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Youth Unemployment and Bank Bonuses

Youth unemployment and bankers' bonuses are both too high, and the Opposition hope that by taxing the latter they can help the former. Let us first agree that help for the young unemployed is vital. The scar of joblessness destroys self-respect and will also damage the long-term economic growth rate of this country. What are the Government doing about it? They have already announced a record number of apprenticeships—440,000 in this Parliament—as well as a £1 billion youth contract and more than 250,000 more work experience places. The proposal for a tax on bankers' bonuses is what I want to focus on. My starting point is that crony capitalism and big financial rewards for failure not only are morally offensive but they subvert the principles on which successful capitalism depends.