Black British youths

There are a number of countries within the European Union teetering at the brink of bankruptcy. Greece has just survived another nail-biting deadline to refinance its loans to avoid a complete meltdown.

Spain, Italy and Ireland are other nations in which their financial chaos has caused unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, to go through the roof. Figures show that in Greece, youth unemployment is at a staggering 51 per cent, whilst in Spain it is at 43 per cent, and Italy and Ireland around 30 per cent. So why is it that the UK, which has kept its AAA financial rating, has Black unemployment levels that surpass the very worst of the EU countries? Recently obtained documents show Black unemployment is even worse than Greece, reaching a depressing 55 per cent level.

The economic downturn, public sector cuts are particularly hitting Black communities in general very hard. From the low-paid workers, public sector staff and graduates, all are facing a race penalty to finding employment. Iqbal Wahhab, chairman of the ethnic minority advisory group at the Department for Work and Pensions said ministers need to do more to deal with the high unemployment rates among young Black men.

He is right, of course. For the last two years, individuals and organisations have pleaded with the Government to have a strategy to mitigate the shocking disproportionally that Black communities are facing during this economic downturn. During the disturbances last summer, we witnessed how some of the factors of alienation and social exclusion can explode on our streets. It’s not alarmist to suggest that without urgent action, things could get worse; much worse. As in most countries across the EU, here in the UK we have only seen a small fraction of the public sector cuts.

The danger of leaving a generation behind will not only come back to bite but also, and perhaps even more importantly, it is a gross waste or our nation's talent. Talent which should be used to fight our way out of this economic downturn.

Simon Woolley