Letter: You were warned

Sir: Mr Blair's idea of "pushing people into jobs" might be more convincing if the rest of the population desperately seeking work were not finding it impossible to find a job to claw their way into.

Unfortunately, unemployed jobseekers stand far less chance of gaining employment than their working competitors.

As a wife and mother of three, I have been trying to "return to work"for years. I have a Master's degree, substantial management experience and a positive attitude. I have attended numerous interviews, at which, I am informed on debriefing, my performance and presentation skills are excellent. However, the story is always the same: the employer chooses the candidate who is already working.

Any initiatives or benefit-cutting to "encourage" people back to work are useless when millions of employers consider working candidates to be a safer bet than unemployed "job-seekers".

Jeany Robinson

Alston, Cumbria