Burnley MP jobs plea

More must be done to get East Lancashire’s disabled and young people into work, Burnley’s MP has told ministers, as he invited Work and Pensions’ Secretary Pat McFadden to visit his constituency.

Labour backbencher Oliver Ryan made his plea in a speech during the House of Commons debate on the King’s Speech, setting out the Government’s legislative agenda for the year ahead.

He said: “The previous Government built Universal Credit in a way that actively penalised people for trying, where taking on a few extra shifts could leave someone worse off than before.

“They left disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in an impossible position, wanting to work and contribute, but terrified that if they tried to do so and it did not work out, they would lose the support that kept them afloat.

“That was not a welfare system; it was a trap and a cycle of insecurity, worklessness, and despair.

“I welcome what this Government is doing to change that.

“The right to try is exactly the right approach: it gives disabled people the legal right to try work without the immediate fear of losing their benefits if things do not go perfectly.

“That might sound straightforward, but for constituents I have spoken to in Burnley, the fear was real.

“Disabled people are not a problem to be solved or written off. They are people with expertise in their own lives, people with needs and ambitions.

“The issues facing young people are one of the sharpest challenges in towns like mine.

“In 2024, we inherited nothing short of a national disgrace: nearly a million young people – under-25s – not in employment, education or training.

“Once someone does not get their first leg up, the drift sets in, and it becomes harder and harder to reverse.

“The human cost of that – the lost confidence, lost years, and lost social impact – is real and lasting, especially in towns like mine.

“Our youth guarantee is part of the answer, but I hope that the Secretary of State is looking to go further and faster.

“He is welcome to come to Burnley any time he likes so that I can show him what we can do for young people in our towns if we give them just a little support.

“Some young people have no parent who can tell them how to do a CV or an interview, so when they leave school, they feel abandoned in a scary and increasingly expensive world where there are no opportunities for them.

“In the short term, a young person may turn to the benefit system because their mate has.

“Generationally, it is towns like mine that have always suffered – they are signed off, written off and politically demonised.”