#13 Labour has always been the Party of Full Employment

Supporting people into good, well-paid jobs has underpinned the Party's work since it was founded. But Britain isn't working.

Across County Durham for example, over 10,000 people are looking for work on Universal Credit. They will either be unemployed or on very low earnings. A further 37,000 are on Universal Credit but not expected to work because they either have caring responsibilities or their health prevents them from working or preparing for work. That's almost 1 in 10 people across the whole county.

And Durham isn’t alone. In Manchester 25,000 people are looking for work and a further 41,000 are on Universal Credit not expected to work. In the city I used to represent, Leicester, the figures are 15,000 and 21,000 respectively.

Our social security system should always guarantee security and dignity for those unable to work, but at the moment, it isn't providing security for those looking for work either. Our job centre system is failing those who want help to find jobs and hundreds of thousands of people who are out of work on sickness benefits say they would want to work if they had help to do so.  

It's especially unforgivable the Tories left around one million young people in neither a job nor training - a cruel denial of opportunity to a generation who should have so much to look forward to. No young person should leave school thinking there isn't a place for them in work.

When we know people on out-of work benefits want the right help to find a job, it's a monumental waste of their talent and potential to bar them from receiving such help.

So welfare reforms to fix the broken system are needed. It falls to this Labour government to reform a system that for so many leaves people trapped out of work. 

We should invest more in childcare and support parents to manage caring responsibilities. That’s fundamental in a civilised society.

But we should also invest in getting people back into the workplace where they can. The OBR revealed that the last Conservative government had stopped the process of re-assessment, meaning the department no longer checks if claimants are fit for work. 

Under the Tories the welfare system moved from one of reassessing around 40,000 people a month to reassessing a couple of thousand. In other words, the Tories actively stopped engaging those on out of work Universal Credit.

It was crazy and unforgivable to write so many people off like that.

That's one reason the OBR forecasts record highs in incapacity claims over the course of this Parliament.

I passionately believe everyone ought to be given a chance to move off benefits and into work.

I came into politics to battle for full employment and defeat poverty.

Every Labour government has been explicit in its commitment to full employment and tackling poverty. This one is no different.

The Tories always think unemployment is a price worth paying while they walk on by in the face of poverty. Labour disagrees.

There is a reason our movement is one that would march for jobs and organise to defend jobs. Helping someone into good, quality work lifts people out of poverty and lifts their hopes, horizons and aspirations too.

In return, individuals must take up such opportunities.

Rights and responsibilities have always been at the heart of the social security system. Indeed Beveridge in his original white paper talked of ‘the state in organising security should not stifle incentive, opportunity , responsibility.’

As part of the bargain, ministers have a duty to ensure work is rewarded as well.

Under the Tories this simply wasn't the case. The Tories presided over low pay, squeezed wage and insecure contracts.It meant people working all hours yet still picking up parcels from food banks on the way home from a shift.

Britain will never succeed when wages are so low. Next month millions of people will see a pay rise thanks to Labour’s increase in the minimum wage.

Labour’s new employment rights package will help guarantee better terms and conditions in the workplace too.

Since the Attlee government, the maintenance of high and stable levels of employment has been a driving mission of the Labour Party.

A new approach to welfare is part of giving people the dignity and opportunity of decent work. Helping people into quality work, creating good well-paid jobs and tackling poverty has always been at the heart of Labour’s values of social justice.

Jonathan Ashworth

Chief Executive, Labour Together

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