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Whilst this is an interesting article and worth a read, it is an example of the UK media not being strong enough on jobs. Check it out!
Coalition plan for jobless will fail to meet targets, says NAO – Telegraph.
Admittedly President Obama has an election this year but compare his focus on jobs creation to that of David Cameron.
Related articles
- Britain is in a double-dip recession, warns top economists – Telegraph (dralfoldman.wordpress.com)
- Jobless data show twin-speed Europe – FT.com (dralfoldman.wordpress.com)
Dr Alf's Blog 
The Daily telegraph is reporting the obvious and no-one should be remotely surprised that the Government’s well meaning attempts at getting the unemployed back to work are failing and will go on failing.
To begin with we have zero growth and no credible plan to create jobs rapidly.
Assumptions by the Coalition that the private sector would create jobs as our unaffordable public sector is slowly cut down to size were facile and misguided and without more bank lending we will not see enterprise creation on the right scale either.
Some facts will shed light on why this programme is doomed to fail:
–There are now 15 million people out of work including the 2.66 million officially unemployed, 2.9 million incapacity benefit recipients,1.25 million NEETS, 6 million economically inactive and warehoused on benefits, 1 million forced off the register and “sanctioned” by DWP staff and the balance covered by people no longer counted because they have stopped looking for work,people in Workfare programmes and people “waiting to hear about benefits”.
Of these about 1/3rd could work but choose not to by dint of fathering illigitimate children in order to get housing benefit and in rare cases council houses.
This leaves 10 million people.
–The programme of medically testing incapacity benefit recipients is running at 500,000 a year so just to test these people is going to take 4 to 5 years, even if the over 60’s in this group are not retested as per a recent decision by the DWP Minister Ian Duncan Smith.
This takes us beyond 15th May 2015, the date of the next General Election, at which point the Coalition may not be in power.
–With zero economic growth and the vitally neccessary cuts to the public sector overall job numbers will shrink which means that even if every job could be filled by an indigenous member of the unemployed public there would still be millions out of work.
–The reality is however that 80% plus of all available jobs go to Eastern Europeans and at the higher end,better educated and better motivated foreigners.
These people, as EC citizens have a right to work here so Government attempts to reduce immigrant numbers cannot work.
Employers are not willing in some cases to hire anyone born in this country and would rather outsource,offshore or use automation to eliminate the need to employ anyone at all.
–Our schools and colleges are not capable of turning the unemployed into self employed businesspeople either and won’t be because of lack of investment.
People who want to be self employed used to be able to get bank loans or remortgage their houses but are now,by and large unable to do so.
–Large numbers of employers made the decision last year to sit on their cash mountains and not invest for growth and those that are are doing so overseas in the Far East and elsewhere.
–There are 4.5 million illegal aliens doing work which the home grown population would rather not do.These people must be found and deported and replaced with unwilling benefit recipients too idle to do any work.
What will actually work?
1)Accelerate the pace of public sector cuts so that the process is reduced to 2 years of pain.
2)Put the training of useful languages in which the country can export onto a war footing.
3)Quadruple the size of the export salesforce and focus on markets in Commonwealth countries,South America and the Far East within and outside China.
4)Build Boris Island and selected infrastructure,(A14 Widening),HS2 all the way to Scotland.
5)Get rid of the expensive Celtic fringe by granting them all independence,abolish the Barnett Formula and all outdated institutions which do not pay their way.
6)Stop foreign wars where we have no business or legitimate interest.
7)Become a tax haven to wealthy inward investors willing to create jobs in sufficient numbers.
8)Leave the EC and rejoin EFTA.
9)Remove Adult Social Care recipients to India (if they are willing to go)where they can be treated and looked after at lower cost.
John,
Many thanks for your detailed response.
I agree that the Coalition Government’s growth strategy has failed but otherwise I do not endorse your argument, especially favouring increased austerity.
Yesterday the IMF was indirectly critical of the UK’s austerity policy when it published its latest economic forecast. In today’s Telegraph lead, The Governor of the Bank of England in forcasting continued tough times. Finally, today the ONS will probably confirm that the UK is officially contracting.
I have read your response carefully and am afraid that I disagree with most of it.
Rather than debate it here, perhaps you would like to develop your arguments into a formal blog which I will publish?