Another half baked idea by the new 'Con the Libs into gov' coalition. The proposal, if I understand it right, is to make the 'long term unemployed' (whatever that means) work or lose their job seekers allowance. It looks like the gov would want people do things that others wouldn't want to do, so this will be a form of 'free or cheap labour'.
If the government is proposing that everyone who is currently out of work is paid minimum wage to work on community based projects (as long as voluntary) then that is something that could be looked at but they are not saying that at all. They are, I think, saying that the unemployed will be forced to do the work for nothing. This is not acceptable. The ministers in question should register with big name employment agencies and see how many real job offers they get before they start suggesting that the unemployed are unemployed because they don't want to work. Most of those who are unemployed and under 26 or over 45 will have huge problems finding work and that is the reality. Ministers should do more to address that problem rather than keep coming up with stupid ideas.
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