Labour leader’s jobs pledge to support youth of region

Launching his campaign for May’s elections, the Labour leader said he was committed to tackling the region’s youth unemployment crisis, which is expected to deepen due to the pandemic.

He told the Express & Star and Shropshire Star that young people in the West Midlands deserved “the best possible career opportunities” and that more needed to be done to improve their job prospects.

The “incredible potential” of the region’s young people, he said, was not being matched by the Government. “The pandemic has hit young people really hard, yet the Kickstart scheme has failed to deliver,” he added.

“And last week’s Budget was a missed opportunity to build the West Midlands into a green manufacturing powerhouse, with barely any new investment.

“We need to give businesses in the region the confidence to invest in jobs of the future.”

Sir Keir said he believed the party was making inroads in the West Midlands, where Labour suffered a series of heavy defeats in the last general election.

“Whether it was walking the market on a Saturday morning in Walsall, or visiting the West Mids virtually during lockdown, my conversations with people over the last year have been increasingly positive,” he said.

“I also think the work being done by councils such as Wolverhampton, where they are tackling school holiday hunger and providing technology for deprived pupils, shows people the practical difference Labour can make in power and is a crucial part of rebuilding that trust.”

Sir Keir used his campaign speech to launch a wide ranging attack on the Conservatives, accusing Boris Johnson’s party of being “out of touch” and having “no idea” how to deal with issues including the climate crisis or social care.

He said: “After everything we’ve been through, we can’t go back to business as usual.”

He addressed the outcry over the Government’s one per cent pay rise offer for NHS workers, saying the increase should be “fair”, but declined to put a figure on it or to back a 12.5 per cent hike proposed by the Royal College of Nurses.

'Constrained'

He said “a vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses”, and said the pay increase should be “above inflation, a real rise”.

“I think the starting point should be the 2.1 per cent that was promised and was, of course, budgeted for,” he said.

Sir Keir ducked questions about his support for potential strikes by nurses, saying it was in the hands of Boris Johnson to prevent industrial action.

“I support them in their entitlement to a fair wage rise after what they’ve been through,” he said. “They don’t want to go on strike, it’s the Prime Minister that’s causing this dispute and it’s the Prime Minister that can sort it out.”

Momentum, the hard left campaign group, has criticised the party leadership and said they must “stand up for working people”.

His party trails 13 points behind the Conservatives according to a post-Budget YouGov poll, while a separate poll by Opinium gave Mr Johnson an 18-point personal lead in the West Midlands.

“They are going to be really tough elections, we’re in the middle of the pandemic and we’ve been constrained,” Sir Keir said. “I’ve yet to make a speech to a live audience,” he said.

He stressed “this is a different Labour Party, under new leadership”.

Mr Johnson has argued he has tried to give NHS staff “as much as we possibly can”, but the policy is seen as deeply unpopular with voters.

Elections on May 6 will include polls for West Midlands Mayor and the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner. There are also council elections in the four Black Country boroughs, Staffordshire County Council and Cannock Chase District Council.

The contests represent Sir Keir’s first major test since becoming Labour leader, with last May’s elections having been postponed because of coronavirus.