Unemployment used to be caused by a lack of jobs. Now it is caused by a lack of skills. The jobs are there, but not for those unable to do them. The need to produce a better qualified workforce is imperative.

Government has a role – not in creating jobs, however, but in giving incentives to learn. And companies have a role, not simply providing the education that schools fail to supply but in giving workplace training that schools and colleges are unable to give.

If government is to throw money at the problem it should not now be by creating make-work schemes, but in helping employers provide that training.

Britain currently has six million unskilled workers and nine million who are highly-qualified. The review by businessman Lord Leitch for the government forecasts a rapid fall to just 500,000 skilled jobs but an increase to 14 million highly-skilled positions.

Somehow five million unskilled people have to be replaced by five million high-skilled employees – otherwise there will be five million unemployed unskilled people.

Tony Blair set a target of half the population going to university. A brave Gordon Brown would abandon that objective and concentrate on 95 per cent of the population acquiring useful skills. For half the population to have on-the-job training would be much more useful, whether they are apprentices or researchers.

That means employers becoming the new teachers. But as it is employers that will benefit from a qualified workforce, they should be eager to take on this role.

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