Local employers tell me they need employees with the right skills to grow their businesses, and our future economic success depends on making sure this happens.

That’s why I’m backing Labour’s plans for new, gold standard Technical Degrees. These will give young people the opportunity to progress to high-level training and further qualifications and get excellent vocational skills.

Making such courses available will help give the forgotten 50% of young people in Leicester West who don’t follow the traditional academic route to university the chance to succeed, and help build the high-skill, high-wage economy we need in future.