Pat McFadden

Pat McFadden

Labour — Wolverhampton South East

Speaking in the House of Commons on 17 March 2026

Debate

Youth Unemployment

Contribution

I have a lot of respect for the right hon. Gentleman; I walk past his picture every morning. He was responsible for a major reform to the welfare system with the introduction of universal credit, but after that his party stopped reforming the system. We are seeing the costs of that, particularly with what has happened in the last few years. On the Work programme, I am happy to look at any successful programme to help people into work. We have more than one of these programmes in the Department, and they should all be evaluated. The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point; we need to get support to people to overcome the barriers to get into work. With regard to national insurance, as I have said, all these things are costs for business, but this is not a new problem. This is a deep-rooted, long-term problem, and we need new answers to it. That is why I have brought forward this package today.

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