The comments that are believed to be contained in a report to be published this week by the prime minister's aide of enterprise Lord Young have excited some controversy.

For example, he has commented that if you are in business and your competitors go bankrupt (he used the expression "fall by the wayside"), it allows those businesses who are efficient to increase their market share.

Many might believe that this is simply commonsense.

Let's face it, if you can incubate an idea and make it work in the current economic environment then it should be in good shape when the climate becomes more benign.

However, some have seized on Lord Young's comments as being indicative of a culture in which it becomes acceptable to exploit those who are weakest. He has stated his belief that if "factors of production" become cheaper this will allow a greater return on investment.

As critics point out, business failures result in job losses which bring misery. Additionally they stress that the factors of production which become cheaper will include wages paid to workers which will have a knock-on effect in terms of standards of living.

Until recently the argument posited advocates of austerity was that though there was some pain to be suffered in terms of reduced earnings this was a price worth paying and that unemployment was remaining relatively stable.

Besides they asserted, it would be unfair to leave a legacy of debt to future generations. And as they claimed the inevitable reduction in public spending resulting in jobs lost in the provision of public services would be more than offset by new one created in the private sector.

The problem for this argument is that the statistics are showing that there is bad news on two fronts.

Firstly, figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that since 2009, after allowing for inflation, average earnings have fallen by 8.5%. Additionally the ONS also demonstrate that unemployment is now going up.

So, in general terms, we are getting worse off and the prospects for finding alternative work are becoming increasingly bleak.

What is worrying is that the lack of job opportunities are having most effect on the young (defines in this country as being between 16 to 24 years old). Therefore, it is crucial that we focus on the future but in doing so do we only consider only those in the immediate area?

Looking 'after our own' and adhering to the so called 'beggar my neighbour' principle is undoubtedly understandable but can have consequences in that it leads to regional and national differences and may accentuate a sense of disgruntlement in those who feel they are not being treated fairly.

Those who know their history will tell you creating was conditions in which economic deprivation exist among the young is something that can lead to alienation which makes social disorder more likely and, in extreme situations, may even lead to revolution.

So, the fact that it seems some ministers in the cabinet are now practically falling over one another to proclaim their willingness to vote to leave the EU may be seen as part of a belief that our fortunes would be enhanced by being free of interference from across the English Channel and, of course, the need to continue paying for its upkeep.

Boris Johnson's comments in Monday's  Telegraph  may need to be judged as being typical of his desire to be a main 'player' but he makes good points with respect to the for and against arguments of remaining in the EU. Indeed, he says that what is needed is to look to others, he cites Germany, as examples of how we can all become more efficient and significantly does not he shrink for criticising British management.

Whilst I would suppose that many in this country would feel little sympathy for those European countries where there is high unemployment we should surely not be immune to the long-term effects that high levels of unemployment have upon the next generation.

However, we all have a responsibility to make the world a better place. Isn't that what a previous generation of, largely, young men did during the second-world-war to defeat the Nazi evil under Adolf Hitler?

A report published last week by the International Labour Organisation (ILO),  Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013, A generation at Risk  makes worrying reading for those who believed that the world is becoming a better place to grow up.

This report states that long-term unemployment is now becoming endemic among young people across the world and that no economy is impervious to the effects that it has.

Though this is occurring across the world the impact of increased joblessness is especially acute in Europe. In Portugal and Spain unemployment among 15-24 year olds (the international definition) is almost 50% and in Greece has reached 64.2% which means that two out of every three young people are out of work.

For those 'lucky' enough to find work they may find they have to accept lower wages and a lack of security that means their prospects for advancement are much lower than their parents.

In the UK we may not have reached such appallingly high levels of unemployment among the young but the portents are not auspicious. Increased uncertainty about the future will have a knock-on effect in terms of the ability of the children from backgrounds which are impoverished to believe that they can improve their future prospects through education and training.

So Lord Young's comments may lead some to believe that all we will end up with is as divided a society as Europe may become if the 'EU project' finally unravels and everyone looks after their own needs.

Whatever happens with any potential referendum to leave Europe there is a need to consider how we can develop policies that will not mean that this country becomes very much a disunited kingdom.

It would seem that the much vaunted recovery in the economy is a decidedly London-centric phenomenon leading many commentators to ask what is to be done for regions where decline is the norm?

This lack of activity will mean that the prospects for young people in such regions will be faced with the choice of staying put or moving to London or its economic hinterland; similar to the unemployed in 'hot spots' migrating to the likes of Germany.

London is a city where fortunes can undoubtedly be made. Apparently, according to one analyst there are 4,224 people who have net wealth of $30 million (£19 million) excluding their primary residence; one in 29.

What this means is that the price of real estate become ever more expensive meaning that even those who are relatively well paid cannot afford to live there.

But as Professor Karel Williams, from the Centre for Research and Socio-Economic Change, argues, we are seeing a "two speed" UK which makes migration extremely difficult:

"The ex-industrial working class are marooned by the lack of cheap housing. For somebody who's lost a council job in the north of England to come down to London with a family - how would they live?"


This surely is not good and was exactly the reason why Lord Heseltine was commissioned to write his report  No Stone Unturned  last year to consider ways to stimulate growth in regions outside the capital city.

What we really need at present is a sense of urgency and leadership which will ensure that the London effect is diminished through policies designed to increase economic activity in every region including, naturally, here in the West Midlands.

As the ILO report recommends there is a crucial role for all stakeholders to contribute through ensuring that the next generation have access to training and education which ensures that they have the requisite skills and expertise to contribute to future economic growth.

Lord Young's comments if they are interpreted as justifying the use of cheap labour, especially the young, and with no concern to their development will do nothing to assist in the building of a more cohesive and less socially divided Britain.

Equally the case for remaining in Europe should be made more persuasively.

After all, the dream of a united states of Europe grew out of the devastation of the second-world- war was caused by economic differences and the hopelessness of long-term youth unemployment.