Milburn says migrants not to blame for Neets crisis but falling immigration creates ‘opportunity’ – UK politics live

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From 1h agoMilburn says employers need 'new deal' to help encourage them to hire more young Britons as immigration falls

Q: According to a thinktank report, 27 young non-EU migrants have been hired for every one Briton since 2020. Do you think employers should have to offer jobs to British young people first?

Milburn said he thought that would happen anyway because immigration levels are falling. (See 12.20pm.)

But he said employers would need more support from government to allow this to happen. He explained:

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You bring in a migrant worker. They’re often experienced. They’re often a bit older. There’s a high work appetite.

A young person might well have a big work appetite, but they’ve had no work experience, never been exposed to the world of work, never had an opportunity to have that Saturday job, a bit of work experience.

And so this is going to mean that employers are going to have to work a bit harder in order to get the very best out of those young British workers. But that’s what they should be doing.

And the deal that we need to construct as a society is if employers are going to do that, how can the government help them and enable them to do that as well?

That’s the new deal. And it’s an important one in a world where levels of migration are seemingly on … a pretty clear downward trajectory.

Peter Walker’s guide to what is in Alan Milburn’s report on Neets out today.","elementId":"9d466458-5c85-4dd8-860c-c67fd4799476"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"‘A record of failure’: what’s in the first part of Alan Milburn’s Neet report?","elementId":"628a6c9e-7287-4fb7-8b70-183d5a7a3a69","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/28/a-record-of-failure-whats-in-the-first-part-of-alan-milburns-neet-report"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1779972182000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"14.43 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1779972223000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"14.43 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1779972223000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"14.43 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"14.43","title":"A record of failure’: what’s in the first part of Milburn’s Neets report?","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 28 May 2026 14.43 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 28 May 2026 10.00 CEST"},{"id":"6a1833f28f0897699fdb9d55","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

John Swinney should tax the wealthy in Scotland instead of axing public sector jobs, the Scottish Greens have said. Co-leader Gillian Mackay warned the government’s focus on “public sector reform” would likely mean slashing budgets and cutting jobs, the Press Association reports. PA says:","elementId":"2ad7831b-9848-4693-a110-32e952a04c09"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

Speaking during the inaugural first minister’s questions since the election, Mackay urged the first minister to agree to a bigger rollout of a four-day work week for public workers.\n

She also called on the SNP leader to work with her party to reform council tax – something long promised but not delivered by the SNP.\n

Mackay said: “We know public sector reform is badly needed, but trade unions in particular are rightly concerned that reform is usually a euphemism for slashing budgets and cutting jobs.”\n

Mackay said more money had to be raised from the “super rich” in Scotland and urged the first minister to “explore all options for taxing wealth before cutting public sector jobs”.\n

She asked the FM to back calls from Tax Justice Scotland to replace council tax by 2031 “at the latest”.\n

The group, which brings together more than 50 organisations campaigning for tax reforms, also wants the Scottish government to make faster progress on introducing a new levy on private jets.\n

It made the demands in an open letter to the first minister, with campaigners arguing “bold steps towards tax justice” could help provide funds to reduce inequality, invest in public services and tackle climate change.\n

Swinney said he was open to reforming or even abolishing council tax in Scotland but the government had to have “reliable means” in place to fund public services.\n

On reform, the first minister said while he understood concerns from trade unions, Scotland had “to be open to new ways of delivering public services”, saying Holyrood had to be a “bold” parliament.\n

He said Ivan McKee, public service reform secretary, would look to improve public services while making the government’s finances more sustainable, suggesting services could be delivered better while costing less.\n

Kemi Badenoch has criticised the British Museum for postponing a talk on Jewish culture because of potential protests, the Press Associaton reports.","elementId":"5c8bd132-2502-4d95-9a32-17edd3cc30bc"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

The museum said it had postponed the event after being told a “significant proportion” of attendees were planning to disrupt it, PA says. The lecture on ancient Israel and Judah was due to take place this afternoon as part of Jewish Culture Month.","elementId":"734d4bd5-b336-4aee-ae90-77356ce17da5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

In a statement, the British Museum said:","elementId":"6dee65c0-6265-43be-aa5e-d5695ddde5bc"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

In recent days, we were informed that a significant proportion of registered attendees were individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the programme.\n

The British Museum fully recognises the importance of lawful protest and freedom of expression in a democratic society. Equally, we have a responsibility to ensure that events hosted within the Museum can proceed safely, securely and without intimidation for speakers, staff and visitors alike.\n

Following discussions with organisers and security partners, a joint decision was taken to postpone the event to a later date when it can take place in an environment that properly safeguards both the audience experience and the integrity of the programme itself.\n","elementId":"4b123f4a-2bf4-4f60-a699-a975af1aaec8"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

In a post on social media, George Osborne, the former Tory chancellor who is now chair of the British Museum, urged people to read the statement before taking a view on the story.","elementId":"3ccde067-d27e-416f-84c3-a1ef8f21b79e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

But this morning Badenoch suggested that postponing the event was unacceptable. In a statment she said:","elementId":"28dfa4f0-b80d-47d6-a088-89b2ffc7830e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

Jewish Culture Month is meant to promote awareness of and celebrate Jewish culture in the UK. This decision achieves precisely the opposite.\n

