Dear Reader

HELLO and welcome to your big Friday edition of The News, including your property guide with a difference, Home.

It’s ironic that 40 years ago, at the height of the Falklands conflict, the political agenda was to scale down Portsmouth naval base, just at the time its prominence came to the fore.

Now here we are in 2022, and Portsmouth is being told by the government it can seize a £4bn opportunity to once again become a worldleader in shipbuilding.

The difference now is that engineering and manufacturing skills once second nature to the city’s workforce have been lost through the generations, and must be relearned. There is indeed a huge opportunity here, but many say they need help from the government and the education sector to make it happen. It’s an interesting debate, and you can read all about it on pages 4&5.

As ever, we ‘d love to hear your thoughts on the matter, either through our Facebook page or on our letters pages. Details of how to get in touch are on page 12.

Meanwhile, up-to-date election news is online and we’ll have a full round-up in tomorrow’s paper.