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Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Hunt of Wirral (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 5 February 2026.

Jobs Market

Question

I make no apology for holding the Government to account on the issue of employment. Having been brought up in Liverpool and been a Merseyside MP for 21 years, I have seen the damage that can be done by depriving people of the dignity of work. Now we have unemployment rising towards 2 million. In my 50 years in Parliament, every Labour Government have left office with unemployment higher than when they took office. When will this Government realise that you cannot tax and regulate businesses into growth?

Answer

My Lords, I share the noble Lord’s sentiment about the importance of the dignity of work, but unemployment is a long-term trend, both here and across the G7, and it has been rising since 2023. The good news is, however, that the number of people who are economically inactive has fallen by nearly half a million, because more people are actively looking for work. Indeed, last year, employment grew by more than half a million, which is nearly twice as much as the rise in unemployment. The noble Lord asked what we will do about it, and the answer is clear. The Government are taking action on young people who are neither earning nor learning, which the last

Government ignored. The Government are taking action on long-term sickness, which under the last Government reached a record high. The Government have seen pay rise more since they were elected than under the first 10 years of the previous Administration, helping to tackle the cost of living. We are going to solve the problems we inherited, and we are doing something about it.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
852 c1716 
Session
2024-26
Oral question type
1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Apprentices Job creation Reform Unemployment Social security benefits Young people Labour market Artificial intelligence Zero hours contracts
Link
View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk