For those struggling to find a job, it can be hard to keep up hope.

Vacancies are scarce and when jobs do come up there are often hundreds of applicants – so candidates often barely receive an acknowledgement from months of hard work filling out application forms, handing out CVs, and trying everything they can to get that elusive job.

The heartache of struggling to find work has hit our young people particularly hard.

In Streatham, long-term youth unemployment has risen by 283% over the last year – a number so high people would have thought it impossible when the Liberal Democrat-Tory government took power. When they took power and I became the MP for our area, growth was rising, unemployment was falling and recovery from a recession caused by the banks was settling in.

Since then, the government’s policies have tipped us into a double dip recession that has affected our whole community – consequently those who previously felt secure in their jobs are fearful, finding it difficult to develop their careers. Businesses work flat out to stay afloat. Everyone is squeezed by high costs.

So I have been arguing for a dramatic change in the government’s approach – they must implement a proper plan for growth and jobs.

In our community we can see that austerity alone, without a strategy for growth, leads only to higher debts and fewer jobs. And there are important things we can do locally as well.

The proposal for Streatham to become a Business Improvement District, for instance, is a brilliant local initiative being pushed by Angelina Purcell, our excellent town centre manager – it has my full support. Once the Streatham Hub is complete it should draw in vital trade and business too.

When I became the MP for Streatham I resolved that helping our local economy would be top of my agenda.

We have so much talent, and so many are working so hard, that I cannot accept we will not pull ourselves out of this new recession and provide a brighter future for our area, however hard this incompetent government is making it.