Employment strategy - Joblessness time bomb

The announcement yesterday of 24 new start-up companies with 425 new jobs is very welcome news, but in relation to the overall problem — with 470,284 people on the Live Register in July — the new jobs are just a drop in the ocean of need.

The Government has emphasised that providing employment is a priority, and it must remain so. The right to work is a fundamental right for everyone. Latest figures show a marginal decline in the number of men on the Live Register, but this was offset by an even larger increase in the figure for women.

The numbers for both men and women under 25 on the Live Register have gone down marginally, but one needs to be wary of those figures, because they do not take account of the number of young people who have emigrated in the past year. There is certainly no room for complacency, because any decreases are offset by even greater increases in the numbers of both men and women over 25.

The explosion of mindless violence in England is a grim warning of the dangers of public disaffection. We must tackle the unemployment situation in imaginative ways to ensure that this serious problem is confronted properly.