SOME days in Westminster seem, by virtue of scheduling, to be shaped around particular themes. For me, this meant that last Wednesday, with my Prime Minister's Question and intervention in the Skills England Westminster Hall debate, was all about unlocking the skills we need to build to ensure we get the full benefit of our industrial strategy locally.

In Cornwall, we are sitting on the largest lithium deposits in Western Europe – this is a crucial mineral for producing batteries for electric vehicles, renewable energy storage and more.

However, to be able to fully exploit Cornwall’s natural resources, we need skilled workers – and the experienced people needed to teach them those skills. I raised this in the debate on Wednesday looking at Labour’s mission for skills.

I’m hoping that the Green Paper on industrial strategy will be published soon recognises sectors such as Cornish lithium deposits as a priority. We have the potential to be a world-leading sector.

Alongside this, it should look to harmonise the approach of our industrial strategy with Skills England to equip people locally with the skills they need to benefit from our industries in higher-wage, higher-skilled jobs.

This means we need to look at how we approach further education trainers who are teaching people these skills. I’ve heard first-hand the difficulty further education institutions face in recruiting staff from industry due to pay constraints. We also need to have a serious look at the rates of VAT charged for FE and the per student funding the sector receives.

There needs to be a levelling of the playing field when it comes to education – no one route should be valued more than another. And no-one should feel teaching the skills they learnt in their industry is not a financially viable option for them when they are giving others the skills for the future.

In response to me raising this particular issue last week, I was grateful that the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, committed to review wages in further education as part of a drive to get more people delivering the skills training we need.

As well as raising the issue of further education, I was able to ask the Prime Minister about industrial and social funding in Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday lunchtime.

Before it becomes a last-minute scramble for whatever funds we can get, I raised with the Prime Minister the need to discuss the future of industrial and social funding for Cornwall for the long-term and the need to move away from the begging bowl-style politics of the last 14 years.

I was pleased that the Prime Minister recognised the importance of looking beyond London and the South East when it comes to investing in the UK.

In my time as an MP I want to see Cornwall achieve its full potential and become a new centre of the UK economy. And with the right funding and skills we can start our journey towards this goal.

Noah Law

Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay