I'm delighted to be here to launch the New Deal advertising campaign.
Prime Ministers don't usually launch advertising campaigns. But this is not just another public information campaign. It's not just another advertisement promoting a new product or a new policy.
This is nothing less than a crusade, and one that brings together government, business and the people in a common purpose.
Because unemployment has wrecked the lives of too many young people for too long. And for us unemployment is not, and never could be, a price worth paying.
The New Deal is the flagship of our policies on welfare to work. It is central to our goal of making Britain a fairer, more decent society.
A few weeks ago I met some of the young people who will benefit from it when I visited a Sheffield job centre. They told me how they felt when employers saw them as no-hopers, to blame for their predicament. And they also told me about their aspirations, how they wanted to work, to get a chance.
I also had the chance to meet some of the employers who are the key to making the New Deal work. Because it is employers that create jobs - not government programmes.
That's why we have shaped the New Deal to fit what business needs - with a gateway to get people job-ready, with a personal link to deal with any problems that may arise, and with business involvement in partnerships at local level and through the Task Force at the national level.
The advertising campaign reflects that new spirit of partnership brilliantly. After all, there can't have been many occasions when hundreds of real business leaders have been willing to demonstrate for jobs.
This commitment by business is crucial. For young people, the sight of employers enthusiastically taking part is the best possible antidote to cynicism. The best guarantee that this isn't just another scheme.
I am delighted that more than 20 large companies have already signed up to the New Deal. More are signing up in Downing Street this evening. All of them recognise the strength of the business case as well as the moral case for making the most of the talent of all your young people.
In my view it can only be healthy that so many household names are coming to be linked to the New Deal.
But the New Deal isn't only about big business.
In the long-run the critical job creators will be smaller and the medium sized companies, more than 800 of which have already signed New Deal employer agreements. That's why we have put them at the forefront of our campaign. People passionate enough about the New Deal to stand up and say what they think in front of complete strangers while being filmed on television.
One of them is here today and we've asked him to say in his own words why he got involved.
Ray Porter knows more than most about how important it is to be given a decent chance. As a young man he could easily have gone off the rails and never amounted to anything. He had more than a few encounters with the law. But he was given a chance by someone who took him on as a builder's apprentice and today he employs over 450 people in his company, Porters Builders.
Now he is doing the same for others - his company was one of the first to sign up for the New Deal, giving up to 25 young people the chance of a job with training.
In a moment Ray will tell us what the New Deal means for him.
But let me just make one final point clear. With the launch of the New deal we are making a new start, and a bold one. The New Deal is as big a partnership between business and government as there has ever been. It is about bringing hope and opportunities.
We've all had a chance in life. Young people deserve theirs.
The New Deal is a flagship policy. It is aimed at delivering a key pledge. But Government cannot do it alone. So today, I say to all businesses large and small; join the crusade for jobs. Get the bandwagon rolling. And Britain, all of Britain, will be better as a result.
Prime Ministers don't usually launch advertising campaigns. But this is not just another public information campaign. It's not just another advertisement promoting a new product or a new policy.
This is nothing less than a crusade, and one that brings together government, business and the people in a common purpose.
Because unemployment has wrecked the lives of too many young people for too long. And for us unemployment is not, and never could be, a price worth paying.
The New Deal is the flagship of our policies on welfare to work. It is central to our goal of making Britain a fairer, more decent society.
A few weeks ago I met some of the young people who will benefit from it when I visited a Sheffield job centre. They told me how they felt when employers saw them as no-hopers, to blame for their predicament. And they also told me about their aspirations, how they wanted to work, to get a chance.
I also had the chance to meet some of the employers who are the key to making the New Deal work. Because it is employers that create jobs - not government programmes.
That's why we have shaped the New Deal to fit what business needs - with a gateway to get people job-ready, with a personal link to deal with any problems that may arise, and with business involvement in partnerships at local level and through the Task Force at the national level.
The advertising campaign reflects that new spirit of partnership brilliantly. After all, there can't have been many occasions when hundreds of real business leaders have been willing to demonstrate for jobs.
This commitment by business is crucial. For young people, the sight of employers enthusiastically taking part is the best possible antidote to cynicism. The best guarantee that this isn't just another scheme.
I am delighted that more than 20 large companies have already signed up to the New Deal. More are signing up in Downing Street this evening. All of them recognise the strength of the business case as well as the moral case for making the most of the talent of all your young people.
In my view it can only be healthy that so many household names are coming to be linked to the New Deal.
But the New Deal isn't only about big business.
In the long-run the critical job creators will be smaller and the medium sized companies, more than 800 of which have already signed New Deal employer agreements. That's why we have put them at the forefront of our campaign. People passionate enough about the New Deal to stand up and say what they think in front of complete strangers while being filmed on television.
One of them is here today and we've asked him to say in his own words why he got involved.
Ray Porter knows more than most about how important it is to be given a decent chance. As a young man he could easily have gone off the rails and never amounted to anything. He had more than a few encounters with the law. But he was given a chance by someone who took him on as a builder's apprentice and today he employs over 450 people in his company, Porters Builders.
Now he is doing the same for others - his company was one of the first to sign up for the New Deal, giving up to 25 young people the chance of a job with training.
In a moment Ray will tell us what the New Deal means for him.
But let me just make one final point clear. With the launch of the New deal we are making a new start, and a bold one. The New Deal is as big a partnership between business and government as there has ever been. It is about bringing hope and opportunities.
We've all had a chance in life. Young people deserve theirs.
The New Deal is a flagship policy. It is aimed at delivering a key pledge. But Government cannot do it alone. So today, I say to all businesses large and small; join the crusade for jobs. Get the bandwagon rolling. And Britain, all of Britain, will be better as a result.