Labour has a strong record on reducing unemployment but in Bethnal Green and Bow more needs to be done.

There have been successes - last year Jobcentre Plus alone helped 9,800 local people into work.  The number of young people not in training, education or employment has fallen to the lowest level ever thanks to very intensive work that local agencies have done including going door-to-door, speaking to young people at risk of unemployment and supporting them into training and work.

Still the unemployment rate here remains one of the highest in London, with graduate unemployment among the highest in the UK.  I want to develop more local programmes like Employment Solutions, which has placed local people into more than 4500 jobs since its inception in 2001.

There is so much talent here but too much is wasted in low paid and unskilled work. To unlock this potential we need improvements in apprenticeships and training programmes so that residents can gain the skills they need to find jobs. I will work hard to make sure that our neighbours - Canary Wharf and the City of London - which provide keys to opportunity and prosperity recruit people from this community.

I am committed to improving access to English language classes so that more people can gain access to higher education and to better jobs -it is important that residents are not held back because of their English language skills.
I support the teaching of community languages. Speaking languages other than English is a valuable skill in today’s global economy.