News from The Labour Party

“We will not turn our backs on our belief in opportunity for everyone” – Gordon Brown

Today, Gordon Brown highlighted the Labour Party’s commitment to investing in skills and training as he visited the West Midlands. The Leader of the Labour Party spoke to apprentices as he toured Percy Lane Products and South Staffordshire College, getting direct feedback from students, employees and managers.

The visit today highlighted the stark contrast with the Conservative Party’s plans to cut investment in skills, training and young people at the worst possible time. Labour’s Skills Secretary John Denham MP has slammed Conservative plans to scrap the flagship Train to Gain programme – as new figures show the scheme helped more people than ever get on at work.

The Conservatives by contrast are pledged to cut £610 million from the skills budget, which could effectively wipe out many of these new places.

Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“Today, I have seen the direct impact of our policies – investing in people, investing in training, and investing in skills. We will not turn our backs on our belief in opportunity for everyone.

“We are putting in place the building blocks for future recovery by investing in jobs, businesses, and key sectors. And the Labour Party will continue to fight for, and invest in, our apprenticeship schemes and programmes such as Train to Gain.”

Labour’s John Denham MP, Secretary of State for Skills, said:

“The Tories would try to cut their way out of the recession – precisely the opposite of what businesses and their employees need. Businesses need real help to invest for the opportunities of the future.

“Behind all the spin the Tories haven’t changed – their plans to slash workplace training would leave hundreds of thousands of workers without the opportunity to get on at work, improve their skills and get their careers moving.

“The Conservatives’ plans would deny thousands of businesses the chance to skill up their workforce to get them ready for the opportunities for the future as our economy grows out of this downturn.”

Figures released to parliament last week show that Labour’s Train to Gain scheme has helped more people than ever before get on in the workplace with 386,000 people benefiting – over 40,000 more than last year and 180,000 more than 2007. 90% of employers report that they are happy with the scheme.

The Conservatives have said they would slash £1 billion from the Train to Gain budget – effectively, scrapping the entire scheme at the worst possible time for businesses and employees.

Labour, however, announced £11 million funding for a new apprenticeship scheme. 3,000 new apprentices will be trained at 16 firms over the next two years as part of a new scheme to allow smaller firms to benefit from the expertise of businesses which have already been training apprentices successfully.

Other news from The Labour Party

• Miliband tells Cameron: Save 6,000 nurses by abandoning NHS reorganisation now - 5 February 2012
• "We need what you might call 'one nation banking'" - 3 February 2012
• Burnham: "Mental health must move from the edges to the centre of the NHS" - 31 January 2012