This government have betrayed an entire generation

In recent weeks, I have been speaking with young people across the country as we prepare our manifesto for the next generation in the General Election.

What they have in common is a profound sense of injustice at the lot they have been handed. “If only I had graduated a few years earlier, things would have been different,” says one.  Another tells me her doubts if she “will ever be able to afford a home of my own in own town”.  Still more talk about the grim job prospects they face even if they have got a good degree, the dearth of decent training, or how it seems the only way to get on in life is if you work for free and know someone on the inside.

All this is borne out in today’s findings of the UK Data Service which shows how young people have seen a dramatic decline in their living standards over the last 35 years while older and richer people are doing better than ever.

This is not about pitching young against old. Any positive improvement in the lives of older people is to be welcomed – and I am proud of the last Labour government’s achievements in reducing  pensioner poverty. The next Labour government will take this battle forward by tackling the rip off energy prices and pension fees, while supporting the triple lock to protect the value of the state pension.  

Indeed, parents and grandparents across the country are as horrified as we are to see the life chances of the young people they love placed in jeopardy. They have worked hard to give their children a better start in life than they had. Yet they see their sons and daughters struggling to make ends meet as wages are stagnant and the cost of living is rising. They see hard work to get into university rewarded only with vast debts and poor prospects. And they despair at seeing their children and grandchildrens’ dream of home ownership disappearing into the far distance.

This is a generational crisis that must be tackled head on by political leaders. And those leaders must be held to account.

But another set of figures published today shows young people are in growing danger of losing their voice to hold political leaders to account. The Electoral Commission has confirmed that a million voters had disappeared off voting rolls in the past year – a direct consequence of the way the Tories and Liberal Democrats hastily forced through changes to the way people register.

I suspect many ministers don’t want to be held to account by young people. But this not just about the betrayal of the Lib Dem election promises over tuition fees. This is about a Tory-led government’s betrayal of an entire generation with a plan that fails young people and will fail Britain.

Labour has a better plan so that the next generation and Britain can succeed. We will protect investment in education, guarantee an apprenticeship to every school leaver who gets the grades, force landlords to offer fairer rents and get at least 200,000 new homes built a year.

 And we will lower the voting age to 16 from 2016.

We need young people to have their voices heard to ensure that the issues they care about take priority. Labour has called on the Government to set a clear goal to reduce the numbers of missing voters and delay fully implementing Individual Electoral Registration until this goal is met. We also want them to take serious steps such as reinstating universities’ and colleges right to block register students in Halls of Residences.

Ed Miliband knows that this election is extremely high stakes for young people. It will have huge consequences for education and training at schools, colleges and universities. It will have an impact on the quantity and quality of jobs available afterwards. It will affect the rent paid for a first home and the chances of buying one.

That is why he has chosen to put their views centre stage in this campaign, asking me to go directly to young people and ask them what changes they wanted to see for a better future and a fairer country. Thousands of young people gave us their views in the Shape Your Future consultation which closed last week, both through an online survey, and at events across the country. We will be acting on the suggestions they made, with the publication of a unique Young Britain manifesto in the coming weeks.

Labour will prioritise support for young people because Britain only succeeds when the next generation have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. We are putting their aspirations and sense of idealism at the heart of this election campaign and our vision for a better future.

Ivan Lewis is the Labour MP for Bury South, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Young People Campaign Co-Ordinator