A few weeks ago I spoke at the inaugural debate of the Portsmouth University Debating Club. It was really well attended and is going to be very successful, even 3 lecturers turned up. Although the Labour Parliamentary Candidate stated that it was a negative term and not true, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report on Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2009 tells a different story. The first key point states: ‘The number of people unemployed or otherwise wanting work is the highest since 1997. The unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds is now higher than at any point since this series began in 1993.’

This is very disappointing and a hallmark of the devastation that this Labour Government has left on this country. While I pointed out to the students that they were not the lost generation yet, once they graduate will there be a job for them?

The other disappointing key point was the rise in poverty: ‘even before the start of the recession, the number of people living in low-income households rose again in 2007/08. The number of people in low-income households is now as high as it was in 2000, having risen by 1.3m in the last three years.’ That means that many of the next generation are being bought up in poverty too and we must work hard to make sure that this is turned around.

At the Party conference in October, David Cameron, talked about poverty in his conference speech and it was very obvious from everyone there, a standing ovation made it clear that the growth in poverty was unacceptable and we must concentrate our policies on reducing levels fast. Many families in Portsmouth are on the bread line and finding life very difficult at the moment. Sadly the Labour Government has destroyed the economy making it difficult to do any quick fixes but we will put alleviating poverty at the top of our agenda and policy making.