seems to have been triggered by a pushback against his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the National Insurance increase that she announced in the Budget on October 30.
Employers have said that this, together with the latest rise in the Minimum Wage, makes them unlikely to create new jobs, and this will hit government hopes for economic growth.
So today (Tuesday, November 26, 2024), we have an announcement that Job Centres are going to be re-branded as “the National Jobs and Careers Service”. Big deal. It makes no difference if the service provided is still based on threats.
And that’s what seems to be happening; Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has already announced plans to remove benefits from anybody aged 18-21 who refuses an offer of work or an apprenticeship under the misleading banner of a “Youth Guarantee”. This already seems to be based on a lie as the figures for youth unemployment it is using cover July-September, when young people cannot be in education or some forms of training because the establishments providing those services are closed for the summer.
And the new measures will run alongside the already well-established threat of benefit sanctions if people do not accept an agreement to look for work, miss a Job Centre appointment or decline a job offer.
The BBC’s article quotes a response to this from Catherine Parsons, who oversees the Big Issue’s specialist employability service Big Issue Recruit, who
said that “scare tactics” would only exacerbate Britain’s worker shortages.
“We know that the steep rise in anxiety and mental health problems in young people has had a direct impact on their ability to find and retain good jobs,” she added.
“The new looming threat of having their benefits axed should they fail to summon the mental strength to accept work or training will only continue the vicious cycle of failure that has seen economic inactivity and the welfare bill spiralling out of control in recent years.”
Starmer and his gang seem to have anticipated this by announcing plans to help people with mental illnesses.
There is an acknowledgement that economic inactivity surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained high since, with mental illness a key part of that.
In response, Kendall is to announce plans to increase support for mental health, including an independent review of what UK employers are doing to promote health and inclusive workplaces, and more cash to stop people falling out of work because of ill health in the North East.
Starmer has said the reforms would “put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work”.
Do you believe him?
Or is he just engaging in more “sticking plaster politics” – putting in a fake fix in order to say people can’t claim mental illness as a reason not to go back to work, when in fact no real help is being offered?
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Is cynicism fuelling Keir Starmer’s latest jobs push?
With all his efforts focused on the people who are cheapest to employ, is cynicism fuelling Keir Starmer’s latest jobs push?
There are plenty of people in later life – like This Writer – who would relish the chance to use our wealth of experience to help restore the UK’s stagnant economy.
In my case, this is because the website’s earnings have plummeted due to the efforts of social media platforms whose algorithms are deliberately focused on denying me the viral hits I need to build my readership. Starmer and his government have been ignoring this issue since I first raised it with them in July.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
So I have diversified the site, with a new ‘leisure’ strand and opportunities for people and businesses to advertise direct with the site or run sponsored posts on it.
But these take time to gain traction, so I have been applying for work as well. So far, I’ve had no luck. It seems possible that my age – and my wealth of experience, is against me.
If you have a news story about politics, contact Vox Political via email: [email protected]
And the government is focusing on people aged 18-21. Why?
A friend in the hospitality trade enlightened me: “It’s because they’re cheaper,” he said. “It’s a well-known strategy to get young people on the ladder and give them experience. That’s why the Minimum Wage is lower for people starting out.
“The downside is that everybody has to put up with the mistakes they make while they’re learning, and people who know what they’re doing don’t get a look-in.”
So now you know too.
Starmer’s latest plan seems to have been triggered by a pushback against his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the National Insurance increase that she announced in the Budget on October 30.
Employers have said that this, together with the latest rise in the Minimum Wage, makes them unlikely to create new jobs, and this will hit government hopes for economic growth.
So today (Tuesday, November 26, 2024), we have an announcement that Job Centres are going to be re-branded as “the National Jobs and Careers Service”. Big deal. It makes no difference if the service provided is still based on threats.
And that’s what seems to be happening; Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has already announced plans to remove benefits from anybody aged 18-21 who refuses an offer of work or an apprenticeship under the misleading banner of a “Youth Guarantee”. This already seems to be based on a lie as the figures for youth unemployment it is using cover July-September, when young people cannot be in education or some forms of training because the establishments providing those services are closed for the summer.
And the new measures will run alongside the already well-established threat of benefit sanctions if people do not accept an agreement to look for work, miss a Job Centre appointment or decline a job offer.
The BBC’s article quotes a response to this from Catherine Parsons, who oversees the Big Issue’s specialist employability service Big Issue Recruit, who
Starmer and his gang seem to have anticipated this by announcing plans to help people with mental illnesses.
There is an acknowledgement that economic inactivity surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained high since, with mental illness a key part of that.
In response, Kendall is to announce plans to increase support for mental health, including an independent review of what UK employers are doing to promote health and inclusive workplaces, and more cash to stop people falling out of work because of ill health in the North East.
Starmer has said the reforms would “put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work”.
Do you believe him?
Or is he just engaging in more “sticking plaster politics” – putting in a fake fix in order to say people can’t claim mental illness as a reason not to go back to work, when in fact no real help is being offered?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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