Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nick Ainger (Labour). It was answered on Thursday, 26 March 2009 on behalf of the Treasury.

Economic Growth

Question: Can I agree wholeheartedly with what the Chancellor said? I was on the Treasury Committee when the Governor said the words that my right hon. Friend has just repeated. May I commend to my right hon. Friend the submission produced by Professor "Danny" Blanchflower and David Bell of Stirling university, which puts forward suggestions to address youth unemployment? In the summer, 700,000 young people will leave school and university; we need to tackle those numbers. Will my right hon. Friend look at the report, because it suggests good ways of tackling the problem of growing youth unemployment?

Answer: I have indeed seen Professor "Danny" Blanchflower's suggestions, and I have spoken to him as well. [Laughter.] Rather than laughing about the matter, most people in the House ought to be concerned, at a time when we can see that the unemployment figures have been rising, that we do everything possible to get people back into work. The lesson from the past is that that is necessary not just for the long-term unemployed. It is especially necessary for young people, to ensure that they get back into the workplace as quickly as possible. However, I repeat that it means that at some stage we have to be prepared to spend the money to back that up. My view is that it is money well spent, because the cost of doing nothing, which is what the Opposition urge us to do, would be far, far greater.

Secondary information