Chris Grayling defines the enemy

By Tim Montgomerie
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In a speech to Policy Exchange later today Chris Grayling, Employment minister, will define the enemies of this Government's mission.

(1) The Polly Toynbee Left: "I’m afraid that too many people still just don’t get it. Like the “Polly Toynbee left” who rail with outrage against the idea of a young unemployed person being offered the chance to do a month’s work experience with Airbus, British Telecom, UK Mail or Tesco. Slave Labour they call it. Well that’s just insulting to some great companies who are helping young people get a job, not to mention the young people benefiting from placements by picking up the valuable skills and experience they need to get a leg up into the world of work. They just don’t understand that in today’s world, things don’t come on a plate. That Government can’t just create opportunity for all. That people have to go the extra mile if they want to succeed. Nor do they understand that you have to create wealth, not borrow it."

(2) The EU bureaucrats: "Then there are the officials in Brussels who sit in meetings about the need to create employment and talk about more regulation as the solution. It baffles me that at a time when we face a huge jobs challenge across Europe, that someone thinks it is sensible for the EU to be spending time legislating to ban high heeled shoes in a hairdressers. Don’t they understand that more and more red tape drives more jobs to emerging countries, and away from Europe. Creating new jobs should be absolutely at the top of the priority list for the EU and for any government in Europe. Any measure that damages employment in Europe should be set to one side. We cannot afford to do otherwise."

(3) Unreconstructed union leaders: "And there’s the union leaders who demand swingeing taxes on wealth creators and unrealistic pay rises and more protection for their members. Don’t they realise that in many sectors, companies are a few business class air tickets away from relocation somewhere else where their enterprise and wealth creation is welcomed and not derided. These views cannot be allowed to succeed in this country. If they do, Britain will be left on the sidelines."