Britain risks paying a heavy social and economic price if it fails to confront its escalating youth jobs crisis, a senior Conservative has warned, pointing to unrest in France as a stark illustration of what can happen when a generation loses faith in its future.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary and a key ally of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, is demanding an emergency package to help young people into employment, arguing that ministers must act before long-term joblessness becomes entrenched.
Her intervention comes as unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds rises and nearly one million young people are outside employment, education or training. Whately believes the figures represent a mounting threat not only to economic growth but also to social cohesion.
“Looking over at France and those riots, if you have hundreds of thousands of young people who are losing hope, they’re going to get angry,” she said. “We don’t want that to happen. We’ve got to make sure that young people have hope, and can see that we’re a country that’s got a Government that’s on their side.”
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In the three months to August, 715,000 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, 54,000 more than a year earlier. In the three months to June, 981,000 young people were not in employment, education or training.
Whately described the situation as a “disaster for the country” and the economy, “but most crucially for those young people”.
She argues that Labour’s employment policies are exacerbating the problem, accusing Rachel Reeves of damaging recruitment through an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions and pointing to the Employment Rights Act as another source of concern for businesses.
“It’s a crisis of their making. If you talk to businesses, they will tell you why they’re hiring fewer young people because of the jobs tax and the Employment Rights Act,” she said.
The Conservatives want to halve employers’ National Insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, a measure Whately believes would give businesses greater confidence to recruit inexperienced staff. She argues that employers facing rising costs are becoming more cautious, reducing opportunities for young people seeking a first foothold in the labour market.
Young adults in their twenties, she said, are becoming “stuck at home” in a “spiral of misery”, repeatedly applying for jobs without securing employment.
The party is also proposing a tougher approach to welfare. Under its Get to Work programme, 18- to 24-year-olds without a strong employment record would be required to attend a jobcentre, complete a work-readiness course or undertake work experience as a condition of receiving financial support.
Whately described the approach as “tough love”, summing up its central principle in three words: “No show, no welfare.”
Former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn is expected to publish recommendations on getting young people into work after the Budget. Whately fears Labour will respond primarily with additional public spending rather than the tax changes she believes could encourage employers to recruit.
She is also sceptical that Andy Burnham, should he become prime minister, would be willing to confront Labour MPs over welfare reform, arguing that political popularity could take precedence over difficult decisions.
“Look, Andy wants to be liked… The public at large know that the welfare system is broken, and it’s not fair, and we can’t afford it, but Labour backbenchers for the most part can’t see that, and Andy Burnham wants to be popular with them. Therefore, there’s no sign of courage from him on welfare,” she said.
Whately added that businesses were struggling to make their finances add up and warned that continued caution would mean fewer jobs and weaker prosperity.
“We’re in serious, serious times,” she said. “We have to turn this around sooner rather than later. We need a Prime Minister with courage.”
Labour rejected the Conservatives’ criticism, pointing to their record in government and arguing that youth disengagement had already increased before the last election.
A party spokesperson said the government was investing £2.5bn in Youth Guarantee opportunities, including subsidised work, while reforming Universal Credit to address what it described as flaws that had left too many young people on sickness benefits. Further measures, Labour said, would follow Milburn’s review.
The competing proposals expose a wider divide over how to tackle youth unemployment, whether the priority should be reducing the cost of hiring, expanding state-backed employment opportunities or tightening welfare conditions.
For Whately, the urgency is unmistakable. Her warning is that the cost of inaction could extend beyond lost productivity and public spending to a generation increasingly convinced that work offers no route to independence or security.
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