What outlook for young people?

North Ayrshire is rightly proud to point out that 56.6% of its young people go on to further education, an excellent figure. But there is a less palatable record that suggests an uneasy balance. A report following the visit of Michael Moore, Member of Parliament for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, revealed that there are 1975 16-24 year olds in North Ayrshire who have no jobs. At 12.9%, this is the highest in Scotland. An overall picture of the British islands shows an even worse picture. Data from the Office for National Statistics indicate that one in five young people between the ages of 18 and 24 cannot find a job. The figures confirm what we all know; that further education, for so long touted as the way to better employment prospects, can no longer offer any such benefits.

The myth that unemployment is due to laziness or lack of initiative does not hold up. Almost all of us know young people who have written countless job applications, without success. The Post Office had five times more applicants for Christmas temporary work this year than it could employ.

One thing waits on another. There are no jobs because employers can’t afford to offer them. Shops are closing, small firms contracting, for the circular reason that high fuel prices and low employment rates are resulting in endemic poverty, both for employer and employed. On top of this, we have the absurd notion that such a cash-strapped population can somehow pay off the debts of profligate banks. We live in a Catch-22 of recurring insanity, in which the simple proposal to support the nation’s people and enable them to earn is regarded as anathema.