As published in this week’s TCS.

We are portrayed as a ‘lost generation’ of graduates, entering the market burdened with personal debt and without the employment prospects to match. The outcome of the next election will be crucial for us. It will determine whether we finally have a government willing to free the economy from the burdens of punitive tax and ill-planned regulation, so it can offer us the opportunities we need.

The Conservative Party is calling for immediate action to help graduates hit by the recession. ‘Job Clubs’ will provide human support for applicants where bureaucratic job centres are failing. Postgraduate education will receive all the funding government can afford. Tax breaks on new jobs and proposals to encourage loans to businesses through a temporary National Loans Guarantee Scheme should also be crucial in preventing further graduate unemployment. 

Ultimately, such proposals are constructive but limited by the state of the economy under Labour. With the next government facing a public debt of over £800bn, it is impossible for any party to realistically suggest it can bank-roll an expansion of public sector graduate jobs. The comprehensive and realistic plans for economic recovery proposed by the Conservative Party are the real solution to helping graduate prospects.

Our economy can be rebuilt and strengthened through greater fiscal responsibility in government, and greater international competitiveness. The debt burden that the Labour government has imposed on our economy is acting as a dead weight on recovery and expansion. The Confederation of British Industry, which represents a third of private sector businesses, has highlighted a balanced budget as a critical factor in achieving future growth and stability. With studies showing cuts of up to £96bn are possible through targeting waste, the Conservatives will remove the burden of debt from the economy while maintaining all necessary services.

In a fiercely competitive global economy, our graduate opportunities also rely on the creation of an attractive market for employers. The Conservative Party will overhaul our complex and expensive tax system, where so much is wasted on bureaucracy. In its place, straightforward and lower corporate taxes will restore Britain’s international competitiveness to ensure the best companies settle here. 

The employment opportunities we aspire to cannot flourish in an economy burdened by debt, regressive corporate tax and knee-jerk over-regulation. Nor can they be conjured up with short-term, expensive government schemes.Only a Conservative government will restore the stable and competitive economy that will bring real, productive jobs to Britain.