Alan Milburn, former New Labour Health Secretary commissioned by Pat McFadden to produce a report on youth unemployment, has attacked Labour’s tax and wage policies for exacerbating the crisis. His report, out today, suggests there will be 1.25 million young people out of work by 2030…
Asked on Sky News about government policies making it more expensive to hire young people, Milburn said:
“Yes. I think that has had an impact. Undoubtedly that is the case. And you know the government’s got to be very careful because if you want to maximise jobs for young people, you’ve got to minimize the risk for the employer.”
Asked about the minimum wage and NI tax hike, he added: “So I think it’s all of these things together, you know. So, but every time an employee takes on a young person, it’s always a risk because they’re unproven. So, the job of government is to minimise the risk, maximise the incentives.” Tax more of something, get less of it…
Batting away critical points from Nick Robinson on the Today Programme, Tony Blair said:
“I always used to say the greatest source of election-losing advice was the Guardian.”