Jobs Market

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Hunt of Wirral]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the jobs market, and of the implications for the wider economy.

[The Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, despite Tuesday’s unemployment figures, there is positive information on the labour market. However, the latest figures show why we are right to focus on supporting people into work with our Get Britain Working plan, which includes modernisation of jobcentres, tackling economic inactivity due to ill health and delivering our youth guarantee.

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

My Lords, there are now nearly 2 million unemployed people on this Government’s watch and the number is rising month by month since the introduction of the penal national insurance job tax and now the threat of first-day unfair dismissal rights under the Employment Rights Bill. Will the Minister listen to business, listen to the Resolution Foundation, listen to Tony Blair and listen to this House when it debates this issue on Monday? Will she undertake to persuade her colleagues that this Budget must have measures that inspire business to give people the dignity of work? Otherwise, the message will be what I said in my maiden speech 50 years ago: “Labour isn’t working”. It was not working then, and it is not working now.