Tonight:
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IF SUMMITEERING were the key to reversing the downturn, Gordon Brown would have the recession well in hand. He is holding a jobs summit today with union and business leaders; it follows his tour of unemployment hotspots, his summits with financial institutions and his initiative to help graduates.
But there are doubts that this flurry of activity will translate into a lasting reduction in the 1.8 million unemployed or prevent this figure reaching three million by next year. The Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, announces today that employers will get a sweetener of up to £2,500 for taking on anyone who has been unemployed for six months or more; there will also be increased funds for training jobless individuals.
Yet Mr Brown cannot resist a more ideological spin. Thus the former health secretary Alan Milburn has returned to the front line to launch the Government's latest initiative to deal with middle-class dominance of the professions. A white paper on social mobility will be launched tomorrow. Mr Milburn says that he wants to establish why children are now so much less socially mobile than in his youth. And he is to focus on ensuring that the professions take on greater numbers of recruits from poorer homes.
Yet the obvious reason for the decline in social mobility is poor education and the Government's failure to raise standards. Grammar schools once provided the means for bright young people from deprived backgrounds to forge a route out of poverty. But while no major party is advocating the return of grammars, few state schools today match them in academic rigour. Wealthier parents can buy their way out of the problem, though as we report today, many are seeking cheaper private schools; poor parents, however, can do little about bad schools.
The Government's record on job creation has not been good: studies have found that the majority of the jobs created in Mr Brown's New Deal would have been created anyway. But ministers' latest posturing on social mobility risks being even less productive: without a transformation in educational standards it will achieve little.
Unsafe stations
THE DECISION by Thameslink operator First Capital Connect to cut back staffing at many stations is cynical and irresponsible. The company, owned by First Group, is reducing opening times at 28 busy stations' ticket offices: this is almost certain to mean that some are unmanned at night. Some of the stations concerned, such as Elephant and Castle, are already edgy places after dark: they will feel even less safe without ticket-office staff.
It is particularly unfortunate that this news comes three years to the day since the murder near Kensal Green station of lawyer Tom ap Rhys Price. Since his death, this newspaper has campaigned for a staff presence at all stations: it discourages crime and makes travellers feel safer. Only last week, the Mayor delivered on his election campaign pledge to put an extra 50 police in stations and on trains. Thameslink's decision is a retrograde step - although one that is now being considered by other operators too, including South West Trains.
The operators justify such decisions on cost-cutting grounds. But First Group made interim operating profits of £48.3 million in the first half of this financial year, supported by lucrative subsidies. It should reconsider, and put the safety of the public first.
And celebrating...
BRITISH FILM TALENT. Last night's Golden Globes awards were a celebration of British successes. Kate Winslet won both best actress and best supporting actress awards, Sally Hawkins was best actress in a comedy for her sparkling performance in Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky, while Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire was best film drama. We look forward to more triumphs at the Oscars next month.
Reader views (1)
Referring to your comments about unsafe railways, I've just returned from a week in Spain and apart from the cheapness and reliability of their system, I was struck by the fact that all stations have a security officer employed by the railways constantly patrolling the stations and there is a guard on each train doing the same thing. Anyone with feet on the seat opposite is given a little tap with a truncheon and those feet come off in double quick time. Can you imagine that here?
- Albert Hall, Carshalton, England, 12/01/2009 11:01
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