Tony Cox, me and Cllr Wendy Clements
Tony Cox is the new Conservative candidate for Greasby, Frankby and Irby. He’ll be working with me and local Councillor Wendy Clements, many of you know Wendy very well, she’s a very active member of the community.
Last week we were out in Irby meeting with local residents, tonight and Wednesday we’ll be out visiting residents in Greasby – hopefully see you later.
Not sure what you got up to over the bank holiday weekend but Merseyside was most definitely the place to be as we played host to: the Wirral Food Show, The Hoylake Lifeboat Day and the Beatles Festival (the biggest free outdoor music event in Europe) - not only that I believe we had the best weather in the country too!
Added to that, Sunday night, I attended a wonderful event, The Fire Fit Celebration Awards, rewarding local helpers in the community who work together to put event on for local children and supported by the Merseyside Fire Authority.
As a strong advocate and supporter of apprenticeship schemes I’m set to launch one myself.
During a debate in Parliament I made it clear that it was vitally important that we keep investing in our young people and lead by example, and I called on all Members of Parliament to make a difference. If every Member of Parliament were to employ apprentices it could result in around 1,000 jobs.
In Wirral we have a great apprentice scheme, and, while it is doing well, it is seriously over-subscribed. Last year, more than 1,000 young people submitted 3,117 applications to the fewer than 150 businesses involved in the scheme. To move forward, we need to build on what we have done well, and there is something that each and every one of us in Parliament can do. It’s good to talk about apprenticeships, but surely it is better to turn our words into action, and that’s why I ‘m going to employ a modern apprentice to work and train in my constituency office, alongside my established Office Manager and Caseworker.”
Wirral has some of the worst unemployment rates for 16-24 year olds in the North West, ranked 7th worst out of 39 Local Authorities. 16.8% of young people aged 16 to 19 in Wirral are neither in education, training or work. It is proven that the longer young people spend away from education or employment, the more likely they are to continue on this path. It is vital that the Government put every effort into getting young people into work or training as soon as possible after leaving the compulsory education system.
I believe young people are key to building and sustaining our future economy. It is their innovation and skills; training and expertise; education and knowhow; that will shape the United Kingdom of the future, it is vital that we invest in them. We should be ashamed of the fact that the UK has some of the highest levels of youth unemployment in Europe, and be very worried that this number is still growing.
If you’d like to apply please call 0151 632 4348
Last week I wrote a letter to Ken Clarke, Sec of State for Justice, after members of victims groups complained that Ian Huntley was seeking compensation for an attack in prison that could see him receiving £100,000-00, nearly 10 times what the families of his victims received.
My point, any money he might receive due to this attack should be taken from him under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and given to the families of his victims to do with as they wish. Quite simply no criminal should benefit from their crimes. He was in prison for a crime he’d committed and attacked because of that crime.
