Tories should get ‘critical’ about psychological well being to kind jobs disaster, says Labour
Tory ministers should get “serious” about tackling the psychological well being disaster in the event that they wish to get extra individuals again into work, Labour has mentioned.
Liz Kendall and Wes Streeting warned it could be “unforgivable” for the Government to “stand by and do nothing” about the issue in tomorrow’s Autumn Statement. In a letter to their Tory counterparts, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and Shadow Health Secretary argued a failure to deal with the problem is damaging the financial system as it’s resulting in “lower growth, a higher benefits bill, and so much wasted potential”.
“You claim to have a plan to get Britain working, but, unlike every other country in the G7, our employment rate still hasn’t returned to pre pandemic levels,” they wrote. “On your watch, there are now a record number of people out of work due to long term sickness – 2.6 million – the majority of whom are suffering with mental ill-health.”
They added: “Being shut out of a job because of poor health has a terrible cost for individuals, who want to be in work; for businesses, which need to draw on the skills and talents of all the population in order to expand and thrive; and for taxpayers, who are paying an extra £15.7bn a year since the pandemic in lost tax revenues and higher benefit bills.”
Demanding Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out plans to get a grip on the issue because the Government’s tax and spending plans are introduced tomorrow, they mentioned: “You cannot build a healthy economy without a healthy society. It would be unforgivable to stand by and do nothing while a new generation of young people begin adulthood without the opportunities they need and deserve.”
Labour had mentioned it’ll finish the disaster in psychological well being by recruiting 8,500 extra psychological well being professionals to get sufferers well timed remedy and open hubs for younger individuals in each neighborhood.
Concluding their letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride and Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, they wrote: “If you’re serious about growing the economy, adopt our mental health plan in the Autumn Statement and put Britain back to work. If you don’t act, a Labour government will.”
In a speech yesterday, Rishi Sunak mentioned it’s a “national scandal” that round two million working-age persons are not in employment.
