Alan Milburn

What do we need to be doing to make it easier for those kids to come into the workplace?

Particularly if they've got, you know, it's not easy, any of this, but particularly if I have got high levels of anxiety, for example.

I think in the end, there's a sort of deal to be done.

I mean, my sense is there's a huge amount of goodwill amongst employers.

It's not that they want to penalise this generation of young people.

They want to provide opportunities for young people.

The government can help or hinder that.

Some of the things that the government is doing, for example, the youth guarantee,

which is offering wage subsidies, for example, for young people who've been unemployed for a while, just to help with the costs of employing people.

I think that's a perfectly sensible thing to do.

There's a big reform of the apprenticeship system that's needed.

Far too many apprenticeships, frankly, go to older workers, which is just, when we were growing up, an apprenticeship was all about a young person learning a trade, getting onto the first rung of the career ladder, and then progressing.

Of course, all of that.

But it's just overly skewed at the moment and it should be focused on young people.

So I think there's a lot that government can do to help with that.

And government can probably do more.

But then I think there's got to be a deal with employers to say, OK, but you guys need to play your part as well.

So what are you going to do to turn on that youth recruitment tap?

to make, I don't know, supported internships available, flexible working available.

And I know all of this, I understand.