Government has "failed" young people, says Tory MP

The shadow secretary for universities and skills has criticised the government's failings on youth unemployment, claiming that new figures are a "damning indictment" for the prime minister.

It had been reported that youth unemployment had reached almost 950,000 in the third quarter, but David Willets has now cited figures from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills putting that figure at over a million.

“It is shocking that more than a million young people are not in any kind of employment or training,” said Mr Willets.

The Conservative MP used figures released on 18 November, which show youth unemployment increased by more than 120,000 in the three months to September.

He said: “It is a damning indictment of the government’s failure to help young people during the recession.

“Despite all Gordon Brown’s guarantees and pledges, the number of young people neither learning nor earning is increasing at a rate of more than 9,000 a week. Ministers must stop making empty gestures that will do so little to help young people."

In the debate following the Queen’s Speech last Wednesday, the prime minister promised internship and training placements, as well as advice concerning self employment to graduates within six months of having claimed unemployment benefits.

Mr Brown also pledged to help those aged between 18 and 24 to find employment opportunities from the moment they filed an unemployment claim.

According to Mr Brown these measures are supplementing previous commitments aimed at helping those under 25 who have been unemployed for more than a year to acquire training and job opportunities.

The news comes in the wake of figures released for the third quarter of 2009 which show the total number of 18-24 year-olds in unemployment is rising rapidly.

The announcements have also been met with criticism from the Liberal Democrats.

Responding to the Queen's Speech and Brown's subsequent comments, Nick Clegg said: “The government should legislate less and focus on getting things done”

“That means creating jobs beyond the re-announcements of today.”

Criticism of the announcement follows on from clashes earlier in the month between David Cameron and the Prime Minister, in which Brown said that “no government in Europe is doing more to help young people out of work."

Mr Cameron accused Mr Brown of “living in a parallel universe”, citing youth unemployment figures for France and Germany, the latter being nearly half that of Britain’s.