The House of Lords Select Committee on the European
Union today (20 Jan) held an 'evidence session' in the European
Parliament on the subject of youth unemployment.
This was a 'confidential' meeting, and so I hope
that you will understand that I am unable to discuss exactly what was
said, or by whom.
I can only assure you that those peers who attended
presented themselves as we would expect, and that their questions were
concise and intelligent. I wish that I could say the same of the
European Parliament delegates, who seemed unable
to directly answer any question asked of them by the Lords. They, and
their staff, appeared to be more interested in texting each other, and
picking cat hairs off of their clothes.
Youth unemployment is one of the greatest societal
problems faced, not just in our country, but across Europe. It is a
terrible problem that is likely to have a long lasting 'knock-on' effect
for several generations to come. Her Majesty's
Government is to be commended for engaging with, and attempting to
address, this blight at European level. I wish that the problem could be
more adequately addressed at UK level, of course.
Having said that, in the UK, we are seeing a small
but significant decrease in youth unemployment levels. This is a very
promising sign, and one that is bucking the general EU trend. My work on
the European Parliament's Employment and Social
Affairs Committee has given me an insight into the problems faced by
youth across Europe. I am very proud of my own working class roots, and I
know only too well the problems associated with these social and
employment issues. In the UK, while we may have
our problems, I do strongly believe that we can best tackle these
issues ourselves, and that this is not something that should be left to
the EU. After all, do we want our youth to suffer the deprivations of
the Eurozone countries such as Greece? I think that
we would be better off out of the EU. But that, of course, is for the
people to decide!
