This jobs package shows the Conservatives have learnt a lesson from history – but it still might not be enough

The chancellor signalled that there could be more fiscal support to come for the UK in the Autumn Budget – but by then unemployment could be soaring back up to those dreaded 1980s levels, says Ben Chu

Former Conservative chancellor Norman Lamont once said high unemployment was a ‘price worth paying’ (Rex)

Since the days of Margaret Thatcher, the image of the Conservatives in many parts of the country has been of a party that doesn’t care that much about mass unemployment – or at least cares about other things more.

That order of priorities seemed to be summed up by former chancellor Norman Lamont who told the House of Commons in 1991 that high unemployment in a previous recession had been a “price worth paying” for bringing down stubborn inflation.

It’s true that under David Cameron and George Osborne unemployment plunged to its lowest levels since the 1970s, something they frequently hailed as a “jobs miracle”.