Jobless Britain

The number of people without jobs for more than a year soared by 37,000 in December to 663,000, its highest level in 13 years.

There was also a shock surge of 23,500 in the number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants last month - taking it to 1.64million - again a record under New Labour.

And in a further blow, the number of people of working age to be deemed economically inactive has hit an unprecedented high of 8.08million.

This is the highest since records began in 1971 and means a staggering 21 per cent of the population who are of working age are not earning a living.