I went to the job centre the other day. I haven’t been to a job centre in decades. They call it Jobcentreplus now, but as far as I can see all they’ve added in the years since I last went is more waiting, worse advertised jobs, and now they don’t offer you a cup of tea. This isn’t how I remember it. The job centre I used to attend - in Byker, Newcastle - where I signed on for six months after leaving university in the early noughties, wasn’t nearly as grim. Or maybe I was just younger. There was more ahead of me. More hope. More freedom to piss around a bit and work yourself out. Not a mortgage that needs to be paid.