Comments:UK unemployment rate reaches thirteen-year high
This page is for commentary on the news. If you wish to point out a problem in the article (e.g. factual error, etc), please use its regular collaboration page instead. Comments on this page do not need to adhere to the Neutral Point of View policy. You should sign your comments by adding ~~~~ to the end of your message. Please remain on topic. Though there are very few rules governing what can be said here, civil discussion and polite sparring make our comments pages a fun and friendly place. Please think of this when posting.
Quick hints for new commentators:
- Use colons to indent a response to someone else's remarks
- Always sign your comments by putting --~~~~ at the end
- You can edit a section by using the edit link to the right of the section heading
Unemployment, particularly amongst 16 to 24 year olds, will be the defining political issue in the UK for the next decade and maybe longer still.
The creation of a ‘lost generation’ of people for whom working is an unknown experience is an outcome the country cannot afford in either economic or social terms, all three main parties are agreed on this point, there is though one major problem, solving youth unemployment costs serious money.
This week treasury documents leaked to the press revealed that public spending may have to be cut by up to 9.3% just to bring the deficit down to manageable proportions, making an already serious situation into a potential disaster. What do we choose, balancing the books or fixing a broken society?
Cuts are inevitable, if only because without reining in public spending meeting the current welfare obligations will become ever more difficult for whichever party wins the next election, what needs to take place is a reasoned debate on where the ‘pain’ must be felt first and the cuts deepest.