In this opinion piece, Doug Nicholls, Chair of Chooseyouth and General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions, argues that it is acutely undemocratic to continue to refuse to invest in the Youth Service and make it statutory and welcomes the recent Labour Party plans for statutory youth service provision.
Ignoring the majority
We are getting painfully accustomed to strong popular consensus being ignored by politicians. Parliament, it seems, thinks it can overturn the biggest ever mandate given to it by the people in its history.
For most young people and most of the population, providing better support and opportunities for young people remains one of the top political priorities. This is codified as the eloquently straightforward demand for a statutory Youth Service. This has been the policy of every parliamentary party except the Conservative Party.
Yet it has been historically one of the lowest priorities for politicians to implement despite their party policies. It’s been a promise made in opposition and forgotten in power.
It was the great youth worker and trade unionist Paul Boskett who significantly helped establish the Youth Parliament in the House of Commons. What is consistently expressed in their debates is the aspiration for a national infrastructure of youth support staffed by professionally qualified youth workers – a statutory Youth Service.
No one until recently has been listening to this popular demand…