Jewish acts and actors are now being routinely cancelled from events across the UK. As with the marches and protests going past Synagogues and knocking on doors intimidating Jews, the end result is an erasure of Jews and Jewish culture from Britain’s public space.\n

The government says it wants to combat antisemitism, it needs to tell publicly funded institutions like the British Museum to do what’s necessary to put this event on. The Conservatives will always make sure that Britain feels a safe place for Jews.\n","elementId":"bf674fa8-d996-4f05-acd9-434d1953865c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

UPDATE: Nadia Khomami has more on the museum’s decision here.","elementId":"1c7a3f6e-5c27-49cb-bf6a-a450fbcd36ae"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"British Museum postpones Jewish culture month lecture over protest fears","elementId":"e340bb2e-2d69-4c9d-9b1d-f03166102738","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/may/28/british-museum-postpones-jewish-culture-month-lecture-over-protest-fears"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1779970278000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"14.11 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1779970791000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"14.19 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1779970724000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"14.18 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"14.18","title":"Badenoch criticises British Museum for delaying Jewish event over protest fears","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 28 May 2026 14.43 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 28 May 2026 10.00 CEST"},{"id":"6a182e488f08714896b91ddd","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Here is Richard Partington’s story about the Milburn report.","elementId":"c951c7b5-58c1-41f7-b81c-e535636aaf00"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says","elementId":"b2468103-b71c-48d8-8f9e-a44d96d8de4a","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/28/uk-risks-125bn-hit-youth-unemployment-landmark-report-alan-milburn-neets"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1779969608000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"14.00 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1779969647000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"14.00 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1779969647000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"14.00 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"14.00","title":"UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 28 May 2026 14.43 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 28 May 2026 10.00 CEST"},{"id":"6a182c0f8f08714896b91dac","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Q: According to a thinktank report, 27 young non-EU migrants have been hired for every one Briton since 2020. Do you think employers should have to offer jobs to British young people first?","elementId":"1d3927e1-064b-4de7-8216-43ca8dedae9f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Milburn said he thought that would happen anyway because immigration levels are falling. (See 12.20pm.)","elementId":"73fd678b-bacf-4bfb-af97-4585236fa3c0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

But he said employers would need more support from government to allow this to happen. He explained:","elementId":"b1cc572e-d027-462c-80ab-e992e529b2c5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

You bring in a migrant worker. They’re often experienced. They’re often a bit older. There’s a high work appetite.\n

A young person might well have a big work appetite, but they’ve had no work experience, never been exposed to the world of work, never had an opportunity to have that Saturday job, a bit of work experience.\n

And so this is going to mean that employers are going to have to work a bit harder in order to get the very best out of those young British workers. But that’s what they should be doing.\n

And the deal that we need to construct as a society is if employers are going to do that, how can the government help them and enable them to do that as well?\n

That’s the new deal. And it’s an important one in a world where levels of migration are seemingly on … a pretty clear downward trajectory.\n","elementId":"2e6fe281-466b-4f3e-b513-0a58eeab38e4"}],"attributes":{"pinned":true,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1779969039000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"13.50 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1779969506000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"13.58 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1779969506000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"13.58 CEST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"13.58","title":"Milburn says employers need 'new deal' to help encourage them to hire more young Britons as immigration falls","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 28 May 2026 14.43 CEST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 28 May 2026 10.00 CEST"},{"id":"6a18276f8f08cf8299b169e4","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Q: Spending on adult apprenticeships and adult education has fallen sharply since 2010. Is that part of the problem?","elementId":"1a5651ca-7619-4229-b2f3-a7a437d3877b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Yes, it is, Milburn said.","elementId":"f2bf4580-b13a-4dab-92d5-0a43eb811d65"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n

If you look at countries comparable to ours, take Holland as an example. Holland has a third of the Neet rate that we do in the UK.\n

Is that about Dutch kids being different from British kids? Not all.\n

Is that about their labour market being different? Maybe a bit.\n

What is it fundamentally about? It’s about some structural things.\n

First of all, it’s about the question that you ask, which is they make a priority of vocational education and investment in it. And when you look at the numbers, there’s a far higher proportion of Dutch kids, Dutch young people, in the equivalent of our FE colleges than there are here. So they’ve made a deliberate choice and it’s produced a pretty good outcome.\n

Secondly, they approach things in different structural way. So one of the very striking features of the Dutch system, for example, is it’s much more integrated. The services pull together. Ours is fractured. They’re integrated. They’re pulled together.\n

There’s one data set. Critically there’s one organisation responsible. We have no one responsible here because everyone is.\n

And the final part of the action that they seem to get right, that we get wrong, is that employers are much more engaged from the outset with the education system, so that kids are getting familiarity with employers, with the world of work, with work experience, with all of those things that we know that employers are crying out for.\n

I’m not saying you can do a lift and shift from the Dutch system because you can’t. There’s different traditions, different cultures, different structures. But, boy o boy, is there something to learn.\n","elementId":"55cbc30b-d26d-4370-b89d-b470bcbe9a1b"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1779967856000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"13.30 CEST","blockLastUpdated":1779968442000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"13.40 CEST","blockFirstPublished":1779968442000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"13.40 CEST","blockF