Margaret Thatcher

This article was written prior to the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

What I think about Liz Truss, her Cabinet, and financial prudence, is as irrelevant as our predictions about the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Investment in learning and skills, both public and private, has fallen dramatically over the last decade and, instead of a vision of the future, we have had a sterile argument about vocational versus academic learning. We are now on to the fourth Prime Minister in just six and a half years. We are 12 and a half years into government led by the Conservatives. Shortly, I will present a paper on the future of learning and skills to Keir Starmer and my colleagues in the Labour Party. Whilst we are some way off the astonishing record of Italy where, on the September 25, the 31st Prime Minister since the Second World War will take office, the lack of continuity, steady hand on the helm, or demonstration of statescraft is worrying.