Keir Starmer's Blairite tribute act will damage young people's chances

When Blair pushed through his arbitrary university targets the last time Labour were in power, fat cat university chancellors lined their pockets.

Apprenticeships withered while Mickey Mouse degrees boomed.

Until we transformed apprenticeships, young people were let down by this system. Their opportunities have been limited.

Every parent wants the best for their child, and they were told by Labour that university is the best and only way for them to get ahead.

Labour was wrong then, and they are wrong now.

One in three graduates end up in jobs that don’t require a degree. One in five are left worse off than before they went to university. Our bold plan to boost apprenticeships will help to change that.

A real barrier to apprenticeships is that they are often viewed as the university degree’s poor cousin. This could not be further from the truth.

As well as earning while they learn, apprentices gain real-world skills and experience in a valuable trade.

Apprentices are better off compared to their university-educated peers too. Whilst graduates are on average earning £28,800 after five years, many apprentices are raking in £33,800.

That is why our bold plan to create over 100,000 more apprenticeships every year is so important. This is on top of our strong track record here already, with 5.8 million apprenticeship starts since 2010.

Sadly, Sir Keir Starmer’s Blairite tribute act looks to undo all this good work and revive his terrible legacy. He has no plan to protect apprenticeships funding. Official analysis estimates the number of apprenticeship places would halve if he got the keys to Number 10.

Labour used their time in power to neglect apprenticeships. There is every reason to think they would do it again. Don’t let them take us back to square one.