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Balls introduces jobs guarantee plan

Labour’s Ed Balls has promised Labour would ensure there is a job for every long-term unemployed adult, and those who do not take up jobs will face lose benefits.

Writing in Politics Home, the Shadow Chancellor said the scheme would be paid for by reducing tax relief on pension contributions for those earning over £150,000.

Mr Balls said: “A One Nation approach to welfare reform means government has a responsibility to help people into work and support those who cannot, but those who can work must be required to take up jobs or lose benefits as a result – no ifs or buts.

“Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and that works, not divisive, nasty and misleading smears from an out of touch and failing government.”

Under the scheme, long term unemployed would be offered 25 hours of work a week in the private or voluntary sectors at the national minimum wage for six months.

Journalist and policy advisor for the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, Owen Jones, wrote on Labourlist that Labour needed to combat Conservative demonisation of benefit recipients.

He said: “Unless Labour forcefully launch a counter-offensive on welfare, focusing on human stories – after all, they resonate with better than statistics – they will always lose the argument.

“They will never credibly out-do the Tories on a “tough” approach on welfare and – if they did – they might as well call it a day and pack up.”

Similarly, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady suggested support for benefit cuts was built on ignorance and said voters has been fed misinformation that the benefit system was “heavily skewed” towards helping the unemployed.

A TUC survey indicated that people think that 27% of the welfare budget is claimed fraudulently, while the government’s own figure is 0.7%.

Malcolm Small, senior pensions policy adviser at the Institute of Directors, criticised the approach. He said: “However laudable Ed Balls’ job-creation aim may be, pensions saving is the wrong target to produce money to pay for the scheme. Pensions have been hammered repeatedly by governments looking for more cash, damaging public confidence in retirement saving.

“If the coalition wishes to encourage people to save more, they should resist calls for further changes to pensions.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .