Just watched Yvette Cooper’s conference speech. Yvette is not only the Work and Pensions secretary but is MP for the neighbouring constituency to us, Pontefract and Castleford.
Wow, I have to say I was very impressed with what Yvette had to say and the passion with which she delivered it. Yvette told us about the good work that local employment partnerships are doing and the real difference they are making to many young people’s lives. Following the success there will be further investment to help more of our people struggling to find work.
This is of particular interest to me having worked in this field, signing young people and employers up into training. The young people I worked with were so pleased that someone was taking an interest and helping them. For example, Chloe, who had been laid off from her employer. She wanted a change of direction and decided she wanted to go into holistic therapy. Because the course was about to start I hit a brick wall as I was trying to get the wheels turning for her so quickly but I persisted for her and managed to get her signed up and secure Learning and Skills council funding.Chloe was so grateful that someone had taken this much interest in her and was so excited about her new start. I helped her find the best value uniform sites on the internet too, she even promised that I could be her first customer, well I’m still waiting for that one!
Yvette also reminded us of the Jarrow Marchers in 1936, where 200 people walked 300 miles with their MP ‘Red Ellen’ (Ellen Wilkinson), from the town of Jarrow to the Palace of Westminster in protest against unemployment and extreme poverty. The marchers’ great efforts came to nothing though as all they were given were their train fares home.Yvette also talked about the people’s march for jobs 1981 in the Thatcher years. It’s always good to remember what the Tories did to us, by remembering what they’ve done in the past we can work together to fight to try to ensure that they never get a chance to do it again.
