Chancellor to make case for ‘contribution’ ahead of youth jobs guarantee

Rachel Reeves will stress the need for “hard work matched by fair reward” when she unveils plans for a “youth guarantee” to drive down unemployment.

The chancellor will make the case for a society founded on “contribution” in her speech at Labour‘s annual conference in Liverpool today.

She is expected to confirm plans for every young person who has received universal credit (UC) for 18 months without “earning or learning” to be guaranteed an offer of paid work.

Labour conference in Liverpool – follow live updates

Those who refuse to take up jobs without a “reasonable excuse” will face sanctions such as losing their benefits, it is understood.

The guarantee, which will be overseen by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, forms part of a pledge of “nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment“.

Ms Reeves is expected to say: “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.

“I believe in a Britain based on opportunity – where ordinary kids can flourish, unhindered by their background.

“And I believe that Britain’s real wealth is found not only in the success of the fortunate few, but in the talents of all our people, in every part of our great country.”

It comes in the wake of concerns among some Labour members that the government needs to offer voters a clearer vision of its agenda.

Sir Keir Starmer has previously avoided using buzzwords to define his politics, but thinktank Labour Together published a paper last week in which it argued the concept of contribution should be put at the heart of policymaking.

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Ms Reeves is expected to add: “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.

“Just as the last Labour government, with its new deal for young people, abolished long-term youth unemployment I can commit this government to nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment.

“We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again.”

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Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, accused Labour of “contradictions” within their policies.

He said: “Rachel Reeves says she wants to abolish youth unemployment – yet in her very first budget, she introduced a £25bn jobs tax that made it more expensive for businesses to hire, especially young people.

“That’s the contradiction at the heart of Labour’s plan: they talk about opportunity, but their policies kill jobs.

“Since Labour came to power, unemployment is up. Business confidence is down. And now Reeves is trying to fix a problem she created – while pointing the finger of blame, as she so often does, at everyone else.”