'Out of touch' Mayor blaming young people for government's failure

Labour Assembly member Val Shawcross has branded Mayor Boris Johnson "out of touch" and "uncaring" after he blamed unemployment on lazy young Londoners.

Official job figures released this week show there are 233,673 out of work Londoners chasing just 32,843 vacancies - seven people for every available job. But according to the Sun newspaper, Boris Johnson today said, "The jobs are there and people need to have the energy to go out and get them."
 
In Haringey, where last summer's riots began, there are almost 30 people chasing every job vacancy. In Lewisham there just 500 jobs for over 9,000 job-seekers.
 
Labour Assembly member Val Shawcross said today: "The Mayor either doesn't know how bad things are for young Londoners or he is deliberately blaming them for the situation the government has forced them into. He's either totally out of touch with the desperate worries of young people and their families across London or totally uncaring.

"Our young people are hard working and ambitious but their their fears for the future are being ignored. Instead of blaming them Boris Johnson should be bending over backwards to help them."
 
In the last year there has been a 140 per cent increase in the number of 18-24 year olds out of work for more than six months.
 
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Notes
 
1. The Mayor is quoted in the Sun newspaper today saying, "There are large numbers of job vacancies. Why are young people not taking up those jobs? How can we help them? That is the key problem for our economy.
 
"Let's talk about the work ethic. I don't want to stigmatise young people because many of them do have the aptitude. But we need to face up to these issues.
 
"In some cases it can come down to the fact that the jobs are there and people need to have the energy to go out and get them.
 
"These are tough things to say for people facing hardship."
 
2. Jobless figures and vacancies from www.ons.gov.uk and www.nomisweb.co.uk.