Gimmicks won’t win this battle

The Government has announced its latest wheeze to get young people to take the jab. Of course, anything that helps fight this disease is to be welcomed. And offering incentives is certainly a useful tool.

But is this really the right way to go about it? A government that last time we looked was cracking down on junk food adverts and trying to encourage people to use public transport is offering pizza and taxis to youngsters.

It’s not the best of looks. But it kind of fits into the way this government treats young people.

Through the pandemic, it really has let a generation down. Schools have opened and closed almost at random. Advice around exams changes by the hour.

Youngsters at university have had their experience ruined with very little support.

And firms have laid off young people all over the place.

When we emerge from this pandemic, young people are going to want support. Jobs. Proper training. Sending them out into the world with a book of coupons is not going to cut it.

It’s not just young people who can see through these gimmicks.

NHS workers – who put their lives on the line for us – got claps, praise and a share in a medal.

But when it came to what they really needed – what they really deserved – the Government vanished.

Same for the police and the other emergency services. And the delivery drivers, the transport workers, the supermarket staff and everyone else who kept this country moving.

This latest gimmick is exactly that. A gimmick. What our young people need – what the country needs – is a government that will end the sideshow and concentrate on the main event.

That means a concrete, well-funded, serious plan for how we get the country moving again and how we make it up to those who have suffered so much.