Britain is paying the price for failing to invest in its young people | Richard Partington

Alan Milburn has outlined a generation cut adrift by austerity. We must grasp the nettle and rebuild a preventive state

Most people think Britain is not working as it should. For young people, the situation is at its most acute: only one in four believe that everyone in society has a fair crack. Most think the game is rigged.

It is clear why the generation who grew up during the post-2008 crash austerity years and in the shadow of the Covid pandemic are downbeat: the level of public service provision their parents enjoyed is gone, living costs are rising, the AI revolution is changing everything, and the planet is on fire.

That is why Alan Milburn’s review into youth unemployment is vital. Britain missing out on the talents of 1 million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) is a problem that extends well beyond the jobs market. It is about how the building blocks of a just and prosperous economy have been whittled away, and is a call to action to put things right.

As with so many of the country’s problems right now, some of the big drivers of youth inactivity stem from the austerity years. That is not to say that other contributing factors – not least Labour’s management of the economy, AI upending youth jobs, and the cost of living crisis – are not playing a role. But there is mounting evidence that the consequences of the Tory spending cuts are maturing with disastrous consequences.