Rishi Sunak has been campaigning in Cornwall, after arriving on an overnight sleeper train from London.
At a train depot in Penzance, he spoke about the plans to close university courses offering what he has described as ”rip-off degrees” in England and said he was “committed” to levelling up funding for Cornwall.
He said that, instead of university courses, the government would fund up to 100,000 extra apprenticeships a year.
Labour described the plans as laughable and the Liberal Democrats said the “shockingly low“ pay for many apprenticeships was a sign of a broken system.
Mr Sunak said university was “not the only option” and some degrees were “letting young people down”.
“So, actually, we are better off providing those young people with the opportunity of a high-quality apprenticeship,” he said.
Despite being asked to name a specific example of an underperforming degree, Mr Sunak did not do so.
Mr Sunak later met apprentices at Wildanet Technical Training Academy in Liskeard.
‘Track record’
Mr Sunak said he was “absolutely committed” to levelling up in Cornwall.
It follows a report which said Conservative plans to launch national service for 18-year-olds could deprive Cornwall of cash for community safety and high street regeneration.
Areas including Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, Cornwall and the Tees Valley are among the areas with the most to lose, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The plan to close the government’s flagship UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) by 2028 and use £1.5bn to support military and volunteering opportunities for 18-year-olds could result in wealthier areas across southern England receiving “a substantial increase in net funding”, researchers found.
According to the IFS, the UKSPF is worth £145 per person in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, rising to £246 in Blaenau Gwent in South Wales and £273 in Merthyr Tydfil.
Mr Sunak was asked by reporters in Cornwall if regions receiving UKSPF cash would miss out as a result of funding being repurposed for his scheme.
He replied: “I am absolutely committed to levelling up in Cornwall and you can see our track record.”
He pointed to investment in high streets, hospitals and transport infrastructure in Cornwall.
He added: “Those are all examples of the investment that is going into levelling up here in Cornwall and that will always continue under a Conservative government led by me.”
NHS’s ‘biggest crisis’
Ben Maguire, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for North Cornwall said Mr Sunak was “clearly picking constituencies he fears the Tories will lose”.
He said the Conservatives had “created the biggest crisis ever in our NHS” and “given over £500m of taxpayers’ money to holiday home owners in Cornwall”.
He also said sewage spills on the coast had “doubled in recent years while water company bosses and shareholders have rewarded themselves”.
And he said the government had “reversed environmental policy” and “presided over catastrophic nature depletion”.
Luke Pollard, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport said train links to the south-west of England were “simply not good enough”.
All “failing train operating companies” would be brought back into public ownership if Labour won, he said, including First Great Western and Cross Country Trains for the region.
He added: “Millions of pounds are seeping out of the system that should be spent on our trains, improving punctuality and service.
“That’s going to shareholders; we think that should go to pubic transport.”
The Green Party said plans to bring back national conscription were “removed from reality”.
Party Co-Leader Carla Denyer said: “What young people tell us they need is access to the housing market, to higher education that doesn’t plunge them into debt, and to meaningful jobs that pay well. Not military conscription.
“It is striking just how removed this Conservative government is from the priorities of young people today”.
Reform UK’s honorary president, Nigel Farage, has labelled the national service plan“a joke” and “totally impractical”.
Reform UK, previously known as the Brexit Party, said it was to stand in 630 seats out of a possible 650 across the country.
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