Willesden's first woman MP

Have just discovered that Willesden had a woman MP from 1931 to 1935. Her name was Mavis Tate and she was MP for West Willesden. She was born Maybird Constance Hogg but changed her first name to Mavis by deed poll and her second name on marriage to Captain Henry Burton Tate. She was said to be an active feminist and chaired committees dealing with women's rights and equal pay. She died in 1947. This fascinating information from a new book, "London Borough of Brent in old photographs", by R. King and M. Barres Baker (Brent Archives £12.99). 

Youth unemployment

Some research by Barnardo's finds that the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 18 to 24 increased by 40,000 to over 408,000 between November 2010 and February 2011. Around 30% of all claimants are now in this age group across all UK regions (Daily Telegraph 26/8/2011).  The government ought to be very concerned about youth unemployment but appears not to be. The problem is bound to get worse now allowances for further education (EMA) and university fees and the shortage of places will mean even more young people in career limbo at a time when older workers will be expected to work until around 68 years thus blocking employment chances for young people even more.