Lords motion to take note of the Government's record on education, employment and welfare since July 2024. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the Government's record on education, employment and welfare since July 2024. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, I am delighted to open this important debate on the Government’s record on education, employment and welfare, as we reach the end of the Starmer premiership and move to the Burnham one.

Over the past two years, an unfortunate pattern has emerged across the Government’s policies on these issues....

My Lords, I am delighted to open this important debate on the Government’s record on education, employment and welfare, as we reach the end of the Starmer premiership and move to the Burnham one.

Over the past two years, an unfortunate pattern has emerged across the Government’s policies on these issues....

My Lords, my text for this simplistic opposition attack on the Government is simple: I will point out the legacy of the noble Baroness who has just spoken. She was in the Cabinet for six years. On 20 January 2025, the Economic Affairs Committee of your Lordships’ House produced a

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My Lords, my text for this simplistic opposition attack on the Government is simple: I will point out the legacy of the noble Baroness who has just spoken. She was in the Cabinet for six years. On 20 January 2025, the Economic Affairs Committee of your Lordships’ House produced a

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My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for securing this important debate. I looked at the list of speakers and thought this was going to be a fantastic debate about our children’s future. I do not want it to be about how bad one side or the other...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for securing this important debate. I looked at the list of speakers and thought this was going to be a fantastic debate about our children’s future. I do not want it to be about how bad one side or the other...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, for bringing this debate today, and it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley.

I want to focus my comments on opportunity and social mobility. In assessing the Government’s record on education,...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, for bringing this debate today, and it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley.

I want to focus my comments on opportunity and social mobility. In assessing the Government’s record on education,...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on her excellent introduction to this important debate, and it is a pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle.

I will concentrate on NEETs: that is, young people who leave school without entering sixth form or FE, employment...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on her excellent introduction to this important debate, and it is a pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle.

I will concentrate on NEETs: that is, young people who leave school without entering sixth form or FE, employment...

My Lords, the level of youth unemployment in England today is 16.2%. So many youngsters are leaving school at 18 without any employability skills, and that is a disgrace for the fifth-richest country in the world. It is also an indictment of the failure of the education policy of Conservative...

My Lords, the level of youth unemployment in England today is 16.2%. So many youngsters are leaving school at 18 without any employability skills, and that is a disgrace for the fifth-richest country in the world. It is also an indictment of the failure of the education policy of Conservative...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for introducing this debate. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Baker, who always has important and interesting things to say about vocational training—and, it seems, about ministerial appointments.

I am very proud that this Government’s mission is to...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for introducing this debate. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Baker, who always has important and interesting things to say about vocational training—and, it seems, about ministerial appointments.

I am very proud that this Government’s mission is to...

My Lords, I also most warmly congratulate my noble friend on a brilliant speech in which she said all that needed to be said. Many of us will repeat the same message, but that is what you do in church—as the right reverend Prelate will understand—and you learn the message...

My Lords, I also most warmly congratulate my noble friend on a brilliant speech in which she said all that needed to be said. Many of us will repeat the same message, but that is what you do in church—as the right reverend Prelate will understand—and you learn the message...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for introducing this debate at a time when over 1 million young people are NEET.

In 2009, I was appointed Employment Minister in the teeth of the global financial crisis. The Prime Minister was clear: my job was to prevent...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for introducing this debate at a time when over 1 million young people are NEET.

In 2009, I was appointed Employment Minister in the teeth of the global financial crisis. The Prime Minister was clear: my job was to prevent...

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, on calling this debate. One can sense in the interventions from all sides of the House the deep disappointment and frustration that we now—once again, shockingly—have 1 million young people who are NEET. It is particularly frustrating, as tackling the...

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, on calling this debate. One can sense in the interventions from all sides of the House the deep disappointment and frustration that we now—once again, shockingly—have 1 million young people who are NEET. It is particularly frustrating, as tackling the...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on introducing this debate so well. I am conscious that a lot of statistics have been thrown around. I was genuinely surprised to hear the figures given by the noble Lords, Lord Rooker and Lord Knight, and I am curious as to where...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on introducing this debate so well. I am conscious that a lot of statistics have been thrown around. I was genuinely surprised to hear the figures given by the noble Lords, Lord Rooker and Lord Knight, and I am curious as to where...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for securing this debate and for her excellent opening speech. Britain’s economic problems did not begin with this Government. That

would be an unjust accusation. I am afraid Governments of all parties have laboured diligently over many years to produce today’s...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for securing this debate and for her excellent opening speech. Britain’s economic problems did not begin with this Government. That

would be an unjust accusation. I am afraid Governments of all parties have laboured diligently over many years to produce today’s...

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Evans for securing this debate and it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Frost. The Government’s stewardship of the economy over the past two years has been little short of catastrophic for our labour market. When the...

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Evans for securing this debate and it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Frost. The Government’s stewardship of the economy over the past two years has been little short of catastrophic for our labour market. When the...

My Lords, I have been reflecting on why the lifelong learning commitment matters: the world of work has changed and continues to do so. People will need new skills throughout their working lives. We need to help people get into and, just as importantly, stay in work as jobs and...

My Lords, I have been reflecting on why the lifelong learning commitment matters: the world of work has changed and continues to do so. People will need new skills throughout their working lives. We need to help people get into and, just as importantly, stay in work as jobs and...

My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to take stock of what I am sure the Minister will demonstrate is a pretty positive record. I will focus on social security—called “welfare” in the Motion—but first I shall mention the education reforms that have contributed to the child poverty strategy by reducing...

My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to take stock of what I am sure the Minister will demonstrate is a pretty positive record. I will focus on social security—called “welfare” in the Motion—but first I shall mention the education reforms that have contributed to the child poverty strategy by reducing...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on securing this debate and on her excellent opener. We are at an end-of-term moment, not least because the PM who promised us economic growth in his manifesto has clearly failed and, somewhat extraordinarily, the Labour Party has not found one...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on securing this debate and on her excellent opener. We are at an end-of-term moment, not least because the PM who promised us economic growth in his manifesto has clearly failed and, somewhat extraordinarily, the Labour Party has not found one...

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I would welcome an intervention from anyone who can claim that there was such an economist who did support the contention. There is none.

The negativity that ensued was disastrous. I understand the tactics, perhaps emulating George Osborne, but the response was to break a manifesto commitment and increase taxes, which...

I would welcome an intervention from anyone who can claim that there was such an economist who did support the contention. There is none.

The negativity that ensued was disastrous. I understand the tactics, perhaps emulating George Osborne, but the response was to break a manifesto commitment and increase taxes, which...

I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on this timely debate and on her excellent remarks. It is always a pleasure, too, to follow my noble friend Lord Leigh.

The first duty of government is the national security, including economic security, of our country. By that, I mean delivering a functioning...

I congratulate my noble friend Lady Evans on this timely debate and on her excellent remarks. It is always a pleasure, too, to follow my noble friend Lord Leigh.

The first duty of government is the national security, including economic security, of our country. By that, I mean delivering a functioning...