Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Wolverhampton North East and Shadow Housing Minister, Emma Reynolds, spoke for the Labour party on Newsbeat: The Election Debates for Radio 1 on Tuesday night. The debate was hosted at Birmingham University and the audience was made up of young people from across the country. Emma spoke about the NHS, education and immigration. The programme was aired live on Radio 1 and BBC News 24 and later in the evening on BBC Two.

Emma, who is seeking re-election as a Member of Parliament, said “I was delighted to attend this debate and get the chance to address the very real concerns of young people in this country and put forward Labour’s better plan for young people. Labour have committed as one of our major pledges that we want a country where the next generation can do better than the last. Only a Labour government can deliver this after the election on 7 May.”

“Young people have been hit particularly badly by this government. The Tory-led government tripled university tuition fees from £3,000 to £9,000, and has overseen large increases in the cost of living. By contrast a Labour government will raise the minimum wage to at least £8 per hour by 2019 and will clamp-down on exploitative zero-hours contracts. In order to give all young people a better start to their careers we will focus on apprenticeships as a high quality alternative to university, and guarantee an apprenticeship to every school-leaver who gets the grades. We will also reduce tuition fees to £6,000.”