LABOUR was last night accused of wrecking children’s futures with its university obsession.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan launched a ferocious attack on ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair for his “blind push” with higher education.
The former apprentice raised fears Sir Keir Starmer’s party would jeopardise life chances as hundreds of thousands brace themselves for their GCSE results this week.
Ms Keegan started work at General Motors aged 16 and studied at university as part of her degree apprenticeship before a 30-year business career.
She said: “Labour’s obsession with making university the only route for young people is really misguided.
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“This is personal to me. I won’t allow Labour’s mindset to get in the way of our skills revolution.”
Ms Keegan says young people can earn at the same time as learning, picking up new skills without building up thousands of pounds of debt.
She took aim at Mr Blair for setting a fixed target for channelling students into universities.
Ms Keegan said: “The previous government ignored alternative routes to gain skills.
“Tony Blair’s blind push to get young people into university with an arbitrary target of 50 per cent sometimes did more harm than good.”
Writing in The Sun on Sunday, Ms Keegan adds that her apprenticeship was a golden ticket to a business career where she quickly forged ahead of her contemporaries.
She said: “By the time graduates of my year joined the company from university, I was already managing teams and had the experience and increasing salary to back it up.
But Labour’s Bridget Phillipson hit back last night.
The Shadow Education Secretary said: “Instead of toadying up to private schools, she needs to start delivering better life chances for working class children.”
Her spokesman added: “Gillian Keegan has some brass neck.
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“The number of youngsters starting apprenticeships has fallen off a cliff on the Tories’ watch.”
