Jon Trickett
Main Page: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)Department Debates - View all Jon Trickett's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 8 hours ago)
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Torsten Bell
My hon. Friend has rightly been raising this issue for some time, predating the election. I will take the two parts of her question in turn. The impact of AI is something that is being looked at across countries—there is a unit inside Government looking at exactly that. More importantly, though, she mentions the crisis happening now, with some young people unable to get the job opportunities that we all want them to have, which they have not had for some time. We will bring forward further measures to strengthen the youth guarantee, which is an important measure to increase the employment support available to our young people and to ensure that a job guarantee is there for those who are long-term unemployed.
Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth) (Lab)
The unemployment situation in my constituency and across the Yorkshire coalfield is becoming a crisis. There are 1,980 people out of work in my constituency and 70 job vacancies—that is almost 30 unemployed people pursuing every single job. No Labour Minister would ever say that employment is a price worth paying, but will the Minister tell the House that he will equally prioritise tackling unemployment and reassuring the bond markets?
Torsten Bell
My hon. Friend and I have discussed these issues on many occasions, particularly as they are specific to his constituency and other coalfield communities. There are challenges, particularly with youth employment, which goes back to the last decade in particular, and we absolutely need to prioritise that. However, I would also say a word of warning on the view of the overall labour market. Looking at the employment level last year, which was around 75%, there have been only two years in peacetime in the past 100 years when Britain has had a higher employment rate. I think we should be a bit careful about talking down the resilience of the UK economy or, as in this case, the resilience of the labour market. We have had only two years in the past 100 in peacetime when Britain has had a higher employment rate than last year.