On Thursday evening, I took part in a hustings event organised by Leicester Business Voice at the National Space Centre. The panel was made up of representatives from a variety of political parties and chaired by Rosemary Conley, CBE.

I’m a huge champion of local businesses, because when they grow and succeed, the economy, public services and jobs do too. We need a plan to boost productivity and this means a transformation in skills as well as smarter investment in infrastructure. We’ll only secure the sustainable, long term recovery we need and boost incomes if we equip our workers with the skills they need to compete with best in world. That’s why I’m championing improvements in our schools, a massive expansion in apprenticeships as well as working to get more young people from Leicester West to go to university.