I've had a busy couple of days at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
It was fantastic to welcome students from Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School to a special conference on politics and democracy where they heard from members of the Cabinet and even got to meet the Prime Minister’s wife, Akshata Murty, who invited them to Downing Street.
It was also a pleasure speaking on a panel with the Skills Minister Robert Halfon MP on how we can continue to drive apprenticeships and technical qualifications to the heart of our post-16 education offering.
In the main exhibition centre I’ve been chatting with the many organisations who attended including the NFU, backing our local farmers, Guide Dogs, St John Ambulance and Chester Zoo.
In his speech yesterday, the Prime Minister announced a large number of reforms and policies:
- £36billion on improving local transport links
- East/West rail connectivity
- NHS workforce plan
- Preventing smoking deaths
- Tackling illegal migration
- 16-19 education reform
- Key subject teacher bonuses
- Life meaning life for cruel killers
A generation that will grow up Smoke Free
The Prime Minister is proposing changes to the the law so children turning 14 or younger this year can never legally be sold cigarettes in their lifetime.
In the UK smoking causes 1 in 4 cancer deaths. More than four in five smokers start before the age of 20 with millions now wanting to quit.
None of us want our children to grow up to be smokers and smoking is the number one preventable cause of ill health, causing 64,000 deaths a year in England. It puts a huge burden on the NHS, and costs the country £17 billion a year. We will not criminalise smoking - nor will anyone who can legally buy cigarettes today we prevented from doing so in the future.
But we have a chance to cut cancer deaths by a quarter and significantly ease huge pressures on the NHS. We should take it. We will create the first smoke-free generation.
Meanwhile as any parent or teacher knows the rise in vaping among children is a worrying trend. So we’ll also bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to our children.
A new Advanced British Standard replacing A and T Levels
We’re creating a new, single qualification. The Advanced British Standard brings together the very best of A levels and T levels.
This is a long-term reform that will take time to get right and extra funding to deliver. No child will be left behind in this new system which will mean:
- Everyone studies some form of English and maths to 18
- Every pupil spends 195 more hours with a teacher
- Everyone studies a broader range of subjects
We will finally deliver parity between technical and academic routes - all students will take the Advanced British Standard.
Our new plan will require more teachers in the coming years. So, to attract and retain more teachers, those who teach key subjects in both schools and further education colleges will receive new special bonuses of up to £30,000 tax-free over the first five years of their career.
A more ambitious transport scheme in the North, Midlands and across the UK
We’ll reinvest every penny of the cancelled HS2 project and more into hundreds of new transport projects in the North, Midlands and across the country. That's £36billion of investment. Every region will get the same or more than under HS2, with quicker result.
We need better transport connections in the north. So we're backing Network North to join up our great towns and cities.
Network North will not just be mainline rail, but local rail, better roads, more buses, hundreds and hundreds of new projects that will start sooner and finish faster. Projects like £12billion for Liverpool-Manchester via Warrington and fully electrified trains to Sheffield, Bradford and Hull.
We will also complete the line from Birmingham to Euston but the HS2 management won't be responsible for the Euston site.
There must be accountability for the mistakes made and the mismanagement of this project. Instead, we will create a Euston development zone with thousands of new homes, business opportunities, and a station that delivers the capacity we need.
There is nothing long-term about ignoring your real infrastructure needs so you can spend an ever-larger amount on one grand project. This new plan is a better long-term investment of £36 billion of taxpayers' money and will deliver growth and opportunity.
