Proceeding contribution from Chris Bryant (Labour) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 7 July 2026. It occurred during Opposition day on Summer Jobs.
Summer Jobs
I am not sure that there is “nowhere” in the country where that is more important than the Isle of Wight—every single constituency in the land faces challenges around getting young people into work. The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), raised a completely different set of issues from those raised by the hon. Gentleman, but of course we have to reform welfare. I do not think a single Member of the House does not believe that we have to reform welfare. We have to ensure welfare works for people and enables people to get into jobs.
There is one phrase that the hon. Member for Grantham and Bourne used that I completely agree with, although I would just change one word. He said that as a Conservative, he believed that work is the route out of poverty and into prosperity, and as a socialist and a Labour party politician, I agree that work is the route out of poverty, to self-fulfilment, to better mental health and to increased social cohesion across the whole country, so of course it is an absolute priority for any Labour Government to want to get as many young people into profitable work as possible.
Let me deal with the three main issues that have been raised in the debate: first, young people and their summer jobs; secondly, support for businesses; and thirdly, tourism. I see the shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, hon. Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston), is in his place, so he may want to raise some of the issues around tourism later. I think he has been out in the sun a bit too much—I am a bit worried about him. Skin cancer is a major problem in the country—[Interruption.]
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 789 c186
- Session
- 2026-27
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Conditions of employment Employers' contributions Tourism Training Young people Seasonal workers Students Operating costs Living wage Zero hours contracts Hospitality industry
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on hansard.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-07-08 09:58:08 +0100
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- http://hansard.intranet.data.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-07-07/26070739000025
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