Theresa May MP: Scotland's strong entrepreneurial spirit is key to the future

AT FIRST Minister's questions yesterday we saw an unseemly row erupt in the Scottish Parliament between Labour and the SNP about who was to blame for the unemployment crisis in Scotland – the Labour government at Westminster or the SNP government at Holyrood.

In Westminster Labour spent the whole day talking about how the jobless total had fallen.

What the 205,000 unemployed people across Scotland want to hear are real solutions, not squabbling politicians trying to score cheap political points.

This country must be governed with the respect it deserves. Yet Labour act like political tourists abandoning the people who need their help the most.

The fact is that unemployment in Scotland bucked the trend for the UK and rose by 16,000, the largest rise of any nation or region in the UK.

And consider these other facts: employment now stands at 2.48 million in Scotland, a fall of 35,000 – the biggest drop of any nation or region in the UK. There are now 665,000 economically inactive people of working age in Scotland.

These people cannot be treated as meaningless statistics. If the Conservatives win the upcoming election, and I am appointed the work and pensions secretary, I will be utterly relentless in my mission to help people back to work.

I want to ensure we unleash the huge wealth of talent in the country and tap into Scotland's strong entrepreneurial spirit.

That's why as part of our Get Britain Working proposals we will abolish tax on jobs created by new businesses in the first two years of a Conservative government.

New firms will pay no Employer National Insurance on the first ten employees they hire. This tax break will encourage new entrepreneurs and is predicted to generate around 5,000 additional jobs in Scotland over two years. Clear and simple rules will ensure that the jobs created are genuinely new.

In Scotland the Conservatives at Holyrood have already forced the SNP government to reduce or abolish local rates for tens of thousands of small businesses.

This is how much we have managed to achieve in opposition. Think what a Conservative government could do for the United Kingdom if it were in power.

Young people are our future and it is vital we do not lose a generation to a life of worklessness. A Conservative government will create 100,000 work pairings for young people across the UK over two years.

This means they will be assigned to sole traders for six months of work experience and mentoring.

The sole traders will pass through to the young people a wage equal to the benefits they would otherwise be paid, plus 1 an hour of additional pay.

But it is fair to say we do need to make some tough choices – this is why we have committed to reassessing the 2.6 million people on incapacity benefit and have taken the difficult decision to say that we will cut benefit levels for those found fit for work.

The bottom line is that many of those who are on incapacity benefit would like to return to work. For those who cannot work we will protect their benefits and ensure they get all the help they need.

Most importantly, a Conservative government would listen. If we win, David Cameron has said he would travel to Scotland and meet the First Minister in his first week as prime minister.

We must work together for the good of Scotland and operate on the basis of mutual respect. With the help of the people of Scotland we can unlock the huge potential in this country.

• Theresa May MP is the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary.