There’s still a class ceiling for most in UK, says ex-Minister
BREXIT MUST be used to smash the “class ceiling” on opportunity, former Education Secretary Justine Greening has urged.
Ms Greening said “most people in Britain” are held back by their backgrounds and their lack of connections can hinder them when applying for jobs.
“Because of all of that, far too much of our nation’s talent goes to waste, which to me is totally unacceptable and has to change,” Ms Greening told MPs as she led a debate in Westminster Hall on social mobility. “There is still such a thing as a class ceiling for most people in Britain today and we have to get rid of it.”
The Rotherham-born Tory former Cabinet Minister said the time was “rapidly approaching when we will need to come together behind some sort of a common vision of what kind of country we want Britain to be post-Brexit”.
“I believe that common vision should be a mission of finally creating a Britain, for the first time, that has equality of opportunity.
“Brexit must be a moment for change when we can smash that class ceiling on opportunity once and for all.”
Ms Greening, who lost her job as Education Secretary in Theresa May’s last reshuffle in January, also spoke about her Social Mobility Pledge, which asks businesses to partner with schools to provide coaching, offer work experience and adopt open employee recruitment practices.
“It might feel like a huge ask to change the country forever and deliver on something, social mobility, that we have never been able to do,” she said.
“But this is about a collective effort: it’s about lots of people doing lots of things. I’m not asking for all of us to do everything: I just need us each to make a change in our own local communities, whether as MPs or businesses or individuals.” She likened tackling social mobility to a “million-piece jigsaw puzzle” but said people “just need to do their piece and if we can all do that then the picture does get completed”.
A few days after losing her Cabinet position, Ms Greening told The Yorkshire Post that she would continue campaigning on the issue of social mobility, and equality of opportunity, while promising to “speak up for young people” in the Brexit debate.
She said the Government must take on board the concerns of younger voters who are be “sceptical” about Brexit and its potential impact on their future prospects.