Sean Figg, national organiser, said:
“The call from Higher Education minister David Lammy for young people and students to do ‘100 hours community service to help the economy out of recession’ sums up the government’s attitude towards young people.
“While the rich bankers continue to gorge themselves on fat bonuses, Lammy is suggesting that young people don’t just pay for the economic crisis but that they are also punished for the effects of New Labours policies.
“Students suffer with huge debts because of having to pay extortionate tuition fees.
“This scheme would be funded by increasing student debt with a levy on the interest on student loans.
“The Demos report also suggests that students should ‘earn’ the money coming from state towards their education by doing community service. This comes at a time when state funding for higher education is being slashed resulting in cut backs and job losses in universities across the country.
“Lammy claims this scheme would ‘ease the burden on public services’ presumably this is will mean untrained volunteers would carry out the jobs of hundreds thousands of skilled public sector workers who will lose their jobs once massive cuts are carried out by whichever party forms the next government.
“These proposals are a fundamental attack on the democratic rights of young people and show the real agenda behind the political establishment’s fake concern for us.
“This scheme, if implemented, will cost £450 million. Why not use that money to fully fund University places and courses and create real jobs for the 1 million unemployed youth?
“This news reinforces Youth Fight for Jobs’ message: only by young people getting organised and forcing the government to listen is there any hope of salvaging a chance for a decent future.”
