Response to Ed Miliband's speech to Labour Party conference

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Politicians need to understand the value of education to society and the economy and must put forward a coherent programme of investment. Ed Miliband's recognition of the role training must play in a recovery is encouraging and a welcome respite from government rhetoric about the apparent burden young people are to the country.
 
'Plans for more apprenticeships are to be welcomed, as is a commitment that unions, employers and colleges will work together. However, history tells us that handing huge sums of money over to business to improve education does not always produce the best results.'