Former Conservative Leader, William Hague became the latest senior politician to visit Swindon to endorse the campaign to re-elect Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland.
Hague visited the Pebley Beach Garage to speak with former apprentices who have benefitted from the Conservatives’ successful apprenticeship programme as well as supporting the local Conservative candidates ahead of next month’s vote.
Justin and Robert have actively supported the apprenticeship programme across Swindon, encouraging local businesses to take advantage of the grants offered by the Government. Additionally, they have lobbied Ministers to extend the size of the programme from 2 million places to 3 million places, which a future Conservative will do.
Justin Tomlinson said: “We have invested £10 million in a new UTC here in Swindon, 7,000 young people have started an apprenticeship here in Swindon in the last five years and that’s only the beginning of what we are doing. We aim to have three million apprenticeships across the country in the next government if we win the election and that will mean the end of youth unemployment in this country. That only happens if you have a growing successful economy and that only happens under Conservative leadership. This is a great local business employing many apprentices and clearly serving its customers very well. This is part of the success of the British economy and that is an economy that is doing dramatically better in the last few years because it is run well.”
William Hague said: “I would say to voters in Swindon, your vote counts for a lot. You have great Conservative candidates in Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson, who work very, very hard for Swindon. Swindon is a town on the up under a Conservative led government. If people want all those things to continue then vote Conservative in Swindon.”
Robert Buckland said: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome senior politicians like William to Swindon and I think the message is a strong one. Here we are at a successful local business, well established in the local community that does so much to get local people into jobs, through work experience and then apprenticeships. The number of young people and former apprentices we have spoken to today show it is such an important way to gain important and transferable skills.”
