Blinkered vision for jobs?

When Peter O'Sullivan commentated on horse racing, he was always keen to point out the horses in the blinkers. Not that in racing terms this is perceived as much of a handicap. In the world of politics, it's very much a handicap to walk around with blinkers on.

I don't doubt that Gordon Brown is doing his best to secure new jobs to replace those going out of the window each day. However, he still appears to be a bit blinkered. The new wheeze is that employers will be given up to £2,500 for every person they train who has been unemployed for more than six months. But will they just take on the unemployed to get the cash? I hope not. But it's no good tempting employers if the jobs are not there.

Mike Kirkham-Jones says "Since being made redundant it's become obvious that the jobs aren't out there. And what jobs there are, an awful lot of people are applying for them," which doesn't sit well with the prime minister's view of things. Mike had a £40,000-a-year job as an operations and project manager in a small software company. Was he on this government tour giving his opinions?

The truth is that there are no easy answers, because the economy is still in shock after the credit crunchers screwed things up last year. Instead of bailing out these failed oufits, the companies that have good management and sound business plans should be identified and their fortunes promoted.

If not, we will just be pouring good money down the drain.