Jeremy Corbyn Champions Education In British Chambers Speech

 Jeremy Corbyn Champions education In British Chambers Speech

 Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn,  told a business conference that companies must expect to pay slightly more tax if Labour comes to power. He argued that the extra money invested in education will hugely benefit Britain in the long term.

Speaking to a British Chambers of Commerce conference on education in London, Corbyn condemned a “lost decade” of low growth, sluggish living standards, and low investment. And he spoke of an economy competing on skills and productivity, rather than ”a sort of low tax haven on the shores of Europe.  Corbyn, who is championing  an ideal for British students to be able to attend University freely added:: “There are no short cuts. If we are to create a high-skill, high-wage and high-productivity economy we’re going to have to invest more to upgrade our economy for the 21st century. And it will mean businesses paying a bit more tax to invest in education while maintaining low tax rates by historical and international comparisons”

He said: “I think we should be prepared to raise to what would still be a lower level than the average of the G7 as a way of investing in our future.

“I don’t see a future for this country of being a sort of low-tax haven on the shores of Europe. I see the future of this country as one that has a close partnership with the European Union, a tariff-free trade access to Europe and a similarity in taxation levels.”

“I think have to have some degree of certainty and confidence for the future. We cannot go [on] with these levels of regional disparity, we cannot go on with the underfunding of so many of our public services and we cannot go on loading every generation with debts of £50,000 or £60,000, which at some point will be so serious there will be a shortage of people to go to university because they simply can’t countenance the idea of that level of debt. The result is we all lose.”

The solution, according to Corbyn, is “a key institution for fairness and prosperity for the 21st century”.

He said: “We believe that education is a public good, that businesses, large and small, prosper when education, skills and training are given laser-like attention by a committed government.”

Part of this should be a widening of the school curriculum, giving teachers more say and the chance for a more arts-based approach. Corbyn added: “We need to encourage the creativity that’s there in every child, not suppress it.”

Technological change made the need to invest in education all the greater, Corbyn said:

“We need to ensure that everyone – workers, government and businesses – share in the benefits that new technology can bring.

“As in every other technological revolution, disappearing jobs will be replaced by new, as yet unforeseen, forms of work. But there will be churn, as these new forms of work will often require a different set of skills to those they replace.

“That means we will need to invest in a step change in skills and training to upgrade the skills of the existing workforce and make sure everyone is able to retrain at any point in life to meet the changing needs of the economy.”

Corbyn’s comments will go down well with students and educated parents,given the high important of education. Students who attend university are potentially the  main brains behind the success of the British economy.  There are undoubtedly people who did not attend university who are contributing positively the country’s economy, but those who attend university may potentially have more to offer. The Labour leader’s promotion of educational values is such a positive move that will only boost his image with the electorate. The Conservative party will need to come with a matching strategy on education.