We Owe Our Forgotten Children The Chance Of A Brighter Future

Our young people need character now more than ever. Suddenly the country they live in is in crisis, jobs disappearing, tempers fraying and social cohesion at its worst. Not since the war have we so needed young people with the necessary grit, determination and resilience to get up and get on, to rise to the challenge.

- Charlie Rigby

This most applies to the youngsters whose lives have already been tough, who perhaps have strayed already into petty crime or worse, who see no future for themselves. These youths are no less talented than their middle-class peers, no less willing or able to attend school, behave well, pass their exams, get a job and succeed in life.

Yet they are so lacking in confidence and self-esteem, they are the new “left behind”, and their wasted talent costs us £30billion a year. The ages from 13 to 15 are when so many white working-class boys struggle to achieve and fall into the depths of deprived crime. But they have little opportunity to develop their character.

Let us not underestimate the problem. In areas of the country where I have worked there are gangs that set up evening hunts of a randomly selected victim which end in a savage knife murder. Little children are used by County Lines to deliver drugs at gunpoint.

There is a solution, and this Government committed in its manifesto to address the issue with a £500million Youth Investment Fund.