Yet more proof Labour isn’t serious about cutting immigration – as they quietly freeze funding for nursing courses in a move branded a disaster for the NHS.
In a shocking U-turn, the flip-flopping Labour Government has slashed real-terms support for university training courses that prepare British nurses, midwives and paramedics for frontline work.
The cash freeze, slipped out by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, is a major blow to Labour’s pledge to “end the long-term reliance on overseas workers” and to build a homegrown NHS workforce. But now they are doing the exact opposite.
Universities are already drowning in debt trying to keep courses open. Many are axing lecturers to stay afloat. This latest move will push nurse training over the edge — leaving the UK even more dependent on foreign workers.
“A freeze in per student funding, effectively a real-terms cut, could make a bad situation worse,” warned Patricia Marquis of the Royal College of Nursing in the Telegraph.
“This would be a disaster. Additional funding should be released to protect nursing courses.”
The £108 million cut to the Strategic Priorities Grant will hammer medical education, including vital professions like paramedics, radiographers and occupational therapists.
Even Universities UK boss Vivienne Stern couldn’t hide her alarm.
“This risks worsening an already difficult situation,” she said. “We can’t create a future-proof NHS workforce without long-term, sustained investment from the government.”
She said that the move, combined with a recent decision to slash cash for apprenticeships, would have a “detrimental impact on training our healthcare workforce”..
So much for Rachel Reeves’ spending review being about “growth” — education is set to take the hit, while defence and health hog the cash.
The Department for Education has quietly ring-fenced schools and early years. But universities and apprenticeships, key routes into skilled British jobs, are facing the axe.
Phillipson’s letter to the Office for Students confirmed the freeze. She even tried to sugar-coat it by saying universities should still “prioritise funding for nursing courses”. But the money simply isn’t there.
Instead, she targeted so-called “Mickey Mouse” courses like media studies and journalism. But that hasn’t stopped the axe falling on real, critical training for the NHS.
Laura Trott, Shadow Education Secretary, tore into the hypocrisy:
“Yet more evidence Labour aren’t serious about cutting immigration. They’ve cut teaching grants and scrapped almost all higher-level apprenticeships, leaving an 11,000 shortfall in the NHS workforce plan.”
“These decisions will leave us more reliant on foreign labour, when we should be training British people for British jobs.”
This latest Labour shambles lays bare the Labour party’s double-speak, promising to train up British talent while pulling the rug out from under the institutions that can do just that.
The nation needs nurses. Labour just gave them the cold shoulder.
Image: For illustration purposes only. Image created on AI.
Why does Keith starker not help British people he seems to always favour immigrants than British but I suppose that’s his job not acting as a Prime minister would do.Bring back boris Johnson or reform.