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At the TUC rally last weekend – which was attended by over 150,000 people – a group of unemployed youngsters from the Black Country met with Labour leader Ed Miliband to talk about their desperate search to find work.

date: 23 October 2012

embargo: Immediate release

Ed Miliband meets Black Country young people at TUC rally

At the TUC rally last weekend - which was attended by over 150,000 people - a group of unemployed youngsters from the Black Country met with Labour leader Ed Miliband to talk about their desperate search to find work.

Speaking at the A Future That Works rally, Ed Miliband said how important it was that young unemployed people had joined the TUC march. In particular, he referenced Ashley Parsons, 20, a member of the TUC's youth unemployment campaign group from Wolverhampton, when he said:

'I am here to join with people from all walks of life ...Young people looking for work. Like Ashley Parsons from Wolverhampton ...Let us say we stand with all the young people who want to work in Britain today.'

Straight after delivering his speech Ed Miliband met with Ashley and other young unemployed people backstage at Hyde Park. The group included Dwayne Foster, 21, from Dudley, and Fiona Myers, 20, from Stourbridge, who are also active members of the TUC's campaign against youth unemployment. The Labour leader spoke to each young person and heard of their frustration at being unemployed and their anger that the number of jobs on offer has shrunk as a direct result of the government's austerity policies.

Ashley Parsons delivered one of the closing speeches from the stage at Hyde Park where he described his experiences of being unemployed. He spoke of being a victim of the cuts which have drastically reduced the public sector in the Black Country, the main provider of employment in the area. Ashley finished his speech with the words:

'Young people are not only the future, we are the here and now and right now I say to you, Mr Cameron, we need jobs not cuts.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

- Low resolution pictures attached. High resolution versions available from Rosa Crawford via rcrawford@tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries:

Rosa Crawford T: 0121 262 6381 M: 07947 411173; E: rcrawford@tuc.org.uk;

Alan Weaver, T: 0121 262 6383; M: 07771 778 694; E: aweaver@tuc.org.uk

Rob Johnston, T: 0121 262 6383; M: 07879 497 291; E: rjohnston@tuc.org.uk;

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