Business of the House

Marcus Jones Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

In this case, there is no solidarity between the Leaders of the House, and I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government are committed to retaining imperial units in all the areas in which they are currently legal units for trade. This includes retaining imperial units for use in dual labelling for as long as people find them useful.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

Having owned several Vauxhall Astras in the past, I am delighted to hear of the commitment by General Motors to retaining and creating jobs in Ellesmere Port. However, with car manufacturing now firmly in the ascendancy, I fear that we might have the potential for a skills gap. May we therefore have a statement from the Education Secretary to tell us what more the Government can do to promote manufacturing in schools so that we can enthuse more young people to take up such careers?

[Sir George Young]

I applaud my hon. Friend’s suggestion that we reawaken in young people an interest in a career in manufacturing. I know that the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, my hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes) will be interested in taking this dialogue forward. I commend the number of Vauxhalls that my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) has had, although I am not sure why he needed so many. Today’s announcement by General Motors of the move from two shifts to three is indeed good news for Merseyside, as is the confirmation that the new Astra will be built in the UK.