The Tories, and their previous coalition partners, the
Lib Dems, have made life harder for young people. With
surging housing prices, stagnating wages, rising
student debt, escalating knife crime and a mental
health crisis – these are just some of the challenging
facing young people after a decade of austerity. The
climate emergency has also created great uncertainty
for young people, but the Conservatives have failed to
take meaningful action to address the crisis.
In Labour’s Youth Manifesto the party has pledged to
tackle intergenerational inequality and deliver real
change for young people. The manifesto outlines radical
steps to ensure that every young person has the support
they need to fulfil their potential and feel secure in
their future.
Labour has announced an additional £1 billion in annual
revenue expenditure for youth services, twenty times
the £50 million previously announced by the government.
This will build a properly funded, professionally
staffed National Youth Service, and will guarantee
every young person has access to local, high-quality
youth work.
Labour will double the annual capital expenditure for
youth services that the government has committed to,
investing an additional £250 million to build up to 500
new youth centres.
The party’s offer for young people includes:
- Votes at 16 and automatic voter registration
- An end to tuition fees and bringing back
maintenance grant
- Free bus travel for under 25s
- Climate apprenticeship programme for school leavers
- Banning unpaid internships
- A Real Living Wage of £10 per hour for everyone
over the age of 16
- Reforming Help to Buy to focus it on first-time
buyers on ordinary incomes
- Doubling the annual spending on children and
adolescent mental health services
- 3,500 qualified counsellors to guarantee
every child access to school counsellors
- Investing in the youth justice system
, Leader of the
, launching
Labour’s youth manifesto at a rally of young people in
Loughborough, will say:
“By shutting down hundreds of youth centres, the Tories
showed they don’t care about young people.
“Across the country, young people are taking to the
streets and leading the climate strikes, they’re
campaigning on issues they care about, and using social
media to make their voices heard.
“Labour will invest in our young people so that
everyone has somewhere to go, something to do and
someone to speak to.
“This is the most important election for a generation.
To achieve real change, I’m calling on people to take
just 5 minutes to get registered so they can make sure
that their voice is heard.”
, Labour’s Shadow
Minister for Youth Affairs, will say:
“We often say that young people are the leaders of
tomorrow, but recent events have shown they are the
leaders of today.
“The next Labour government will take radical steps,
from building a National Youth Service to tackling the
climate crisis, to ensure that every young person has
the support they need to fulfil their potential and
feel secure in their future.
“This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to
rebuild and transform our country. The future is ours
to make. It’s time for real change so that no one is
held back, and no community is left behind.”
