David Cameron to make 'full employment' pledge and bids to woo small businesses

A Conservative government would commit to "full employment" in the UK and make Britain the "jobs factory of Europe", David Cameron is expected to say later today (19 January).

According to extracts from his speech, released by his office, "full employment may be an economic term, but this is what it means in human terms: it means more of our fellow men and women with the security of a regular wage," he will say.

The UK's unemployment rate held at 6% in the three months to October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Full employment does not mean a 0% jobless rate but a situation when the highest amount of labour that is employed within an economy at any given time.

The Prime Minister's promise will come as he announces a number of manifesto commitments ahead of the general election in May.

He is expected to pledge to reduce joblessness in the UK to the lowest among the G7 countries.

Cameron will also claim that the Conservatives are the party of small business as he reaches out to middle-England.

"We're the party of the roofers and the retailers; the builders and the businesswomen," he will say.

"Other parties preach about this sort of stuff, but we're the ones who really deliver."

Cameron will also promise to triple the number of Start Up Loans available for small businesses from 25,000 to 75,000 and create three million new apprenticeships.

Labour said Cameron's "full employment" pledge will seem "like empty words" because of real wages not rising over the course of his premiership.

"The Tories' low wage economy has left millions of people stuck on low pay, or unable to get enough work to pay the bills," said Rachel Reeves.

"The average wage has fallen more than £1,600 ($2,423, €2,096) per year, 3.5 million people want to work more hours, and the number of people paid less than a living wage has risen to nearly five million, driving up the benefits bill and leading to more Tory Welfare Waste.

Shadow work and pensions secretary added: "Meanwhile young people aren't getting the support they need to make the most of their talents and help our country earn its way out of the cost-of-living crisis.