UK youth unemployment crisis: what Ireland’s apprenticeships reveal

The summer of 2026 has laid bare the fractures in Britain’s economic promise. While heatwaves scorch high streets and geopolitical tensions reshape trade routes, one crisis has quietly become impossible to ignore: more than a million young people are neither in education, employment, nor training. The figure—1.1 million, according to the latest government estimates—hasn’t budged in three years, despite a recovering labour market and record job vacancies in some sectors. Now, a former Labour minister is pointing to an unlikely source of hope: Ireland.

The apprenticeship gap: why Ireland’s NEET rate halved in a decade

Alan Milburn, the ex-cabinet minister leading a government-commissioned review into youth unemployment, spent this week in Dublin, where he found a system that has slashed its NEET rate from 18% in 2012 to just 8% today. The contrast with the UK’s stubborn 12% is stark. Speaking to NewsMatin from an Irish Rail training facility, Milburn described the visit as “a wake-up call.” “We’re not talking about tweaks here,” he said. “We’re talking about a fundamental rethink of how we prepare young people for work.”

Ireland’s success rests on two pillars: a national apprenticeship system that guarantees paid placements in 80 industries, from cybersecurity to hospitality, and a network of local “employment hubs” that provide mentoring, CV workshops, and even mental health support. Crucially, these hubs are co-funded by government and private employers, with companies like Google and Pfizer running their own in-house programmes. In the UK, by contrast, apprenticeships have become a political football, with successive governments accused of either underfunding them or flooding the system with low-quality placements.

The review, due to be published next month, will recommend that English primary schools be required to identify pupils at risk of becoming NEET—a proposal that has already drawn fire from teaching unions. “This isn’t about labelling children,” Milburn countered. “It’s about ensuring no one slips through the cracks.”

From pubs to homes: the high street’s quiet revolution

As policymakers grapple with the NEET crisis, another transformation is unfolding on Britain’s high streets. Hundreds of former pubs, shuttered by pandemic closures and soaring energy costs, are being converted into homes—a trend that offers a rare glimmer of hope for struggling town centres. Estate agents report a 40% increase in such conversions over the past year, with developers snapping up sites in cities like Manchester, Bristol, and London.

The shift is driven by a relaxation of planning laws in 2025, which allowed pubs to be repurposed without full planning permission. But it also reflects a deeper economic reality: the UK’s housing shortage is so acute that even unconventional spaces are being pressed into service. In Walthamstow, a former Victorian pub now houses eight flats, while a converted brewery in Leeds has become a co-living space for young professionals.

Yet the trend is not without controversy. Campaigners warn that the loss of pubs—long considered community hubs—could accelerate social isolation. “We’re trading one crisis for another,” said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality. “Pubs are more than just buildings; they’re where people meet, celebrate, and mourn. Turning them into flats might solve the housing problem, but it risks hollowing out the soul of our towns.”

Waste colonialism: the Turkish city choking on Britain’s rubbish

While Britain debates its domestic challenges, a Guardian investigation has exposed the human cost of its waste exports. The UK shipped 139,000 tonnes of plastic waste to Adana, a city in southern Turkey, last year alone—a practice critics describe as “waste colonialism.” In Adana’s poorest districts, farmers report fields littered with microplastics, while residents complain of toxic smoke from illegal burning sites.

The revelations come as global talks to curb plastic pollution collapse, with countries failing to agree on binding targets. Britain, once a vocal advocate for a global plastics treaty, has faced accusations of hypocrisy after its exports to Turkey surged by 300% since 2020. “We’re outsourcing our pollution to the world’s poorest,” said Sian Sutherland, co-founder of the campaign group A Plastic Planet. “It’s environmental racism.”

The UK government has pledged to ban plastic waste exports by 2027, but campaigners argue the damage is already done. In Adana, local officials say they lack the infrastructure to process the waste, leaving communities to bear the brunt of Britain’s consumption.

What’s next: the battles to watch

As the summer draws to a close, three stories will dominate the UK’s agenda in the coming weeks:

1. The NEET review’s fallout: Milburn’s report will spark a debate over whether schools should be responsible for predicting unemployment—a task critics say is beyond their remit. Expect resistance from unions and pushback from parents wary of early labelling.
2. High street conversions: The government is under pressure to introduce new regulations to protect pubs, with Labour MPs calling for a “community right to bid” on at-risk sites. Meanwhile, developers are eyeing former retail units as the next frontier.
3. Plastic waste crackdown: A parliamentary inquiry into waste exports begins next month, with campaigners demanding immediate action. The question is whether Britain will act unilaterally or wait for a global deal that may never come.

The common thread? A country grappling with the consequences of short-term fixes—whether in education, housing, or environmental policy. Ireland’s apprenticeship model offers a blueprint, but as Milburn’s visit showed, the real test will be whether Britain can muster the political will to adopt it. For now, the clock is ticking on a generation at risk of being left behind.