Under the scheme, any 18-24 year old who is out of work for over a year will be offered a taxpayer-funded six month job, with benefits being removed if they refuse the job.

In the three months up to December 2013 there were 917,000 unemployed 16-25 year-olds. The scheme would see those eligible offered 25 hours work a week at minimum wage, with the employer ensuring compulsory training: up to 80 per cent of these jobs will be in the private sector. Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “We’ve got 56,000 young people who have been unemployed for over 12 months. That is double what it was when this government came to power. They are not taking action to help our young people and a future Labour government will.’

Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls said that this was a tough offer to young people and that a life on welfare would ‘no longer be an option.’ Mr Balls said: ‘Those who can work will be required to take up the jobs on offer or lose their benefits. A life on benefits will simply not be an option.’ The scheme will also apply to those over 25 who have claimed Jobseeker’s allowance for more than two years.