Preamble Under the Tories monetarist policies, employment was left to the vagaries of the market. In 2 recessions unemployment rose to much the highest levels seen since the war and, though the system for counting it was changed 30 times, it was still at a historically high level when they lost office. Employment levels were also high then, however, though many of the new jobs were temporary or part-time. Foreign companies brought jobs to Britain because wages, taxes and social costs were low and unions weak, but it was also cheap to sack labour. Labour policy was: - A return to full employment using Keynesian principles to stimulate demand
- To rebuild Britain's manufacturing base
- To use internationally agreed (ILO) methods to measure unemployment
- To end the reliance on undercutting other countries in the labour market
- To use education and training to attract high quality jobs
In fact under New Labour: - Numbers employed rose before the recession, but by continued reliance on the market, while proposals for EU job-creation programmes were vetoed
- More than a million more manufacturing jobs were lost after 199
- The ILO system was not introduced though some changes were made
- Attempts, e.g. by the EU, to get a level playing field were resisted
- The high quality job route remained government policy, but most new employment was low-paid and unskilled
In addition: - Even the doctored unemployment count remained at levels double those usual from 1940 to 197
- A pledge to axe 104,000 civil service jobs was presented as good news
- New Labour was a proud advocate of the flexible labour market introduced by the Tories
- Unemployment rose steeply during the recession, but financial measures taken limited the rise
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