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Economic Recovery

I am sure that we could improve on the apprenticeship schemes in place under the Conservatives, but the lamentable truth is that they are not working now. We have had 12 years of this Government. We have less manufacturing as a proportion of our economy. We have a worse situation for manufacturing orders than I have ever seen in my life, affecting most manufacturing business that I talk to. I was at a Royal Society event last night, meeting a lot of manufacturers and talking from the platform. They all reported dire situations for orders a few months ago. I am pleased to say that there is some evidence that the situation is beginning to lift off the very bottom, but it is still way behind what it reached at peak levels.