SOME months ago my niece was “cashiered” into a “work for nothing” scheme. She had been gainfully employed since she left school and had plenty of work experience until she was made redundant, so why the need for more experience?

If we need to give young people work experience, why not do the obvious and introduce schemes that benefit society too?

The answer is quite simple.

This scheme, along with the Government’s decision to disallow working tax credits for couples unless they work 24 hours instead of 16, is designed to create unemployment.

And that’s exactly where the Government wishes us to be.

You can bet your bottom dollar that their next step will be to scrap the minimum wage. Watch this space.

Kev Mcstravick, Darlington.