Prong #1: Reeves Targets Youth Unemployment With 'Guarantee'
Rachel Reeves used her Labour conference speech in Liverpool to launch a "youth guarantee" – a promise that no young person will be left without work, training, or education.
The plan means anyone under 25 on Universal Credit for 18 months without being in work or training will be offered:
-
A paid job placement
-
An apprenticeship
-
Or a college place
But there's a catch: refuse without good reason and you lose your benefits.
The Chancellor's Words
"I believe in a Britain founded on contribution – where we do our duty for each other, and where hard work is matched by fair reward."
"Every young person will be guaranteed either a place in a college, an apprenticeship, or one-to-one support to find a job. But more than that, our guarantee will ensure that any young person out of work for 18 months will be given a paid work placement. Real work, practical experience, and new skills."
"We won't leave a generation of young people to languish without prospects – denied the dignity, the security and the ladders of opportunity that good work provides."
Reeves vowed to deliver "nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment", echoing New Labour's New Deal from the 1990s.
The Wider Debate
-
Reeves hinted at possible wealth taxes on the super-rich and corporations, with pressure mounting inside Labour to raise revenue beyond the current pledge of no rises in income tax, VAT, or employee NI.
-
She framed her economic approach around the principle of "contribution", a theme think tank Labour Together recently urged the party to champion.
Allies Back the Plan
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said:
"Almost a million young people are not in education, employment or training. We will not stand by while a generation is consigned to benefits almost before they've begun. The youth guarantee is how we will offer every young person a chance to get up and get on."
The Political Context
-
One in eight 16–24 year-olds are currently not in education, employment or training – up nearly a third in four years under the Conservatives.
-
Labour is pitching this as part of its core mission to "get Britain working" and offer targeted help to young people most at risk of being left behind.
Prong #2: Meanwhile, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood used the same conference to trail a tougher immigration system, promising high English standards, clean records, and community service as requirements for indefinite leave to remain.
And outside the Labour hall? Nigel Farage is calling for an outright abolition of indefinite leave to remain – a move Keir Starmer branded "racist and immoral."
VOTES
Winners:
-
Young people stuck on UC without options — a guaranteed chance to work, study, or train.
-
Employers and colleges, who gain access to a pipeline of subsidised placements.
Losers:
-
Benefit claimants who refuse placements risk sanctions.
-
Reeves' Treasury, which faces pressure to fund jobs without raising headline taxes.
Swing Voters' View:
The public may back the principle of "work not welfare," but sceptics will ask: are these real jobs with prospects, or just stopgaps to massage unemployment stats?
