Tensions were running high in the Good Morning Britain studio as Rob Rinder branded a Labour MP “misleading” in a fiery debate about the rising number of young people facing unemployment. On Friday morning (May 29), the 47-year-old broadcaster joined his guest co-host Charlotte Hawkins at the helm of the ITV breakfast show as they discussed the biggest issues facing the UK today. It didn’t take long for things to turn political as they announced the Labour government has pledged 300,000 new work experience and training placements for young people over the next three years to help combat rising youth unemployment.
It comes after former Health Secretary Alan Milburn said Britain has lost 1.6million low and medium-skilled jobs, with hospitality jobs more than halved in four years. To get a more in-depth understanding of the new employment scheme, the presenting duo welcomed Labour MP Torsten Bell onto the show.
It didn’t take long for things to heat up between the pair, as the presenter grilled the politician about the scheme’s effectiveness. Rob asked: “Isn’t it the real problem that jobs young people used to start, you know, McDonald’s and newspaper rounds, just simply aren’t there anymore?”
Mr Bell replied: “I completely agree with you that we have seen some big changes in the Labour market. We’ve got high levels of employment in Britain today; last year, we saw 75% roughly of Brits working. There’s only been two years in the last 100 outside the Second World War, where more people were working than that.”
The presenter swiftly interrupted him, saying: “I’m so sorry, that’s not what I asked. Where are the jobs going to come from when there aren’t those hospitality jobs there in the first place? Why are you making it more expensive to employ people, especially young people, in a youth employment crisis?”
The Labour MP explained: “Actually, I see employers right across the economy who do want to employ more young people, about 28% of SME’s have offered work experience or internships to people in the last three years. We’d like that to be more, but that’s great that they’re doing that.”
Rob Rinder grilled Torsten Bell about rising youth unemployment on the programme (Image: ITV)
The broadcaster asked again: “Are you going to make it cheaper to emply young people, reduce national insurance, make it easier for the hospitality industry that you keep referring to?” Refusing to answer the question, Mr Bell insisted: “No, no, the answer to young people is to get really good apprenticeships, whether that’s in AI or in our health sector or in the construction sector, all over the place.
“We need all kinds of jobs. As Alan Milburn said yesterday, we can see that this issue has been building right across the last two decades. It didn’t happen in the last two years. Let’s be really clear: people who are aged under 21 don’t incur any national insurance whatsoever for them to be employed. If you’re an apprentice and you’re aged under 25, there’s no national insurance at all.”
Mr Rinder pointed out that he was “misleading people” because he was dodging the question about the cost it would incur on employers to hire younger people, not that the cost would fall on the young people in search of work. He chuckled: “Let’s not mislead people. It makes it more expensive for pubs and the hospitality industry to hire younger employees.
“We heard from Next about 20 people applying for one job, but it makes it more expensive to employ people, especially the young people who you want to get into work.” However, the politician was failing to understand or answer the line of questioning put to him repeatedly.
Charlotte interjected with: “This is a whole generation of young people that’s potentially being lost. It is misleading to say that the extra costs imposed on businesses, even though certain people are exempt, don’t affect who they hire.
“The costs they incur mean businesses have to make decisions about the jobs they offer, and they’re looking at the ones they can lose, they’re looking at entry-level jobs, and that’s why we’ve seen the decrease in jobs on offer.” Mr Bell admitted: “I do think we should take seriously the costs that businesses bear, whether that’s on energy bills or it’s on tax and regulation, I absolutely agree with that.
“But look at what the data shows you. The employment levls amongst young people fell in the 2010s and they never recovered to the highs seen under the last Labour government in the 2000s. It shows you that net levels rose significantly from post-pandemic through to today, long before anyone had mentioned changes in national insurance.”
It didn’t take long before viewers stormed to social media to share their frustrations with the fiery debate online, as one user fumed: “Torstin Bell is making a right Horlicks of his live interview on GMB. Judge Rinder is asking all the right questions and not taking ‘swerves’ for answers. So Bell’s solution is work experience/ placements ‘flipping burgers’ at McDonald’s.”
Another agreed: “This interview is painful”, as a third fumed: “I really hate this ‘let’s be clear’ tagline politicians use when they’re not being clear at all.” Meanwhile, a fourth pointed out: “Work experience is all well and good, but the young want jobs, money to cope with the cost of living. Work experience gives you £20-£30 a week for lunch, and that’s all.”