Woking to receive Government boost for young unemployed

It has often been said that the contrast between the main two political parties is one which shows a divide over whether active measures should be taken to help citizens deal with the recession; to paraphrase the Prime Minister, ‘Real help now’ vs ‘Do nothing’. It is a comparison which, while simplistic, I feel has broadly been true. The Conservatives might care about the deficit, but they don’t seem to worry about the long-term health of small businesses who depend on spending, or the individuals who they employ.

I have been a vociferous critic of the neoliberal policies of cuts and privatisation pursued at local level by the Tory-dominated Surrey County council.

But for once, I’m going to give them a break.

Saying this is surprisingly easy for me. They have decided to enact one of Labour best national policies locally. Woking’s new boost for people my own age (well, yes, 24, but also below it) will come as a direct result of Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling’s Future Jobs Fund. It is good to see Dr Povey, the council leader, sticking up for our Labour policies. Tories, using Labour policies to help the young and unemployed. It’s rare that they would do something like that, and it’s rare that I come to agree with them.

Nice to see a bipartisan approach making areal difference to people’s lives. It is also good to see that Conservatives are prepared to accept the legitimate role of government in solving economic problems, just for once.

Now the only question is why they have done so much to oppose this approach and these policies nationally - is doing so really in Woking’s interest?

Of course not.

So it’s still well worth people here voting Labour.