Despite the outcome, our manifesto was a step in the right direction, from which we must not retreat backwards.
Keeping the triple lock third from bottom; scrapping the Human Rights Act fifth from top; an energy price cap fourth from bottom.
You may well hear grumbling from businesses about the levy which will help to fund them – but the effort will be worth it.
We need higher skill apprenticeships, a maths requirement at 16-19, and the GCSE level of English and maths to be a prerequisite for Further and Higher Education.
The pace of change is accelerating and jobs for life will soon be a memory. We need a radical shift towards life-long, in-work training and learning.
We are often poor at commercialising technology. Doing so requires scale, which in turn means we need large numbers of qualified people.
A young person in Britain is nearly twice as likely to be not in education, employment and training as a young person in Germany.
Far from being a consolation prize for non-academic youngsters, they are actually the route into the most prestigious jobs.
Too many young people are taking on heavy debts for degrees that aren’t worth it. Building links with the job market will help tackle both of those problems.
Far from a throwback to the past, the public needs urgently to see that this welcome debate is about equipping us for a post-Brexit future.
There’s a good reason why lower middle class voters want improvements to vocational education.
In a nutshell, the cut was a doubling down on easing Brexit – which matters.
I strongly believe that the region is poised at one of the most exciting and opportunity-rich junctures of its post-modern history.