Tory proposal to cut dole

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 38

Tory proposal to cut dole

NZPA staff correspondent London A cut in the dole for British school leavers who refuse jobs or training places is being considered for the next Conservative .Party manifesto, according to the Secretary of State for Employment, Lord Young of Graffham. The proposal, which he described yesterday as a “conscription of common sense,” could threaten the unemployment benefit of the 20,000 unemployed people aged 16 to 18 who refuse work or training in Britain each year, the “Times” newspaper says. Lord Young was adamant that the party did not intend to introduce the American-style "workfare” system — based On the principle of no work, no money. “If we find some young people decide they are going to lie in bed rather than go on for a good opportunity that is there and guaranteed, we will have to face that in

jr time. “But I have much more faith in young people than that,” he said. Government sources said later that the recent expansion of the Youth Training Scheme effectively guaranteed places for all aged under 18, and there was no longer any justification for teen-agers going straight from school to the dole office. The move has been attacked by Labour members of Parliament who have called it “enforced subscription of labour gangs” and predict its extension to adults. "When we say that Eastern European countries have no unemployment problems, the Tory Government is the first to tell us that this is because they have forced-labour gangs working for the State,” said Labour’s spokesman on employment, Mr John Prescott. “This is precisely the same kind of solution,” he said.