
Make sure the people occupying No 10 in 4 week's time have 'street cred'

Shifty priorities
Margins of \’Marginals\’ melting away?
The Labour manifesto published tomorrow will include a pledge to end long term unemployment. If re-elected the government says it will find a job for everyone over 25 who has been unemployed for two years or more and everyone under 25 unemployed for 10 months or more. If the job is turned down they will lose benefits.
This will be contrasted with the Conservative party’s national insurance reduction which will mean cutting up to £2bn pounds from the public sector payroll. It’s aimed at putting jobs right at the centre of the election battle, with the Conservatives attacking what they call Labour’s jobs tax (its planned rise in national insurance contributions next year).
The Conservatives in 1979-84 and Labour in 1997 artificially kept the unemployment down by paying ‘keeping premium including NI’ to companies retaining young 18-25 years olds on despite the fact there were no real jobs.

Unreliable Govt statistics
The same strategy was employed by New Labour 1997 – 2002 creating ‘vulnerability support services’ where 3 support workers were duplicating each others and main service provider’s work. The ODPM [Office of Deputy PM] then cut the funding thus leaving those vulnerable bereft.
You have to think where all that money is going to come from given that the economy has not yet begun to grow.
I wouldn’t trust them with a barge pole if I were you.

pretentious pledges
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