That’s why the government’s plan to train 60,000 more construction workers is exactly the kind of action this country needs.
We’ve got a huge skills gap. For years, too many jobs have been filled by cheap overseas labour while a generation of young Brits were left behind. That’s not fair, and it’s not sustainable.
Right now, around one in four young adults in the UK aren’t in education, employment, or training. That’s nearly a million young people with potential going to waste. We need to turn that around.
In Pendle and Clitheroe, we’ve got a proud tradition of skilled trades and hard work. The construction sector alone provides hundreds of good jobs across our area. Colleges like Nelson and Colne are already doing fantastic work helping young people learn the skills they need to get started, but they need more support and proper investment to keep going.
The truth is, we haven’t done enough as a country to train our young people. We’ve allowed skills to drain away and relied on immigration to fill the gaps. That’s not worked for anyone, not for the young people looking for good jobs, and not for the towns where wages are undercut and job opportunities are too few and far between.
That’s where the government’s plan for skills comes in, linking up our education system more directly with the economy. It’s focusing on key sectors like construction and identifying where the biggest shortages are, so we can train people here at home to do those jobs.
This is about giving young people the backing they need, fixing a broken training system, and cutting our reliance on immigration by getting more local people into decent, skilled work.
If we want to build a stronger, fairer country, it starts with backing our young people. That means proper apprenticeships, decent wages, and training that leads to real jobs.
We’ve got young people ready to roll up their sleeves. Let’s give them the chance to build a future, not just for themselves, but for all of us.
Upcoming Surgeries:
Colne - Saturday, 26 April, 10am-11.30am
Barnoldswick - Saturday, 10 May, 10.30am-12 noon