A minister walks into a community centre and notices three young men, one of whom is whirling an iron bar above his head. It's a prime opportunity for the minister to shake his head at the offending "yob" and sigh about young people these days.
But symptomatic of Labour's heightened desire to be more children and young people friendly, that very politician, Cabinet Office minister Ed Miliband, had a different take on the matter.
"When I think about that kid whirling an iron bar around his head, I think there's nothing in our culture between being a NEET (not in education, employment or training) and being on X Factor," Miliband said. "For his uncle or his father 20 or 30 years ago, there was the culture of being a miner, for example, and the status that went along with that. I think for this kid, part of the reason it's either be a NEET or on X Factor is because we don't honour those in society who do amazing things."
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