Let's not be coy about it, this is about as bad as it's been for Labour for over two decades. Every day there seems to be more bad news, and where there isn't bad news coming about Labour tearing itself apart there's almost always simply better news about the other parties. That is, until today.

Today marks the time that the Tories are starting to think about getting serious, and with that comes a true fleshing out of the variety of proposals that they have merely drifted over in the past. Good news for the Tories? Not when it shows the same anti-youth, authoritarian instincts of the current government in a traditionally poorly thought out Conservative manner

If there is one thing that Labour should be hoping for it is more of this kind of announcement from the party in Blue. Those under 21 forced in to work, specifically forced more frequently if they wish to have any means with which to live and fail to keep those jobs down, but suddenly alleviated of this "responsibility" to work as soon as their 22nd year begins? To be honest this just stinks of more Smith like initiatives to pin our "youth" in this country down to doing what they're told.

Anyone under 21 who is unemployed for three months would be sent to a specialist employer for an intensive programme of work-related activity.

If they were still jobless after a year they would be moved to a full-time 12-month community work programme.

I've already said before that I would support a fully thought out an practical scheme that provided "employment" in return for benefits, however it needs to fulfil the following criteria, a task some including myself are unsure can actually be fully completed...

1. Maintain a basic rate of benefits for everyone that needs it, no-one should be left without enough money to live
2. Ensure that benefit levels are such, in line with #1 above, that crime is not a more profitable solution to survival than benefits
3. Guarantee that such "employment" does not become cheap labour legitimised by the government, undermining the minimum wage.
4. Ensure that people aren't going to lose jobs because "unemployed" workers are forced to be "employed".

Simply throwing people in to work, especially those that are in short term unemployment and as such are not necessarily those that really need to be forced in to employment anyway, is not going to work...especially if it is combined with a draconian removal of benefits or (god forbid) what the Tories allude to in the sense of state sanctioned slave labour...

Mr Grayling said: "With this approach, for those who are struggling there will be real help. For those who are not there will be no opt-outs."

But all, of course, only if you're a youth and therefore likely a yob...not if you're one of the true minority of scroungers living off benefits and completely lacking the enthusiasm or impetus to get back in to employment after that magical age of "adulthood" begins.