Years of ugly attacks on benefit claimants mean Liz Kendall treads a delicate line as she sets out to boost employment

That one in eight young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training is a dismal statistic. Nearly a decade after the school-leaving age was raised to 18 in England (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland it remains 16), and 25 years after Tony Blair aimed to have 50% of young people in higher education, Britain under the Tories went backwards.

The problem of a shrinking workforce, and the rising benefits bill it entails, is not limited to young adults. The UK’s lack of a post-pandemic bounceback in employment is a concern in other age groups, particularly the over-50s. But the government is right to be alarmed by the phenomenon of young people emerging from 14 years of schooling unable to work or undertake training. Unemployment and long-term illness are not a great start to anyone’s adult life.