Labour launches Youth Guarantee and EU mobility plan

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her Labour conference speech to launch a Youth Guarantee to try to abolish long-term youth unemployment by guaranteeing every 18–21-year-old education, training, apprenticeships or one-to-one job support and offering paid work placements for those unemployed for 18 months; ministers say the scheme will likely be partly subsidised and that people who unreasonably refuse offers could face sanctions. Reeves also pushed for an ambitious UK–EU youth mobility deal to let 18–30-year-olds live and work temporarily for up to two years with no automatic right to remain, and has asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to score its economic impact to help reduce the need for tax rises ahead of the November budget. She pledged funding for a library in every primary school and is promoting the measures as part of efforts to close a potential £30bn fiscal shortfall and reframe OBR Brexit forecasts. The proposals have prompted internal party tensions, notably with Andy Burnham, and drawn external criticism from Conservatives and Reform UK who say the mobility scheme risks a backdoor return to free movement. Major details remain unresolved, including delivery models, costs, the scale and annual numbers for placements and visas, and whether the OBR will include the schemes in its forecasts, leaving questions about affordability. The UK already runs similar youth mobility deals with countries such as Australia and issued just over 24,000 such visas in 2024.