Nick Clegg to reverse VAT cut.
Heather said “Nick Clegg’s call for the temporary VAT cut to be ended immediately to pay for up to 800,000 young people to do work internships is a sensible and positive proposal. The government may have reduced the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15% until the end of the year as part of its “fiscal stimulus” but Nick Clegg is right when he says that the money would be better used providing three-month internships for those aged 16 to 24 who are not in work, education or training.”
In a speech in Newcastle, Nick Clegg called the VAT cut “pointless” and demanded the creation of an internship scheme, with those taking part earning £55 a week rather than claiming job seekers’ allowance. Employers should also be obliged to help participants search for a permanent job.”
Nick Clegg added “Parents used to worry about whether their children could get on to the housing ladder. Now the concern has spread to whether they can even get a job. The government’s shamefully inadequate response allows young people to fester on benefits for almost a year before offering real help, while the Tories are typically silent on what they would do.”
He added: “We’re proposing to give young people the hope that they can stay active, stay in study, stay in work, stay in training, rather than find themselves put on a course towards long-term unemployment. This recession is, in my view, creating the real risk of a jobless generation and that’s an absolute tragedy, because the people who deserve least to be punished because of the problems of this recession are the young.”
Heather Kidd said that the proposals are the equivalent of only two days of the VAT cut.