Skills are now the top priority

Region comes to shuddering halt

THERE WAS a reason why a three-word slogan – ‘Build, Build, Build’ – adorned Boris Johnson’s lectern as the Prime Minister delivered his keynote speech on the importance of national infrastructure. It gives a sense of urgency amid the political chaos.

It has become the means by which populist leaders communicate with the public after Tony Blair famously said that his incoming government’s three priorities in 1997 were ‘Education, Education, Education’. Politics had become sloganised before ‘take back control’ became common parlance in the EU referendum.

But Mr Johnson’s ambition will only be fulfilled if the workforce has the necessary skills in the post-Covid period to meet new national priorities, and systemic changes to how the economy actually functions.

And this is even more important after West, Mid and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce reported that economic growth came to a shuddering halt between April and June, the second quarter of 2020, and that every key performance indicator turned negative for the first time in the organisation’s three decade-plus history.

It’s also sobering to read its conclusion that many good businesses will fail to survive this crisis through no fault of their own.

Yet, while a renewed emphasis on construction will help a proportion of the workforce, a great many more people – up to three million if the more pessimistic forecasts prove to be accurate – will find themselves unemployed and desperately having to seek a change of career.

In this regard, bodies such as West Yorkshire Combined Authority should be praised for taking a proactive stance on training. especially with regard to younger people.

But the country’s mindset now needs to urgently change. And it is why Chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to frame next week’s financial statement on the recovery in the context of ‘Skills, Skills, Skills’.