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The Secretary of State for Education butted heads with the NFU president in a heated debate on BBC’s Question Time over the Prime Minister’s bid to achieve a high-skill economy. Nadhim Zahawi stressed the importance of increasing the skill level in the country in order to increase salaries.
“I spoke to one of the big distribution centres in Manchester,” he said.
“They are going from a warehouse with no automation with 2,500 people in it to a warehouse with automation and 1,700 people.
“But with higher skills, higher wages.
“That is the economy we want to see because actually people deserve higher skills and higher wages.
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“These are skilled jobs, important jobs.”
The debate has angered industry leaders as the Prime Minister has pledged to move the country towards his vision of a “high-wage, high-skill economy”.
On Thursday, Boris Johnson stated in his conference speech the present strains in the economy, causing the fuel crisis and fears of food shortages leading up to Christmas, have been part of the transition towards the high-wage, high-skill economy.
Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, accused the government of treating businesses like an “endless sponge”.
“The finger is being pointed at business as the bogeyman, but it’s much wider than that,” he said.
“We want to pay our people as much as possible but business is not an endless sponge that can keep absorbing costs in one go.”
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