The failure of "education, education, education".

Remember the pledge on education Tony Blair made in 1997? “Education, education, education” were three words Tony Blair promised would be central to his new Labour Government.

But nine and a half years on what has the Labour Government really achieved on this three word pledge?

The answer makes very disappointing reading. 1.24 million people between the age of 15 and 24 are not in education, work or training. This is a 15% rise on the figures of 1997 when Labour came to power. In fact this is now such a big group that the Government has an acronym for them. NEETs: Not in Education, Employment or Training.

These figures come despite the billions of pounds Labour has poured into education over the years and into other programmes such as the New Deal. Clearly they have fallen far short of the success that has been made out. Yet again further proof that just throwing money at problems doesn’t solve them.