Jobs, jobs, jobs. That’s what you’ll be hearing from the Government today, as Gordon Brown hosts a jobs summit in London and outlines his government’s plans to get people back into work during the downturn. From the details I’ve seen so far, those plans sound like an extension of existing New Deal practices – financial incentives (of up to £2,500) for companies which take on new workers; extra training places; and targeted help for those who have been unemployed for over six months. According to the Times, it will all cost around £500 million.
Another thing you’ll hear is the “do nothing” chant repeated ad nauseam. James Purnell was at it on Sky this morning, intoning that “We must make sure we do not abandon a generation of people as happened in the past”. And he followed it up on Today by claiming that the Tories “don’t have a policy as they would be cutting the money in the fiscal stimulus”. Thing is, the Tories do have a policy – Cameron beat Brown to the punch with an employment scheme last November. And what’s more, early signs are that the Government has made the same mistake as Cameron did back then; by pinning a number on the people they “expect” to get back into work. Purnell’s saying that 500,000 people will benefit from the measures being announced today. But will companies really take on that many extra staff – that they weren’t going to anyway – for the sake of the odd cheque for £2,500? I have my doubts.
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